Quick Download Link

A Chrome extension that lets you download any link with a single click — no more opening files in the browser first.

What it does

Quick Download Link gives you two ways to download any link on a page:

• Click-to-Download mode — Toggle it on from the popup and every link you click will be downloaded instead of opened. A custom download cursor appears on all links so you always know the mode is active.
• Right-click context menu — Right-click any link and choose "Quick Download Link" to download it on the spot, without enabling the toggle.

Smart PDF detection

The extension is smart about PDFs. When you trigger a download, it:

1. Fetches the URL using your browser's cookies (so authenticated pages like Moodle work)
2. If the server returns a PDF directly, downloads it
3. If the server returns an HTML page, scans the page for embedded PDFs (iframes, embeds, Google Docs viewer links, Moodle pluginfile.php URLs) and downloads the real PDF instead
4. Falls back to downloading the raw URL if no PDF is found

Installing in Chrome (unpacked extension)

Chrome lets you load extensions directly from a local folder without publishing to the Web Store.

1. Clone or download this repo

   git clone https://github.com/Gderhy/quickDownloadLink.git

2. Open the Chrome Extensions page

   Go to chrome://extensions in your address bar.

3. Enable Developer Mode

   Toggle the Developer mode switch in the top-right corner of the page.

4. Load the extension

   Click Load unpacked, then select the extension/ folder inside this repo.

5. Pin it (optional)

   Click the puzzle-piece icon in the Chrome toolbar and pin Quick Download Link so it's always one click away.

That's it. The extension is now active.

Usage

Action	How
Download a single link	Right-click the link → Quick Download Link
Download every link you click	Click the extension icon → toggle Click-to-Download on
Turn off click mode	Click the extension icon → toggle off

When Click-to-Download is active, links show a blue download cursor so you know the mode is on. A brief toast notification appears when a PDF is extracted from an embedded viewer.

Project structure

extension/
├── manifest.json      # Extension metadata and permissions
├── background.js      # Service worker — handles downloads and context menu
├── content.js         # Injected into pages — intercepts clicks, shows toasts
├── popup.html         # Extension popup UI
├── popup.js           # Popup logic (toggle state)
├── icon.svg           # Source icon
├── generate-icons.js  # Script to generate PNG icons from SVG
├── make-icons.js      # Alternative icon generation helper
└── icons/             # PNG icons (16×16, 48×48, 128×128)

Permissions used

Permission	Why
downloads	Trigger file downloads
contextMenus	Add the right-click menu item
activeTab	Read the current tab to send notifications
storage	Persist the toggle state across sessions
scripting	Inject the content script
<all_urls> (host permission)	Fetch URLs with cookies for authenticated downloads