Download Station Setup on Synology NAS Queue It and Forget It
Your PC does not need to stay awake all night for a big download. Download Station turns your Synology NAS into a download station: queue the files once, and the NAS finishes them on its own.
✍️ Technical Anshu📦 Synology DSM⏱️ 6 minute read
🎥 Watch the full setup in the video — Download Station installed and downloading, step by step
A download station is simply this: the always-on box does the downloading. Your Synology NAS already runs day and night on very little power, so it is the perfect machine to hold a queue of large files — software ISOs, big free releases, your own backups — while your PC sleeps. This core guide covers the complete setup exactly as the video shows it: install, one important setting, your first task, and where the finished file lands.
👆 A working station's task list — the NAS works through the queue on its own (values are examples)
1
Install Download Station from Package Center
Download Station is Synology's own built-in download manager — you do not download it from any website. It lives inside DSM as a package.
Log in to DSM in your browser with an administrator account
Open Package Center → All Packages
Find Download Station and click Install
When it finishes, it appears in the main menu — open it
No licence, no activation, no third-party installer. If a website ever offers you a "cracked" download manager for your NAS, close the tab — the genuine one is already inside your NAS, free.
2
Set the Destination Folder Before Anything Else
The very first setting matters more than any other: where finished files will land. Pick this before you add a single task.
In Download Station, open Settings (the gear icon)
Under the download location, choose a shared folder with plenty of free space — for example a folder you made for downloads
Apply, and only then start adding downloads
Choose the big volume, not the small system-side folder. A download station that fills its disk stops everything — there is a full page in this set on keeping storage under control.
3
Add Your First Download with a Direct Link
The simplest task is a direct URL — a normal file link, like a software ISO or a large file from a site you use.
Copy the file's direct link from your browser
In Download Station, click the create task button (the globe/link icon) and paste the URL
Confirm the destination folder and start the task
The video shows exactly this flow with a real file. You can also upload a .torrent file or drop a magnet link — the station handles all three. Use those only for content you are entitled to download, such as Linux ISOs and other free, legal releases.
4
Queue Several Tasks and Let the Station Work
This is where the station earns its name. Add five large files one after another and walk away — the NAS works through the list at its own pace.
Add each task; they line up in the task list with status and progress
Pause and resume any task with one click — a resumed task continues, it does not start over
Leave the PC off. The NAS keeps downloading because the NAS is the computer doing the work
Your laptop fan stays silent, your PC can sleep, and nothing stops because someone closed a browser tab.
5
Find the Finished Files in File Station
When a task shows Finished, the file is sitting in the destination folder you chose in step 2.
Open File Station and browse to that shared folder
Check the file size looks complete and open or play it once to confirm
Then move it to its permanent home — a media folder, a software folder, wherever it belongs
That is the whole loop: install once, set the folder once, then queue and forget. Everything else in this set — scheduling, phone control, safety — is polish on top of these five steps.
⚖️ Before you queue anything: One rule runs through every page of this set: download only content you have the right to download — your own files, free and legal releases, and media you own or are licensed to use. The station is just a tool; what you point it at is your responsibility.
🎥 See the Complete Setup in the Video
The video walks the whole setup live — Package Center install, the destination folder, the first download and the finished file in File Station.
Yes. Download Station is Synology's own package inside DSM. You install it free from Package Center — there is no licence, subscription or activation for it.
Do I need to keep my PC on while files download?
No. That is the whole point of the station. The NAS does the downloading, so your PC can be shut down or asleep. You only need a PC or phone when you want to add a task or check progress.
Where do finished downloads go?
Into the destination folder you set in Download Station's settings — a shared folder on your NAS. You will find the completed files there in File Station, ready to move wherever they belong.
This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video above • Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments — that is where answers come from 🙏