---
c: Copyright (C) Daniel Stenberg, <daniel@haxx.se>, et al.
SPDX-License-Identifier: curl
Long: max-time
Short: m
Arg: <seconds>
Help: Maximum time allowed for transfer
Category: connection timeout
Added: 4.0
Multi: single
See-also:
  - connect-timeout
  - retry-max-time
Example:
  - --max-time 10 $URL
  - --max-time 2.92 $URL
---

# `--max-time`

Set maximum time in seconds that you allow each transfer to take. Prevents
your batch jobs from hanging for hours due to slow networks or links going
down. This option accepts decimal values (added in 7.32.0).

If you enable retrying the transfer (--retry) then the maximum time counter is
reset each time the transfer is retried. You can use --retry-max-time to limit
the retry time.

The decimal value needs to provided using a dot (.) as decimal separator - not
the local version even if it might be using another separator.