Complete wget keyboard shortcuts and commands reference — 14 shortcuts across 1 category. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Mac.
wget downloads files from the command line and, unlike curl, is built for whole-site retrieval and unattended runs: it retries, resumes and follows links. The table lists the options that cover nearly every use. The notes are about the two habits that stop a download from going wrong — resuming and limiting recursion.
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| wget [URL] | Download file | Download a file from URL. |
| wget -O [name] [URL] | Set filename | Specify download filename. |
| wget -r [URL] | Recursive | Download site recursively. |
| wget -c [URL] | Resume | Resume interrupted download. |
| wget -b [URL] | Background | Download in background. |
| wget -q [URL] | Quiet mode | Download without printing progress output. |
| wget -P [dir] [URL] | Target directory | Save the downloaded file into a specific directory. |
| wget -i list.txt | Download from list | Download every URL listed in a text file. |
| wget --limit-rate=200k [URL] | Limit speed | Cap download bandwidth, e.g. at 200 KB/s. |
| wget --mirror [URL] | Mirror site | Mirror a website with recursion and timestamping. |
| wget -np -r [URL] | No parent | Recurse without ascending to the parent directory. |
| wget -A pdf -r [URL] | Accept extension | Only download files matching an extension during recursion. |
| wget --user=U --password=P [URL] | HTTP auth | Authenticate with username and password. |
| wget --no-check-certificate [URL] | Skip TLS check | Ignore certificate validation (use with caution). |
The most essential wget shortcuts are: wget [URL] (Download file), wget -O [name] [URL] (Set filename), wget -r [URL] (Recursive).
These are command-line commands — type them in your terminal or console. Combine them with shell history search (Ctrl + R) and aliases to work even faster.
The wget shortcut for download file is wget [URL]. Download a file from URL.
Print the wget cheat sheet and keep it next to your keyboard for the first week, then switch to active recall: open Shortcut Speedrun and practice wget shortcuts against the clock until they're automatic.
Yes — use My Stack to combine wget shortcuts with any other platform on this site into one printable reference, which is useful if your daily workflow spans several tools.
wget [URL] saves the file under its remote name in the current directory, and wget -O [name] [URL] renames it; wget -P [dir] [URL] chooses a directory instead. wget -c [URL] resumes a partial download, which is the flag to add on a flaky connection or for a multi-gigabyte model file. wget -b [URL] runs in the background with output to wget-log, and wget -q [URL] silences progress for scripts. wget --limit-rate=200k [URL] caps bandwidth so a download does not starve a video call. wget -i list.txt reads URLs from a file, one per line.
wget -r [URL] follows links recursively, five levels by default — and without limits it will happily crawl off the site. wget -np -r [URL] (no parent) stays below the starting directory, and wget -A pdf -r [URL] accepts only matching extensions, the pair for "every PDF in this section". wget --mirror [URL] sets the options for a faithful copy (recursion, timestamps, infinite depth); add -k to rewrite links for offline browsing and -p for page requisites. Respect robots.txt and rate limits; a recursive wget is a crawler.
wget --user=U --password=P [URL] handles HTTP basic auth (use --ask-password to avoid the password appearing in shell history). wget --no-check-certificate [URL] skips TLS verification, which is sometimes necessary for an internal server with a self-signed certificate and never appropriate for downloading software from the internet.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"