To download means to copy information from the internet or another computer onto your own device. When you download a song, a game, or a school assignment from the cloud, you're transferring it from somewhere else so you can use it on your computer, tablet, or phone, even without an internet connection.

Think of it like checking out a book from the library and bringing it home. The library still has the original, but now you have your own copy to read. When you download a file, the original stays where it was, but you get a copy saved on your device.

The opposite is upload, which means sending information from your device to somewhere else. If you download your teacher's homework assignment from the class website, you might complete it and then upload your finished work back to the site.

People download all sorts of things: apps for their phones, movies to watch on long trips, photos from email, or updates that improve how their devices work. Before downloading became common in the 1990s with the rise of the internet, people had to buy physical copies of software, music, and movies in stores. Now downloading lets you get almost anything in seconds, though larger files like video games or movies can take several minutes depending on your internet speed and file size.