How to download all images from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia articles and Commons category pages show thumbnails. Every image is a file on Wikimedia Commons with an original you can download.

Method 1: Media Viewer or the file page

Click an image to open the Media Viewer and use its download button, which lets you pick the original size. On a file page (File:…) the "Original file" link below the picture does the same.

Method 2: Edit the thumbnail URL

A thumbnail address looks like …/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Name.jpg/250px-Name.jpg. Remove thumb/ and the last part (/250px-Name.jpg), and use the host upload.wikimedia.org.

Method 3: The whole page into one ZIP

In a test on 23 October 2026, PixLasso found 70 images on the English Wikipedia article "Cat", 53 of them as full-size originals, and all 12 sample files downloaded into a valid ZIP. On the Commons category "Cats" it found 202 images, 186 as originals. There, 3 of 12 sample downloads failed with HTTP 429 (too many requests): Wikimedia limits how fast one address can download. If that happens, wait a minute and download the missing files again.

  1. Add PixLasso to Chrome or Edge and open the page.
  2. Click the PixLasso icon, then Deep scan so it scrolls the page and collects images that load late.
  3. Set Min size to 300px to skip icons and avatars. Originals carry an HD badge.
  4. Click Download. You get one ZIP, numbered in page order, converted to JPG if you choose.

The free version saves up to 30 images per download. See how other sites did on the works-with page.

Copyright

Most Commons files are public domain or under a free license such as CC BY-SA, which usually requires credit to the author and a link to the license. The file page lists both.

Tested 23 October 2026 in headless Chromium. Written by the developer of PixLasso; the first methods need no extension.