When you download a file in Chrome, the download shelf makes its appearance at the bottom of the browser. It keeps you apprised of a current download's progress, but can get in the way of the page you are viewing, and it must be closed manually.

If you aren't enamored with managing your downloads from the download shelf, the Downloadr extension for Chrome adds a button to the right of Chrome's URL bar that you can use instead to keep tabs on your downloads.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Click on the button to open a small panel with a chronological list of your downloads. Each download in progress has a Cancel link below its file name that you can click to pause a download. Paused downloads then have a Retry download link to resume the download.

During downloading, Downloadr's panel shows a file's size and the speed and progress of the download. After a file has finished downloading, clicking on the file name opens the files while clicking the link below the file name opens the folder where it was placed.

Downloadr

Right-clicking on an item of the list brings up an X button to delete it from the list, and there is also a Clear button at the top of the list to delete off the files listed.

Via Ghacks.