Files ending in the .CRDOWNLOAD extension are created by the Google Chrome Web Browser and used to store all the content received from the internet while the download is incomplete. They're miscellaneous files with a temporary extension that is removed upon the completion of the download process.

For example, a sound file named "MySong.mp3" would be named "MySong.mp3.crdownload" while the downloading process is active. When a download is initiated, Google Chrome starts saving all information in the new .crdownload file without adding any other data or using any compression or encoding. The file is temporary but remains unaltered and it is saved directly in the Google Chrome Downloads folder designated by the user.

How to open a .CRDOWNLOAD file

Files with the .crdownload extension stored in the Downloads folder of Google Chrome are all results of crashes or downloads that ended unexpectedly due to other reasons like disconnects. In this kind of situations, users should simply restart the download.

However, if this is not possible, removing the .crdownload extension will sometimes enable the user to open the file and have access to a portion of the stored data. For example, some video files will still be playable even if they're not complete.