Frequently asked questions

Yes. XDM is completely free and open-source software, licensed under the GPL. There’s no paid version, no trial and no bundled adware. The source code is on GitHub.

XDM runs on Windows and Linux today. XDM 9, coming soon, adds a native macOS app for Apple silicon and Intel Macs, plus Windows on ARM. See the download page.

No. The installers include everything XDM needs, including its own Java runtime.

XDM is open source and contains no adware or tracking. Because it isn’t signed with a paid commercial certificate, Windows SmartScreen and macOS Gatekeeper ask you to confirm the first launch. Download it only from this site or the official GitHub releases. See antivirus and firewall.

No. XDM is a native desktop app. It doesn’t use Electron, an embedded browser or a webview, so there’s no hidden browser engine eating memory. XDM 9 idles at about 30 MB of memory on Windows and only does real work while it downloads. Use the speed limiter in Settings → Downloads if you also want to leave bandwidth for other things.

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and other Chromium-based browsers, plus Mozilla Firefox. Install the XDM browser extension in each browser you use.

Make sure XDM is running, the extension is installed and allowed on all sites, and the file type is listed in Settings → Browser → File types. The full checklist is in browser not capturing.

Remove the file type from Settings → Browser → File types, add the website to Blocked sites, or click “Don’t capture from this web page” in the New download window.

Play the video, click the XDM icon in the browser toolbar and choose a quality. XDM downloads the stream and merges audio and video into one file. Step by step in download videos.

Play the video for a few seconds, then reload if needed. Lower “Only detect videos larger than” for short clips, and check that the extension has site access. DRM-protected streams and YouTube aren’t supported. See video not detected.

No. XDM stays off YouTube by design, and the extension doesn’t capture videos or links there.

Change the quality in the website’s video player. Each quality the player loads appears in the XDM list. Use “More formats” in the extension popup to see them all.

Raise “Connections per download” in Settings → Downloads (8 is the default; try 16), make sure the speed limiter is off, and run fewer downloads at once. See speed up downloads.

Set Settings → Downloads → Simultaneous downloads to 1. Additional downloads wait and start automatically, one after another.

No. Right-click the download, choose Refresh link and start the same download again in your browser. XDM resumes from where it stopped. See link expired.

Yes. Add the download with Download Later, right-click → Schedule, and set a start (and optionally stop) time. Combine it with “Shut down when downloads finish”. See schedule downloads.

Use ☰ → Batch download to paste a list of links, or right-click a page → Download all with XDM. See batch download.

In your Downloads folder, sorted into category folders by file type (Video, Music, Programs and so on). Change folders and categories in Settings → Folders. See folders and categories.

No. The XDM app and extension don’t collect or send your data to the developer. The extension only talks to the XDM app running on your own computer. This website uses Google Analytics and Google AdSense. See the privacy policy.

In the hidden .xdm-app folder in your home folder (~/.xdm-app on macOS and Linux, %USERPROFILE%.xdm-app on Windows).

Open an issue on GitHub with your XDM version, operating system and steps to reproduce, or start a discussion on the community forum.