Shard
GitHub
Shard cuts every file into parts, pulls them over eight connections at once and stitches them back together. Quit halfway, lose power, change networks: it carries on from where it stopped.
For macOS, Windows and Linux. Free.
Shard
1 downloading, 2 queued
Downloading
Each flash is a connection cutting the slowest part in two and taking the back half.
A normal download is one connection pulling one long stream, so the file is only as fast as that one connection. Shard opens several and keeps every one of them busy until the last byte.
Shard asks the server for one byte, which tells it the file's size, its name and whether it can be fetched in pieces.
The first connection takes the whole file. Each one that opens after it takes the back half of the part with the most left.
A connection that finishes early splits the slowest part again, so the last few percent never crawl along on one connection.
Every second it notes how far each part got, only once those bytes are on disk. Stop anywhere and the next run carries on.
Some servers allow only a few connections and answer the rest with “too many requests”. Shard drops the refused ones and carries on. Half a minute later it tries one more, waiting twice as long each time it's turned away.
Pause, quit, crash or sleep. The next run checks the file hasn't changed on the server and carries on.
Close the window and Shard carries on in the menu bar or tray. The icon fills as files come in, and a click shows everything that's running.
On Wi-Fi and Ethernet, or tethered to your phone? Shard spreads a download's connections across all of them and adds their speeds together.
With the extension, downloads you start in Chrome, Edge, Brave or Arc go to Shard, cookies and all.
Start the queue at night, stop it in the morning, then sleep or shut down when it's done.
Links that stop working halfway don't mean starting again. Paste a fresh one and keep what's downloaded.
Every few hours Shard looks for a new version, downloads it quietly and checks its signature before offering to restart. Nothing changes until you say so.
The latest release, straight from GitHub. Free, and there's nothing to sign up for.
Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 11 or later.
Your computer64-bit Windows 10 or later. The installer needs no administrator password.
Your computerx64 and arm64, glibc 2.35 or later.
Your computerHands your browser's downloads to Shard. Setup adds it from each browser's own store; Shard works without it too.
brew install --cask manyeya/tap/shardscoop bucket add manyeya https://github.com/manyeya/scoop-bucket; scoop install shardsudo apt install ./shard_*.debsudo dnf install ./shard-*.rpmmacOS: open the disk image and drag Shard to Applications, or open Shard there and it installs itself. Shard isn't notarised by Apple yet, so the first time, open System Settings, then Privacy and Security, and choose Open Anyway.
Windows: run Shard-Setup. It installs for you alone, and adds Shard to the Start menu and to Settings › Apps, where you can remove it. If SmartScreen holds it back, choose More info, then Run anyway.
Linux: make the AppImage executable and open it, and Shard offers to add itself to your apps. The .deb and .rpm install for everyone; the tarball runs from wherever you unpack it.
Setup finds your browsers and opens Shard's page in each one's store: the Chrome Web Store for Chrome, Arc, Brave, Vivaldi and Opera, Edge Add-ons for Edge, and Firefox Add-ons for Firefox. Click Add, and setup sees it connect.
The extension asks to manage downloads and to read cookies so it can pass a download, and the cookies it needs, to Shard on your computer. Nothing it reads leaves your computer; the privacy page has the detail.
Yes. The code is on GitHub, and there's nothing to buy or sign up for.
Only when one connection isn't using your whole line, which is common: many servers and routes limit each connection. If one connection already fills it, you still get resuming, the queue and the rest.
No. Shard talks to the servers you download from, and to GitHub to check for updates. There's no account, no tracking and no analytics. The privacy page lists everything it keeps.
Your Downloads folder, unless you choose another, ask to be asked each time, or sort files into folders by kind.
No. Right-click the download, choose Refresh link and paste a fresh link to the same file. If it's the same size, Shard keeps everything it already has.
Each connection is tied to one of your networks, taking them in turn, so a download's parts come in over all of them. You need two working connections, such as Wi-Fi and Ethernet, or Wi-Fi and a phone over USB.
It checks for a new version every six hours, downloads it quietly, checks its signature and asks you to restart. Nothing changes until you choose to.
On Windows, from Settings › Apps. On macOS, drag Shard from Applications to the Bin, or run brew uninstall --cask shard. On Linux, run shard --uninstall, or remove the package. Your downloaded files stay where they are.