Download Virus Scanner

Auto scan all the download files against well-known anti-viruses using VirusTotal API.

Download Virus Scanner — What's New (Version 3.2.0) Download Virus Scanner automatically checks the files you download against VirusTotal's multi-engine antivirus service, so you get an expert second opinion on every download without lifting a finger. This is our biggest update yet: we rebuilt the scanning engine from the ground up, fixed the bugs that made the previous version unreliable, and added a set of features that put you in control. The most important change is how scanning works. Earlier versions only checked the download's web address against VirusTotal — in other words, they judged a file by where it came from, not by what it actually contained. A dangerous file served from an ordinary-looking link could slip through and be reported as "safe." We fixed this at the core. Download Virus Scanner now calculates the SHA-256 fingerprint of the actual file and looks that up on VirusTotal. If VirusTotal has never seen the file before, the extension securely uploads it, waits for the analysis to finish, and then reports the real, content-based verdict. You finally get what the name promises: your files scanned, not just their web links. We also moved to VirusTotal's current API (v3) and wrapped it in a flexible engine layer, so the extension stays compatible going forward and can support additional scanning providers in the future. Stability was the other major focus. The previous build could crash silently in the background: a leftover pop-up call broke the reporting flow, network errors were swallowed with no feedback, and the report page could fail to load or break when refreshed. We eliminated these problems. Every scan now has proper error handling and tells you clearly when something goes wrong — an invalid API key, a rate limit, or a connection problem — instead of leaving you guessing. The report page loads reliably every time and survives a refresh. Behind the scenes, scanning is now far more dependable. Modern browser extensions can be shut down at any moment to save memory, which used to interrupt scans midway. We rebuilt the background process around a persistent queue that saves its progress and resumes automatically, so a scan that started before the browser paused the extension still finishes. We also added smart rate limiting that respects VirusTotal's free-tier limits and backs off politely when asked, so several downloads at once no longer overwhelm your quota and fail. On top of the rebuilt foundation, we added features you asked for: Scan history. The toolbar popup now keeps a list of your recent scans, color-coded green for clean and red for flagged, so you can review results at a glance and reopen any full report with a single click. Manual scanning. Want to check something on demand? Paste any URL or a file hash (SHA-256, SHA-1, or MD5) straight into the popup and scan it immediately — no download required. Quiet mode and a status badge. Prefer fewer interruptions? Turn on Quiet mode to be notified only when something is actually flagged. Either way, a small badge on the toolbar icon gives you an instant clean-or-flagged signal after each scan. A smarter whitelist. Trusted domains can be skipped, and the whitelist now understands wildcards like *.example.com and validates your entries, so a typo can't silently disable your protection. It also matches subdomains correctly. A detection threshold. You decide how strict to be. Set how many engines must flag a file before it is treated as malicious, which helps cut down on false alarms from a single over-eager engine. Test your API key. The Options page now has a one-click "Test" button that confirms your VirusTotal key works the moment you paste it, instead of finding out only on your next download. A cleaner, clearer report. Each report now shows the file's SHA-256, a breakdown of exactly how many engines marked it malicious, suspicious, harmless, or undetected, a plain-language verdict, and a direct link to the full VirusTotal page. There is also a shortcut to your browser's downloads so you can act on the file right away. A refreshed interface. The popup, report, and Options pages have been redesigned for clarity and now include full dark-mode support that follows your system theme. We also internationalized the interface and cleaned up translation glitches across all supported languages. A quick note on privacy: the extension communicates only with VirusTotal, using the free API key you provide, and only to check your downloads. As always, this is an advisory tool — it warns you about risky files but does not delete, quarantine, or block them; the decision always stays with you. To get started, install the extension, open Settings, paste your free VirusTotal API key, and click Save. From then on, every download is checked automatically. Thank you for using Download Virus Scanner — stay safe out there.