diff --git a/winixd/core/app.cpp b/winixd/core/app.cpp
index 1746a3b..c76d5a2 100644
--- a/winixd/core/app.cpp
+++ b/winixd/core/app.cpp
@@ -1494,25 +1494,28 @@ void App::PrepareHeaderContentType()
 {
 	if( !cur.request->out_headers.has_key(L"Content-Type") )
 	{
-		if( cur.request->return_json )
+		if( !cur.request->send_bin_stream )
 		{
-			cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/json; charset=UTF-8");
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			switch( config.content_type_header )
+			if( cur.request->return_json )
 			{
-				case 1:
-				cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/xhtml+xml; charset=UTF-8");
-				break;
-	
-				case 2:
-				cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/xml; charset=UTF-8");
-				break;
+				cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/json; charset=UTF-8");
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				switch( config.content_type_header )
+				{
+					case 1:
+					cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/xhtml+xml; charset=UTF-8");
+					break;
 
-				case 0:
-				default:
-				cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"text/html; charset=UTF-8");
+					case 2:
+					cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"application/xml; charset=UTF-8");
+					break;
+	
+					case 0:
+					default:
+					cur.request->out_headers.add(L"Content-Type", L"text/html; charset=UTF-8");
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/winixd/core/config.h b/winixd/core/config.h
index dcfbcc4..7efd517 100644
--- a/winixd/core/config.h
+++ b/winixd/core/config.h
@@ -544,22 +544,25 @@ public:
 	std::wstring title_separator;
 
 	// how to send static files (uploaded by users) to the webserver
-	// 0 - full path to a file in send_file_header header
-	// 1 - relative path to a file in send_file_header (need http_send_file_relative_prefix set)
+	// 0 - winix will read the content of the file and send it back to the webserver
+	// 1 - winix will use send_file_header header with a full path to the file
+	// 2 - winix will use send_file_header header with a relative path to the file
 	// default: 0
-	// for Apache set: 0
-	// for Lighttpd set: 0
-	// for Nginx set: 1
+	// 0 can be be used with all webservers but it requires to copy the whole file content
+	// you can omit copying the content with values 1 or 2:
+	// for Apache set: 1
+	// for Lighttpd set: 1
+	// for Nginx set: 2
 	int send_file_mode;
 
-	// http header recognized by www server as a file to send back
+	// http header recognized by www server as a file to send back, used if send_file_mode is 1 or 2
 	// default: X-SENDFILE
-	// for Apache set: X-SENDFILE
-	// for Lighttpd set: X-LIGHTTPD-send-file
-	// for Nginx set: X-Accel-Redirect
+	// for Apache set: X-SENDFILE (Apache needs an external module: https://tn123.org/mod_xsendfile/)
+	// for Lighttpd set: X-LIGHTTPD-send-file (https://redmine.lighttpd.net/projects/1/wiki/X-LIGHTTPD-send-file)
+	// for Nginx set: X-Accel-Redirect (https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#internal)
 	std::wstring send_file_header;
 
-	// relative prefix used for sending static files if send_file_mode is 1
+	// relative prefix used for sending static files if send_file_mode is 2
 	// default: "upload-files-internal"
 	// this prefix is added at the beginning of a relative file path e.g.
 	// /upload-files-internal/simplefs/normal/some_directories/file.jpg
diff --git a/winixd/core/misc.cpp b/winixd/core/misc.cpp
index 4a92dd0..9980b07 100644
--- a/winixd/core/misc.cpp
+++ b/winixd/core/misc.cpp
@@ -1162,6 +1162,45 @@ bool GetUTF8File(const std::wstring & file_path, std::wstring & content, bool cl
 }
 
 
+
+bool GetBinaryFile(const wchar_t * file_path, BinaryPage & content, bool clear_content)
+{
+char file[WINIX_OS_PATH_SIZE];
+char buffer[4096];
+size_t buffer_len = sizeof(buffer) / sizeof(char);
+std::ifstream get_file_content;
+
+	if( clear_content )
+		content.clear();
+
+	if( !wide_to_utf8(file_path, file, WINIX_OS_PATH_SIZE) )
+		return false;
+
+	get_file_content.open(file, std::ios_base::in | std::ios_base::binary);
+
+	if( !get_file_content )
+		return false;
+
+	do
+	{
+		get_file_content.read(buffer, buffer_len);
+		content.write(buffer, get_file_content.gcount());
+	}
+	while( !get_file_content.eof() && get_file_content.good() );
+
+	get_file_content.close();
+
+return true;
+}
+
+
+bool GetBinaryFile(const std::wstring & file_path, BinaryPage & content, bool clear_content)
+{
+	return GetBinaryFile(file_path.c_str(), content, clear_content);
+}
+
+
+
 // if there is no an extension it returns a pointer to the last '\0' character
 const wchar_t * GetFileExt(const wchar_t * name)
 {
diff --git a/winixd/core/misc.h b/winixd/core/misc.h
index a287d8f..efaa472 100644
--- a/winixd/core/misc.h
+++ b/winixd/core/misc.h
@@ -662,6 +662,8 @@ bool RenameFile(const std::wstring & from, const std::wstring & to);
 bool GetUTF8File(const wchar_t * file_path,      std::wstring & content, bool clear_content = true);
 bool GetUTF8File(const std::wstring & file_path, std::wstring & content, bool clear_content = true);
 
+bool GetBinaryFile(const wchar_t * file_path,      BinaryPage & content, bool clear_content = true);
+bool GetBinaryFile(const std::wstring & file_path, BinaryPage & content, bool clear_content = true);
 
 const wchar_t * GetFileExt(const wchar_t * name);
 
diff --git a/winixd/functions/download.cpp b/winixd/functions/download.cpp
index 1c80f33..ecb1c99 100644
--- a/winixd/functions/download.cpp
+++ b/winixd/functions/download.cpp
@@ -73,18 +73,32 @@ void Download::MakeGet()
 	cur->request->send_as_attachment = cur->request->IsParam(L"attachment");
 	bool is_thumb = (cur->request->item.item_content.file_has_thumb && cur->request->IsParam(L"thumb"));
 
-	if( config->send_file_mode == 0 )
+	if( config->send_file_mode == 0 || config->send_file_mode == 1 )
 	{
 		system->MakeFilePath(cur->request->item, cur->request->x_sendfile, is_thumb);
+
+		if( config->send_file_mode == 0 )
+		{
+			log << log3 << "Download: reading content of file: " << cur->request->x_sendfile << logend;
+
+			if( !GetBinaryFile(cur->request->x_sendfile, cur->request->out_bin_stream) )
+			{
+				log << log1 << "Download: I cannot read the content of the file: " << cur->request->x_sendfile << logend;
+			}
+
+			// IMPROVEME it would be good to set Content-Type header too
+			cur->request->x_sendfile.clear();
+			cur->request->send_bin_stream = true;
+		}
 	}
 	else
-	if( config->send_file_mode == 1 )
+	if( config->send_file_mode == 2 )
 	{
 		system->MakeRelativeFilePath(cur->request->item, config->send_file_relative_prefix, cur->request->x_sendfile, is_thumb);
 	}
 	else
 	{
-		log << log1 << "Download: send_file_mode in the config should be either 0 or 1" << logend;
+		log << log1 << "Download: send_file_mode in the config should be either 0, 1 or 2" << logend;
 	}
 }