Resuming Failed Downloads

Downloads don't always go smoothly. Your internet might drop, your Mac might restart, or a server might hiccup. The good news is that Fetchii handles most interruptions gracefully — you rarely lose progress, and getting back on track is usually just a click away.

Fetchii Handles Most Interruptions Automatically

You don't need to babysit your downloads. If your internet connection drops mid-download, your progress is preserved. When the connection returns, you can click Resume to continue where you left off.

If Fetchii crashes or you quit it accidentally, just reopen the app. Your interrupted downloads appear in the list marked as paused. Click Resume (or press Cmd + R) and they pick up where they left off. Download > Resume All (Option + Cmd + R) resumes everything at once.

Retrying Failed Downloads

Sometimes a download fails completely — maybe the server was having issues, or there was a network timeout. When this happens:

Find the download in History — failed rows are colored and show the reason (for example, "Network error"). The Failed filter (Cmd + 6) shows only these.
Click the Retry button that stays visible on the row (or right-click and choose Retry)
Fetchii attempts the download again

Some rows show a different button instead: Resolve… when the site needs your login (it opens a sheet with ways to retry using your browser's sign-in), or Move when the download finished but couldn't be moved to its destination folder.

For persistent failures, select the download and open the inspector (Cmd + I) to see what went wrong. It explains the error and offers Retry Download, Copy Error, Report Issue…, and View Error Log. The error message often points to the problem.

Understanding Why Downloads Fail

Different errors have different causes:

Network error or Timeout: Your connection was too slow or unstable. Check your internet and try again.

Removed: The video may have been deleted or made private. Verify it's still available by visiting the URL in your browser.

Login required: You need to be logged in. Click Resolve… to sync your cookies using the browser extension, or retry with your browser's cookies.

Region blocked: The content isn't available in your country. A VPN might help if using one is legal where you are.

Rate limited: You've made too many requests. Wait a few minutes and try again.

Server error: The site is having problems. Try again later.

How Partial Downloads Work

For large files, Fetchii saves progress as it downloads. If you're 60% through a 2 GB video and your connection drops, you won't have to start over — Fetchii resumes from where it stopped.

These partial files live in a system-managed temporary folder until the download completes. They're organized by download task, so each download has its own isolated space.

They're automatically cleaned up when downloads finish or when you remove a download from your list.

Dealing with Unreliable Connections

If your internet is spotty, you can adjust Fetchii's retry behavior:

Open Settings > Advanced
Find the Download Engine section
Adjust Download retries (default is 10, range 1-20)
Adjust Segment retries for streaming videos (default is 10, range 1-20)

Higher retry counts help with unreliable connections, while lower counts fail faster when there's a real problem.

You can also increase Connection timeout in the same section (10-120 seconds, default 30) if downloads keep timing out before they have a chance to complete.

Handling Multiple Failed Downloads

If several downloads failed at once (maybe your internet went out overnight), you can retry them all together:

Hold Cmd and click to select multiple failed downloads
Choose Download > Retry from the menu bar

Or if you want to clear them out: show the Failed filter, select all with Cmd + A, and press Cmd + Delete, then confirm with Remove.

Preventing Failures

A few tips to avoid problems in the first place:

Use a stable connection. Wired ethernet is more reliable than WiFi if you're downloading large files or many videos.

Check your disk space. Downloads fail if you run out of room. Make sure you have enough space before starting big playlists.

Keep cookies fresh. For private or restricted videos, re-sync cookies before downloading to avoid authentication failures.

Match quality to bandwidth. If you're on a slow connection, lower quality downloads are more likely to complete successfully.

Don't go overboard with concurrent downloads. Downloading 10 videos at once can overwhelm your connection. Stick to 2-3 with Max concurrent downloads in Settings > Downloads (the default is 3) for more reliable results.

When All Else Fails

If a download keeps failing no matter what you try:

Try downloading the video in a lower quality
Try at a different time (the site's servers might be overloaded)
Make sure Fetchii is updated to the latest version (Fetchii > Check for Updates…)

For persistent problems, choose Report Issue… on the failed download, or reach out to support with the error message (Copy Error puts it on the clipboard), the video URL (if it's not private), and your Fetchii and macOS versions.