How to download a file from a URL in C#?

Question

What is a simple way of downloading a file from a URL path?

Answer 1

You may need to know the status and update a ProgressBar during the file download or use credentials before making the request.

Here it is, an example that covers these options. Lambda notation and String interpolation has been used:

using System.Net;
// ...

using (WebClient client = new WebClient()) {
    Uri ur = new Uri("http://remotehost.do/images/img.jpg");

    //client.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password");
    String credentials = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes("Username" + ":" + "MyNewPassword"));
    client.Headers[HttpRequestHeader.Authorization] = $"Basic {credentials}";

    client.DownloadProgressChanged += (o, e) =>
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Download status: {e.ProgressPercentage}%.");

        // updating the UI
        Dispatcher.Invoke(() => {
            progressBar.Value = e.ProgressPercentage;
        });
    };

    client.DownloadDataCompleted += (o, e) => 
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Download finished!");
    };

    client.DownloadFileAsync(ur, @"C:\path\newImage.jpg");
}

Answer 2

Also you can use DownloadFileAsync method in WebClient class. It downloads to a local file the resource with the specified URI. Also this method does not block the calling thread.

Sample:

    webClient.DownloadFileAsync(new Uri("http://www.example.com/file/test.jpg"), "test.jpg");

For more information:

http://csharpexamples.com/download-files-synchronous-asynchronous-url-c/

Answer 3

Complete class to download a file while printing status to console.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.IO;
using System.Net;
using System.Threading;

class FileDownloader
{
    private readonly string _url;
    private readonly string _fullPathWhereToSave;
    private bool _result = false;
    private readonly SemaphoreSlim _semaphore = new SemaphoreSlim(0);

    public FileDownloader(string url, string fullPathWhereToSave)
    {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(url)) throw new ArgumentNullException("url");
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(fullPathWhereToSave)) throw new ArgumentNullException("fullPathWhereToSave");

        this._url = url;
        this._fullPathWhereToSave = fullPathWhereToSave;
    }

    public bool StartDownload(int timeout)
    {
        try
        {
            System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName(_fullPathWhereToSave));

            if (File.Exists(_fullPathWhereToSave))
            {
                File.Delete(_fullPathWhereToSave);
            }
            using (WebClient client = new WebClient())
            {
                var ur = new Uri(_url);
                // client.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("username", "password");
                client.DownloadProgressChanged += WebClientDownloadProgressChanged;
                client.DownloadFileCompleted += WebClientDownloadCompleted;
                Console.WriteLine(@"Downloading file:");
                client.DownloadFileAsync(ur, _fullPathWhereToSave);
                _semaphore.Wait(timeout);
                return _result && File.Exists(_fullPathWhereToSave);
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Was not able to download file!");
            Console.Write(e);
            return false;
        }
        finally
        {
            this._semaphore.Dispose();
        }
    }

    private void WebClientDownloadProgressChanged(object sender, DownloadProgressChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        Console.Write("\r     -->    {0}%.", e.ProgressPercentage);
    }

    private void WebClientDownloadCompleted(object sender, AsyncCompletedEventArgs args)
    {
        _result = !args.Cancelled;
        if (!_result)
        {
            Console.Write(args.Error.ToString());
        }
        Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "Download finished!");
        _semaphore.Release();
    }

    public static bool DownloadFile(string url, string fullPathWhereToSave, int timeoutInMilliSec)
    {
        return new FileDownloader(url, fullPathWhereToSave).StartDownload(timeoutInMilliSec);
    }
}

Usage:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var success = FileDownloader.DownloadFile(fileUrl, fullPathWhereToSave, timeoutInMilliSec);
    Console.WriteLine("Done  - success: " + success);
    Console.ReadLine();
}

Answer 4

using (var client = new WebClient())
{
    client.DownloadFile("http://example.com/file/song/a.mpeg", "a.mpeg");
}

Answer 5

Check for a network connection using GetIsNetworkAvailable() to avoid creating empty files when not connected to a network.

if (System.Net.NetworkInformation.NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable())
{
    using (System.Net.WebClient client = new System.Net.WebClient())
    {                        
          client.DownloadFileAsync(new Uri("http://www.examplesite.com/test.txt"),
          "D:\\test.txt");
    }                  
}