diff --git a/multiurl/base.py b/multiurl/base.py
index f73c4c5..6e56e0d 100644
--- a/multiurl/base.py
+++ b/multiurl/base.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def close(self, *args, **kwargs):
         pass
 
 
-def progress_bar(total, initial=0, desc=None):
+def progress_bar(total, initial=0, desc=None, disable=False):
     try:
         # There is a bug in tqdm that expects ipywidgets
         # to be installed if running in a notebook
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ def progress_bar(total, initial=0, desc=None):
             from tqdm import tqdm  # noqa F401
         except ImportError:
             tqdm = NoBar
-
+    if disable:
+        tqdm = NoBar
     return tqdm(
         total=total,
         initial=initial,
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ def extension(self, url=None):
             extensions.append(".unknown")
         return "".join(reversed(extensions))
 
-    def download(self, target):
+    def download(self, target, disable_progress_bar=False):
         if os.path.exists(target) and not self.override_target_file:
             return
 
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ def download(self, target):
             total=size,
             initial=skip,
             desc=self.title(),
+            disable=disable_progress_bar,
         ) as pbar:
             with open(download, mode) as f:
                 total = self.transfer(f, pbar)
diff --git a/multiurl/downloader.py b/multiurl/downloader.py
index 67b4f56..e56345c 100644
--- a/multiurl/downloader.py
+++ b/multiurl/downloader.py
@@ -107,5 +107,5 @@ def Downloader(url, **kwargs):
     return MultiDownloader(downloaders)
 
 
-def download(url, target, **kwargs):
-    return Downloader(url, **kwargs).download(target)
+def download(url, target, disable_progress_bar=False, **kwargs):
+    return Downloader(url, **kwargs).download(target, disable_progress_bar)
diff --git a/tests/test_downloader.py b/tests/test_downloader.py
index 1d12f70..331c3f2 100644
--- a/tests/test_downloader.py
+++ b/tests/test_downloader.py
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@
 import os
 
 import pytest
+from tqdm.std import tqdm
 
 from multiurl import Downloader, download
 from multiurl.http import FullHTTPDownloader
+from multiurl.base import progress_bar, NoBar
 
 
 def test_http():
@@ -109,6 +111,13 @@ def test_ftp_download(tmp_path, ftpserver):
         assert original.read() == downloaded.read()
 
 
+def test_progress_bar():
+    bar = progress_bar(10, False, 5)
+    assert isinstance(bar, tqdm)
+
+    nobar = progress_bar(10, True, 5)
+    assert isinstance(nobar, NoBar)
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
     # test_order()