Master File Downloads in Linux: wget and curl Step‑by‑Step Guide

Introduction

If you work in a Linux terminal—especially on a server—and need to download files, this guide shows two command‑line tools, wget and curl , and explains how to install and use them for various download scenarios.

Installing wget

Most Linux distributions ship wget by default; otherwise install it from the package manager.

sudo apt install wget

Downloading with wget

Single file or webpage

wget URL

Downloads the resource to the current directory using its original name.

Multiple files

Save all URLs in a text file (one per line) and supply it with -i.

wget -i download_files.txt

Custom output name

wget -O filename URL

Downloading a directory (FTP)

wget -r ftp://server-address.com/directory

Mirroring an entire website

Use the mirror mode with additional options to make the offline copy functional.

wget -m --convert-links --page-requisites website_address

Resuming interrupted downloads

wget -c URL

Installing curl

Curl is not always pre‑installed but is available in most distribution repositories.

sudo apt install curl

Downloading with curl

Single file

curl -O URL

Multiple files

curl -O URL1 URL2 URL3

Custom output name

curl -o filename URL

Follow redirects

When a URL redirects, add -L to follow the final location.

curl -L -O URL

Resuming downloads

curl -c URL

Conclusion

Both wget and curl are popular Linux tools for downloading files from the terminal; wget is generally simpler for basic tasks, while curl provides finer‑grained control. Other command‑line browsers such as elinks or w3m can also be used for similar purposes.