Moving from Download Monitor
Keep your download totals. Add FileDeck’s complete document workflow.
Bring supported downloads and metadata into a searchable library with reporting, lead capture and document maintenance.
One click, on your own site
Switch in three steps
Install FileDeck alongside
Add FileDeck Pro to the same site, with Download Monitor still active. Installing it doesn’t change your existing download pages.
Click Import
Go to Documents → Import & Export → Migrate. FileDeck shows a Download Monitor card with the number of downloads it found. Choose Publish or Import as drafts, then click Import. It runs in the background, so a large library won’t tie up your browser.
Check, then switch
Work through the checks below, swap in the FileDeck block or shortcode, and deactivate Download Monitor once the new library is ready.
What comes across
What the importer reads from Download Monitor, and what it becomes in FileDeck — with nothing sent off your server.
Documents & files
Every download becomes a FileDeck document with its title and description, using the file from its current version, and its older versions go into the document’s version history. Files are linked where they sit when possible; a file in Download Monitor’s protected upload folder is copied into the Media Library, and the original stays where it is.
Categories & tags
Your download categories — including sub-categories — are rebuilt with the same nesting, and your tags come too.
Download totals
Each download’s total count becomes the document’s starting count, so the number doesn’t reset to zero. It is one cumulative figure, not the individual download records behind it.
Members-only access
Downloads marked “members only” become documents restricted to logged-in users, and a download’s WordPress password comes across as the same password. FileDeck keeps its own protected copy of those files when they are on this site. Other locks and extension rules are not read by the importer.
Check before you switch
The importer brings across each download as it is now, with its older versions. Review these points before you replace the library on your live page.
- Older versions come across as copies. Each download comes across with the file from its current version, and its older versions stored on this site go into FileDeck Pro’s version history as copies, with their dates and version numbers.
- A total, not a history. The cumulative download count carries over as a single number. Download Monitor’s individual download log is not imported, so FileDeck’s activity log starts from the move.
- Locks and extensions. Only the members-only setting is read. Email or form locks, purchased extensions and custom integrations need their own review; rebuild the ones you need with FileDeck Pro’s lead capture, form gating or access rules, and test them before you switch.
- Access and links. Downloads that aren’t published in Download Monitor come in as drafts. A members-only download whose file is on this site gets its own copy in FileDeck’s protected vault, and Download Monitor’s original stays where it was, so its links keep working while you run both plugins. Access you add in FileDeck after the import moves that document’s file into the vault, so Download Monitor’s link to it stops working from then on. Once you deactivate Download Monitor, FileDeck answers its download links (a renamed endpoint included) and its
[download]and[downloads]shortcodes, so the pages and emails that use them keep working: see what happens to your old links. - Original files. Files copied out of Download Monitor’s protected folder, and the originals of members-only files, stay in place. Once you’ve switched, delete the ones that no page or other document still uses: until then they’re only as private as Download Monitor kept them.
Why teams move to FileDeck
A searchable library
Four layouts — table, grid, gallery and folders — with instant search, category and tag filters and sortable columns, all in the free plugin.
Search inside your files
Pro indexes supported PDFs and Office files stored on your site, with OCR for scanned PDFs included with Pro (enable OCR in the plugin).
Reporting and leads
Pro adds download charts, popular-document and search reports, CSV export, optional GA4 events, lead capture and form gating.
Prefer a hand? We’ll help you move.
Free assisted migration is available. Tell us which plugin you use and roughly how many documents you have, and we’ll help scope the import and check the result with you. If you’re on an eligible paid plan with your current plugin, the time left on it can be added to your FileDeck licence — contact us to confirm how it applies to your plan. No credential handoff needed; the importer runs on your own site.
Questions about moving
Do I need to export anything first?
No. FileDeck reads your Download Monitor library directly from your own site, so there’s no CSV to export and no columns to map. Keep Download Monitor active while you import. See the full walkthrough.
Will my download counts and files be preserved?
Each download’s total count carries over as the starting count on its FileDeck document; the individual download records behind it stay in Download Monitor. Files are linked where they sit when possible. Files in Download Monitor’s protected upload folder, and members-only files kept on this site, are copied into the Media Library with the originals left in place.
What happens to older versions of a download?
They go into the document’s version history, oldest first, with their dates and version numbers, where editors can download or restore them; the current version becomes the document’s file. A version that only links to a file on another site has no file here to keep, so it’s left out.
Is it safe to run more than once?
Yes. FileDeck records which download each document came from, so re-running skips downloads it has already imported. If an import is interrupted, start it again and it continues with the rest. The import doesn’t edit your Download Monitor downloads, but members-only files move into FileDeck’s protected vault, so check their old links.
Can I try it before committing?
Yes. Import as drafts and review the documents before they go live; paid plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can also try the live demo first.
Make your next document library FileDeck.
Bring the supported files and metadata across, review the result, then replace your library page when it is ready. FileDeck Pro includes the source-specific importer and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free assisted migration is available.
Try the free library first if you want to evaluate the display. Source-specific automatic import requires Pro. For private libraries, verify permissions with representative accounts before publishing.
Written by the FileDeck team. What the importer brings across was reviewed against the current FileDeck Pro importer on 26 September 2026 — read about our methods.
Download Monitor is a trademark of its respective owner. FileDeck is an independent product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it; the name is used only to identify the plugin you are migrating from.