How to Use wget in Bash: Download Files Easily

Use wget in bash to download files from the internet by typing wget [URL]. This command fetches the file at the given URL and saves it to your current directory.

Syntax

The basic syntax of wget is simple and looks like this:

• wget [options] [URL]

Here, URL is the web address of the file you want to download. options are extra settings you can add to control how wget works.

bash

wget [options] URL

Example

This example shows how to download a file from the internet using wget. It downloads the file and saves it in your current folder with the same name as on the server.

bash

wget https://example.com/sample.txt

Output

Saving to: ‘sample.txt’

sample.txt          100%[===================>]     1.23K  --.-KB/s    in 0s      

2024-06-01 12:00:00 (12.3 MB/s) - ‘sample.txt’ saved [1260/1260]

Common Pitfalls

Some common mistakes when using wget include:

• Forgetting to include the full URL starting with http:// or https://.
• Trying to download to a directory without write permission.
• Not using quotes around URLs with special characters.

Here is an example of a wrong and right way:

bash

# Wrong: missing protocol
wget example.com/file.txt

# Right: full URL with protocol
wget https://example.com/file.txt

Quick Reference

Option	Description
-O filename	Save the downloaded file with a custom name
-q	Run quietly without outputting download progress
-c	Continue a partially downloaded file
--limit-rate=amount	Limit download speed (e.g., 200k)
-r	Download files recursively from a website

Key Takeaways

Use wget [URL] to download files easily in bash.

Always include the full URL starting with http:// or https://.

Use options like -O to rename files or -c to resume downloads.

Check permissions if downloads fail due to write errors.

Quote URLs with special characters to avoid errors.