HTML5 Download Attribute Guide

Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:55 PM PDT

The download attribute allows us to force media file downloads onto the user’s computer or mobile device.

Example:

  <a href="htmldoc.html" download>Download HTML document</a>

Typically, when we link to an HTML document, PDF, image file, or other media files, they will be opened in the browser when the user clicks on its link.

But if the hyperlink has the download attribute, such as in the example above, the browser is instead instructed to download the file, behaving much like a link pointing to a .zip or .exe file.

The download attribute will open a "save" dialog in Firefox, giving users the option to save the file to their computer or mobile device

The download attribute is great for PDFs, image files, video and audio clips, and other media content that you would like users to save on their computer or mobile device.

Changing the Name of the File

You can change the actual file name by giving the download attribute a value.

Example:

  <a href="tform5201.pdf" download="visa-application.pdf">

In the example above, when the user clicks on the hyperlink, the PDF file named "tform5201.pdf" is changed to a more readable and user-friendly file name "visa-application.pdf" when it’s downloaded.

Demo of the Download Attribute

Here is a demo page to help you explore and test the download attribute’s behavior on hyperlinks:

View Demo

Download Source from GitHub

Download Attribute Feature Detection

Because a lot of browsers still don’t implement the download attribute, it’s a smart idea to use JavaScript to check if the user’s browser has it:

  // create temporary hyperlink element  var hyperlink = document.createElement("a");    // if download property is undefined  // browser doesn't support the feature  if(hyperlink.download === undefined) {    // do stuff  }

In the demo page, if the download attribute isn’t present in the browser, a modal window is displayed with a message telling the user the feature isn’t supported.

Safari doesn't currently support download attribute, so a modal window is displayed to inform the user Safari doesn’t currently support the download attribute, so a modal window is displayed to inform the user

Implementation Status

At the time of writing, the latest versions of the following web browsers implement the download attribute:

Firefox/Firefox for Android
Chrome/Chrome for Android
Opera/Opera Mobile
Android Browser
Blackberry Browser

Check out this download attribute support table at caniuse.com to see its present-day browser implementation status. Also, check out the W3C’s download attribute specifications.

View Repo on GitHub

About the Author

Jacob Gube is the founder of Six Revisions. He’s a front-end web developer by profession. If you’d like to connect with him, head on over to the contact page or follow him on Twitter: @sixrevisions.