wget

Download files from the web non-interactively.

low risk

interactive breakdown — edit the command and press Explain
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⚠ Risks & cautions
What it does

wget specializes in downloading and supports recursive website mirroring. Unlike curl it saves to a file by default. -c resumes interrupted downloads. -q suppresses output for scripts.

Common flags
FlagMeaning
-OSave to a specific filename
-c --continueResume a partially downloaded file
-q --quietSilent mode
-r --recursiveDownload recursively (website mirroring)
-P --directory-prefixSet download directory
Examples
wget -c https://releases.ubuntu.com/22.04/ubuntu-22.04.4-live-server-amd64.isoDownload Ubuntu ISO with resume support · explain & risk-check →
wget -q -O - https://example.com/install.sh | bashDownload and pipe install script to bash silently · explain & risk-check →
wget --spider https://example.com/fileCheck if URL exists without downloading · explain & risk-check →
Pro tip

Use `wget --spider` to check if a URL exists without downloading — perfect for health check scripts.

Related
curl aria2c
Open the full explainer →More in Networking

Reference text is hand-written and may be incomplete — check man wget for your version. Test destructive commands on a non-production system first.