While browsing the web in Safari, it’s common to need to download files from different websites. But sometimes it can be a challenge to find where these Safari downloads are saved.

Below are several ways to find and manage Safari downloads on your Mac.

How to Download Files Using Safari

There are different ways to save items from Safari to your Mac, depending on the type of item you want to save. While some items in webpages can’t be downloaded, files, images, software, and apps often come with a dedicated download button. Otherwise, Control-click or two-finger tap an item to save or download it.

It’s best not to download software or apps if they aren’t from a trusted source.

Where to Find Safari Downloads on a Mac

Unless you’ve chosen otherwise, items that you’ve downloaded from Safari automatically go to your Downloads folder. To find this, open Finder and click Downloads from the sidebar or press Cmd + Option + L.

You can change where your downloaded files save, if you want:

1. Head to Safari > Preferences.
2. Click the General tab. Go to File download location, then choose from the popup. Select Ask for each download if you want to be in more control of each download.
3. If you want to select a specific destination, click Other and select your desired folder.

Use the Downloads Button in Safari

Quickly access your downloads in Safari by clicking the Downloads button, a downward arrow enclosed in a circle icon on the top-right of the Safari window. Note that this won’t appear unless you’ve recently downloaded an item.

Open the Downloads Stack in the Dock

Another way to immediately access your downloaded files is through the Dock. Your recent downloads are often found on the right side of the Dock in a stack. Hover over it to preview the contents or click to expand it.

Open the Downloads Folder in Finder

As we already mentioned, you can also find your Safari downloads using Finder. This is a valuable utility to locate items on our Mac. Simply click the magnifying button on your menu bar and type "downloads," or go to your Dock and click Finder to open the Finder window.

You can usually find the Downloads folder in the sidebar, under Favorites.

How to Manage Your Safari Downloads

There are several ways to manage your in-progress or completed downloads in Safari. To perform these actions, open the Downloads menu in Safari itself. Here’s what you can do:

• Pause Downloads: If you’re currently downloading, click the stop button beside the file name to pause the download, then click the resume button to resume it again.
• Find a Downloaded Item: If you have a cluttered Mac and can’t find your downloaded file, just click the magnifying glass next to the file name to open it in Finder.

  

• Remove a downloaded item: If you want to remove a single item from the list, Control-click the item and select Remove from List. You can also remove all your recently downloaded items by clicking Clear in the top right of the popup.

By default, Safari automatically deletes downloaded items after a day. If you want to change this:

1. Go to Safari > Preferences.
2. Click General, then go to Remove download list items. Choose from After one day, When Safari quits, Upon successful download, or Manually.

Manage Your Safari Downloads

There is a lot of content you can download on the web, and simply knowing how to download it is usually half the battle. But once you’ve done that, you can use the tips in this guide to find and manage your Safari downloads with ease, even customizing your download preferences to get fuller control over where your files save and when they get deleted.