What causes a download from browser to fail

Issues with Internet connectivity and the stability of the connection can cause downloads to fail, especially if the Internet connection is interrupted. When an Internet connection is unstable, it may disconnect and reconnect intermittently.

Even a disconnection lasting a fraction of a second can cause the failure of a file download. For users who commonly encounter intermittent connectivity issues or download failure, a download manager may help. A download managers is a third-party application that monitors, and if needed, resumes a download from where it stopped previously.

There are hundreds of download managers, including many that are free. This solution is a bit tricky, in that users shouldn't normally download files without some protection active.

If you fully trust the site from which you are downloading the file, you can try disabling the Windows firewall or disabling your antivirus software before attempting again. Many sites that host hundreds of different files keep them on multiple servers or mirror sites. If you have difficulty downloading the file, try getting it from a different server. If the file you are attempting to download is popular or was recently released, the server could be overloaded with simultaneous user requests or be experiencing problems.

Try downloading the file at a later time, when the server load may be less or the server problems are resolved. Home Help Internet Internet Help.

Why does my download stop before it is finished? Feedback will be sent to Microsoft: By pressing the submit button, your feedback will be used to improve Microsoft products and services. Privacy policy. The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, for a list of what's in scope, see the FAQ.

Learn more here. This article provides information about resolving the Couldn't be downloaded error that occurs when you try to download files by using Internet Explorer 9 or a later version.

You cannot download files or view files from a website when you connect to the site over HTTPS secure sites by using Internet Explorer 9 or a later version. For example, you visit a secure website such as a bank or other financial institution and try to download or view a PDF file. The file does not appear in Internet Explorer and you may see an error message similar to the following:.

This problem occurs if the Do not save encrypted pages to disk option in Internet Explorer is selected. To download files, Internet Explorer must create a cache or temporary file.