GitHub Plus is a free browser extension for Google Chrome that improves the file browsing and download process on the project hosting site GitHub.
GitHub is a popular destination for project development. Companies and individuals make their open source projects available on the site.
If you happen to visit GitHub regularly to check out projects or download releases, you may have noticed that it is not super easy to download individual files from a project. In fact, there is no option to download individual files directly on the project hosting site.
While you may view any file by clicking on it, the page that opens does not offer direct download options. You may use raw view for that, but it is anything but convenient.
GitHub Plus
GitHub Plus for Google Chrome has been designed to make things easier for users. You will notice for instance that it displays file sizes next to any file listing on GitHub.
The browser extension places cloud icons next to any file listing as well. A click on the icon downloads the file directly to the local system. That’s easier than going through the raw mode hoops or downloading the whole project just to gain access to a few files.
Download links are only displayed for files but not for directories or symbolic links.
Things don’t stop there though. When you open a file on GitHub, additional options are provided on that page as well.
The add-on displays the size of the file and the download button on the right side of the file name at the top of the page.
There you find the next copy file button which copies the file contents to the the Clipboard of the computer automatically.
It may take a moment before the data is populated when you load a GitHub project. It took a couple of seconds the most before file size and download links were added to each file listed on the project’s page.
Closing Words
GitHub Plus makes things easier for users who — sometimes — want to download individual files from projects. You save a couple of clicks and some time when you are using the extension to do so.
The extension itself is open source, and you may browse the code — you guessed it — on GitHub as well.