Error “Download Interrupted” in Chrome browser makes it impossible to install or update extensions. Clicking on any of the buttons below the notification text does not work. “Refresh” causes the Download Interrupted error to reappear, and “Close” only removes the pop-up window.
Our experts tell about the possible causes of “Download Interrupted” error and the ways to solve it.
Logging in with a Google account
Method 1 for fixing the error “Download Interrupted”
In some cases, the simplest solutions help. This includes logging into the browser with a Google account.
Click on your avatar icon to the right of the combined address and search box. Click the blue highlighted link “Enable synchronization” in the drop-down menu.
Chrome will refresh the contents of the active tab, taking you to the login page of Google services. If you already have an email account and a device is linked to it, enter your credentials into the field indicated by the arrow. Otherwise, click the link highlighted in the frame and begin creating it.
Enter your first and last name in any convenient language. In the next field, type the user name that will be in the e-mail address, before the “dog” symbol. It is filled in by latin letters, numbers and dots only. If the username you’ve entered is already taken, the line will be highlighted in red, and Google will give you a hint by combining the first and last names of the new user. In the last step, make up and confirm the password of at least eight characters. When everything is done correctly, click on “Next.
On the next page, only the columns with sex and date of birth are required. The cell phone number and backup email address are needed to connect two-factor authentication or recover a forgotten password, and are filled in at will.
The last step is to sign the terms of use of Google’s electronic services and privacy terms. Familiarize yourself with the basic provisions, click “Accept,” thereby completing the procedure for creating an account.
Click “OK” in the pop-up window to enable data synchronization. The avatar’s typical sign next to the address bar and on the main page will change to show a photo or the first letter of the user’s name. Once you have created an account and are logged in, try to install the extension by going to the Chrome Web Store.
Moving the Downloads directory
Method 1 to fix the “Download Interrupted” error
One of the longest lived and most useless tips for setting up Windows is to partition your hard drive into multiple partitions. After that, in an attempt to free up the limited space on their own, users begin to move the system folders. The result of these actions may be an error “Chrome download interrupted”. The browser “loses” the system directory and can not download or complete updates of extensions already installed.
Launch Explorer and call the context menu for the folder “Downloads. Open the item “Properties”, which is the last in the list of available actions.
Switch to the tab “Location” and look at the path indicated in the arrow field. It should start with “C” and contain the name of your directory. The following screenshot shows the wrong location of the Downloads folder. Press the button marked “2” to revert to the default value.
After making sure that the path has been changed and leads to the directory of the current user, save the changes you have made.
Confirm your wish to restore the “lost” system folder.
Agree to transfer data to the new location. After Windows has finished moving content between folders, check how Chrome works.TheDownload Interrupted error should disappear.
Reset the browser
Method 1 on how to fix “Download Interrupted” error
Error installing extensions may be caused by corrupted internal browser files, including unsuccessful version upgrades. In this case, you need to delete it completely and install it again.
Open the “Run” dialog box by pressing the “Win+R” key combination. Type “control” in the text field. Press “OK” or the enter key to launch the classic control panel.
Find and open the “Programs and Features” section.
Select Google Chrome in general list. Press “Delete” button that appears in the upper panel.
In the pop-up window, put a checkmark in the area indicated by the arrow. Confirm the decision to remove the browser from the computer.
After completion of operation it is required to clean user’s directory from the program “tails” saved in it. Open Windows Explorer and switch to the View tab. Enable the display of hidden files by placing a checkmark in the area indicated by an arrow on the screenshot.
Go to the directory of the current user opening “AppData” and “Local” in succession. In the general list find the Google folder. Call context menu and delete it with all its content. Clear the trash and restart your computer.
It’s better to use alternative Chrome installer, not a network one. You can download the file by following the direct link from the official Google page. The standalone installer does not need Internet and you can be sure that the browser will install without errors.
Manual installation of extensions
Method 1 for fixing the “Download Interrupted” error
Sometimes “Download interrupted” error message affects only some extensions which Chrome stubbornly refuses to download. In this case, you can download them as a local file and install them in developer mode.
Open an online store page and find an appropriate plug-in there. Highlight the content in the address bar of your browser and copy it to the context menu.
Open Chrome Extension Downloader in the next tab. Paste copied contents of the address bar into the field marked with an arrow. Click on the “Download Extension” button, shown as number 2 on the screenshot.
Ignore the warning that appears at the bottom of the browser window, selecting the Save option in the panel. As a result, the file with the extension CRX, which is a compressed plug-in for the browser, will be downloaded to your computer.
Before you start installing the obtained add-on you should unpack it. An archiver capable of working with CRX files is suitable for this purpose. Our experts used free PeaZIP. Open the “Downloads” folder that contains the add-on and call the context menu. After selecting the item “Extract” on it, check the option “Extract to a new directory. Specify desktop as saving location. Press “OK” to start the unpacking process.
In the Chrome window click on the three dots to the right of the combined address and search bar. In the menu bar expand the “Advanced tools” section. Select the “Extensions” item from the list that appears.
Move the “Developer Mode” slider to the enabled position in the upper right corner. You’ll see an additional panel with three buttons below the search box. Click “Load unpacked extension”.
Find on your desktop the directory you extracted the CRX package content to. Its name is the same as the name of the add-on you have downloaded to your computer. Press the “Select folder” button.
The icon of the necessary plug-in will appear in the browser panel, and if it has settings, additional tabs will open. Repeat the sixth step and turn off the “Developer mode” to keep Chrome from bothering you with regular security reminders.
Edit the hosts file in Windows
How to fix “Download Interrupted” error
If the described above methods of solving the “Download Interrupted” error do not lead to the desired result – you still need to check the hosts file in Windows for extra entries.
Open the search window and type in “Notepad. When you see a match, click on the program icon. A menu of available actions will appear in the right part of the window. Since the hosts file is located in the system directory, it can only be edited if you have elevated privileges. For this reason, start Notepad in the administrator mode using the item “3” on the screenshot.
Click on “File” menu at the top bar and choose “Open.
Enter “%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc” in the field shown as “1” without quotes. The absolute path in the input field is specified in case the operating system is installed in a folder with a name other than “Windows”. Use the drop-down menu, indicated in the double letter, to set the “All files” mode. In the main window select hosts and click on “Open”.
The line in the screenshot is the culprit. It redirects access to Google server to download extension back to user’s computer. In other words, Chrome “runs in circles” and finally informs you that the requested operation cannot be performed. Delete the highlighted line, leaving the rest of the content unchanged.
Click “File” in the upper panel and save the hosts file with the changes you have made. Changes take effect immediately and do not require you to reboot your computer.
To sum it up
How to fix “Download Interrupted” error
The offered methods guarantee removal of “Download interrupted” error. Chrome extensions should install and update without any problems.
