GrabThis Download Manager
A clear view of privacy.
This page describes the current website and the basic connection between GrabThis and your browser.
On this website
This website does not have accounts, contact forms, or analytics scripts. Your appearance preference is saved in your browser’s local storage. Website hosting may process request and security logs.
Inside the desktop app
Download history, preferences, and files are stored on your computer. Downloads connect to the source website. The browser companion uses a local native connection to pass supported download requests to the installed app. The app checks public GitHub release metadata on startup and every six hours, and when you request a check. These requests and installer downloads expose normal connection information such as your IP address to GitHub; they do not send download history or preferences. On Windows, HTTP(S) downloads receive Internet-origin metadata when supported by the filesystem and permitted by Windows policy.
Browser companion data
The optional browser companion checks supported HTTP(S) pages for video players and observes download and media-request metadata to identify supported sources. URLs and available media titles/format metadata are sent to the local desktop app. For downloads that need a signed-in session, the browser fetches the file using its existing session and streams the file bytes to the local app; keep that browser open during the transfer. Cookie values are not exported to GrabThis, and the extension does not read request bodies. YouTube may inspect formats automatically; other sites inspect after you click. Capture recovery state and connection diagnostics are stored locally, and media observations use bounded short-lived caches. There is no developer analytics endpoint. Remove the extension to clear its browser-local data; app history and files are managed separately inside GrabThis. The local setup check stores the browser family, companion version, site-access permission and most recent connection time; this setup information is not sent to a developer endpoint.
External services
Vercel hosts this website, GitHub hosts release downloads and public issue tracking, and Ko-fi handles optional support. Download sources and these external services have their own privacy practices.