Wget Command on Ubuntu 26.04 (2026): Examples + Cheat Sheet

The wget command downloads files over HTTP, HTTPS and FTP on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and Ubuntu 26.10. Use it for ISOs, packages and scripted fetches when you want a dedicated downloader instead of curl.

Also see Linux networking commands and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS download.

Wget examples on Ubuntu

1. Download a single file

Fetch one URL into the current folder.

wget https://example.com/file.zip

2. Rename the output

Save under a chosen file name with -O.

wget -O ubuntu.iso https://example.com/ubuntu.iso

3. Save into a directory

Create or use a target folder with -P.

mkdir -p ~/Downloads && wget -P ~/Downloads https://example.com/file.zip

4. Continue a partial download

Resume after an interrupt.

wget -c https://example.com/large.iso

5. Limit download speed

Keep bandwidth free for other tasks.

wget --limit-rate=500k https://example.com/large.iso

6. Set retry attempts

Useful on flaky links.

wget --tries=5 https://example.com/file.zip

7. Download in the background

Returns immediately and logs progress.

wget -b https://example.com/large.iso
tail -f wget-log

8. Multiple URLs from a list

One URL per line in urls.txt.

wget -i urls.txt

9. Custom user agent

Some sites expect a browser-like agent string.

wget --user-agent="Mozilla/5.0" https://example.com/

10. FTP download

Works for ftp:// URLs when anonymous or credentialed access is allowed.

wget ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/README

11. Mirror a site carefully

Recursive fetch with depth limits. Be polite; do not hammer servers.

wget --mirror --level=2 --no-parent https://example.com/docs/

12. Check also curl

For headers and APIs, curl may be clearer.

curl -I https://example.com

Useful wget options

Why wget matters

Ubuntu admins still reach for wget when fetching ISOs, release tarballs and package archives in scripts. Knowing -c, -O and –limit-rate covers most real-world downloads.

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