IDM downloads stuck at some state (often at 99%). Why does it happen?

This happens because of the following reasons:

1. It is possible if you use old versions of IDM with some sharing sites. We have fixed it in latest version. This why please make sure that you have installed the latest version of IDM.

2. Such problems can occur because of conflicts between IDM and other applications. For example it can be some FireWall/Antivirus/Internet security application that controls network downloading processes and writing data to disks. Such programs interfere in opening network connections and in file creation processes. When IDM wants to write received data to a file, security programs first pass all data through their internal buffers where they scan data for possible viruses. In particular we confirmed such problem with some versions of Eset NOD32 or Eset Smart Security. Users reported successful problem resolution after uninstalling such security programs.

Alternatively if you have Eset NOD32 and do not want to uninstall it, you can try the following recommendation from Eset NOD32:

a) Install Microsoft update support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2789397 and restart your computer.

b) If does not help, open Windows Update Center, find and DELETE update number KB2750841 and restart your computer.

Also please note that IDM cannot in any way bypass a security program when downloading or saving files.

Many firewall and antivirus programs give IDM maximum access rights on downloading and writing to disks during first IDM installation. But after IDM updates, security software may see that IDM executable file has changedand starts to block access or turns on detailed download/write verification without user notification. In this case customers reported high CPU load, timeouts, problems with "99% stuck", and several customers reported data corruption. You can read more about it here:

Also some FireWalls, Antiviruses or Internet security may be not ready for Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10 or Windows 11 and work incorrectly. Or maybe some application is stable with Win 32 bit system but not fully compatible with Win 64 bit system.

Please try to TEMPORARY completely uninstall your FireWall/Antivirus/Internet security application. Note that even disabling the security program may not help because they still have their drivers in memory which do this job in background. Then look if your problem persists. If it is solved, then problem is definitely caused by that application. You can try to contact its developers and ask them for solution or try some other FireWall/Antivirus/Internet security application.

If it does not help, maybe you have some application that functions like FireWall/Antivirus/Internet security and you do not even know about it. It may have something like "Protector", "Defender", "Spyware Remover" or "Cleaner" in its name. If you find such application on your computer, try to uninstall it as well and look if your problem persists.

3. Different "Internet accelerators" or "Video Accelerators" may also interfere in a download process. They also may cause the same problems just like security software. For example problem appears if you enable "Video Accelerator" setting in AVG 2012 antivirus.

Same problems are possible with the following applications:

  • Venturi Firewall
  • WinMount
  • PPLive
  • NVIDIA network access manager
  • NVIDIA NTune
  • IS3 Anti Spyware
  • SpeedBit Video Accelerator
  • Folder Guide
  • Proxifier 3.15

4. Such problems are possible with proxy servers either set in IDM or transparent proxy servers that can be used by your Internet provider. In this case try to change the proxy server, try another Internet provider, or use VPN. Some standalone VPNs also may cause problems (we had reports about problems with some versions of PIA VPN for example), you should try to update them to the latest date or use anot2her one.

Please also note that if a transparent proxy server us used by your provider, the only solution is to set 1 as "Default max. conn. number" option in "Options->Connection" IDM dialog.

5. This problem is possible if you used some crack for IDM (read details). After installing the genuine version of IDM and registering it with a valid serial number problem should disappear.