diff --git a/filesystem/android/src/main/java/com/capacitorjs/plugins/filesystem/Filesystem.java b/filesystem/android/src/main/java/com/capacitorjs/plugins/filesystem/Filesystem.java
index c3fb54b44..f680d2e8a 100644
--- a/filesystem/android/src/main/java/com/capacitorjs/plugins/filesystem/Filesystem.java
+++ b/filesystem/android/src/main/java/com/capacitorjs/plugins/filesystem/Filesystem.java
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ private JSObject doDownloadInBackground(String urlString, PluginCall call, Bridg
         Boolean disableRedirects = call.getBoolean("disableRedirects");
         Boolean shouldEncode = call.getBoolean("shouldEncodeUrlParams", true);
         Boolean progress = call.getBoolean("progress", false);
+        Boolean recursive = call.getBoolean("recursive", false);
 
         String method = call.getString("method", "GET").toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT);
         String path = call.getString("path");
@@ -348,6 +349,10 @@ private JSObject doDownloadInBackground(String urlString, PluginCall call, Bridg
         final URL url = new URL(urlString);
         final File file = getFileObject(path, directory);
 
+        if(recursive) {
+            file.getParentFile().mkdirs();
+        }
+
         HttpRequestHandler.HttpURLConnectionBuilder connectionBuilder = new HttpRequestHandler.HttpURLConnectionBuilder()
             .setUrl(url)
             .setMethod(method)
diff --git a/filesystem/ios/Sources/FilesystemPlugin/Filesystem.swift b/filesystem/ios/Sources/FilesystemPlugin/Filesystem.swift
index 51c7ba206..3d44580d5 100644
--- a/filesystem/ios/Sources/FilesystemPlugin/Filesystem.swift
+++ b/filesystem/ios/Sources/FilesystemPlugin/Filesystem.swift
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ import Capacitor
     // swiftlint:disable function_body_length
     @objc public func downloadFile(call: CAPPluginCall, emitter: @escaping ProgressEmitter, config: InstanceConfiguration?) throws {
         let directory = call.getString("directory", "DOCUMENTS")
+        let recursive = call.getBool("recursive", false)
         guard let path = call.getString("path") else {
             call.reject("Invalid file path")
             return
@@ -222,7 +223,7 @@ import Capacitor
                     let dest = dir!.appendingPathComponent(path)
                     CAPLog.print("Attempting to write to file destination: \(dest.absoluteString)")
 
-                    if !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: dest.deletingLastPathComponent().absoluteString) {
+                    if recursive && !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: dest.deletingLastPathComponent().absoluteString) {
                         try FileManager.default.createDirectory(at: dest.deletingLastPathComponent(), withIntermediateDirectories: true, attributes: nil)
                     }