The download attribute can accept an optional value, allowing the author to create a custom, human-friendly name for the downloaded file.

Some may feel that the presence of the download attribute is redundant when applied to links the browser already knows to store. I disagree.

The debate about whether a button or link should be used to download a file is a bit silly, as the whole purpose of a link has always been to download content. HTML is a file, and like all other files, it needs to be retrieved from a server and downloaded before it can be presented to a user. The difference between a Photoshop file, HTML, and other understood media files, is that a browser automatically displays the latter two. If one were to link to a Photoshop .psd file, the browser would initiate a document change to render the file, likely be all like, “lol wut?” and then just initiate the OS download prompt. The confusion seems to come from developers getting super literal with the “links go places, buttons perform actions.” Yes, that is true, but links don’t actually go anywhere. They retrieve information and download it. Buttons perform actions, but they don’t inherently “get” documents. While they can be used to get data, it’s often to change state of a current document, not to retrieve and render a new one. They can get data, in regards to the functionality of forms, but it continues to be within the context of updating a web document, not downloading an individual file. Long story short, the download attribute is unique to anchor links for a reason. download augments the inherent functionality of the link retrieving data. It side steps the attempt to render the file in the browser and instead says, “You know what? I’m just going to save this for later…”

One of those attributes is called download. It tells the browser that the destination of the link should be saved to your device instead of visiting it. You’re still “navigating” to the file, only instead of viewing it, you’re snagging a copy for your own use. Any kind of file can be a download! This even includes HTML, something the browser would typically display. The presence of the attribute is effectively a human-authored flag that tells the browser to skip trying to render something it has retrieved and just store it instead