How to Make a Direct Download Link for Google Drive Files

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Quick Links

Key Takeaways

  • By converting a Google Drive file link to a direct download link, you can bypass unwanted pages that open when clicking on the link. This works on any desktop or mobile platform
  • Right-click the file or image you want to share and navigate to Share > Share, and allow anyone access to the file if they have the link. Copy the link to your clipboard
  • Grab the string following /d/ and insert it in the place of FILEID in the following URL to generate a direct download link: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=FILEID

We've all come across that unwanted web page that opens when you click a Google Drive file link. Luckily, with a workaround, you can make a direct download link for your files and bypass that web page. We'll show you how.

This workaround uses your shared file's ID in a custom link to enable direct download for your file. You can use this method on all your devices, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad, and Android.

We'll use a desktop web browser for the demonstration.

Start by opening a web browser on your computer and accessing the Google Drive site. On the site, find the file for which you want to make a direct download link.

Right-click your file (or click the three-dot button), then navigate to Share > Share.

If you just click "Copy Link," you'll need to manually approve access for every person that tries to use it. In some situations that is a great feature, but it can make distributing a file to a lot of people extremely laborious.

A "Share with People and Groups" window will open. If you'd only like select people to be able to download your file, share your file with them. Or, to allow anyone on the internet to download your file, click the drop-down menu under "General Access" and change the setting to "Anyone With The Link."

On the same "Share with People and Groups" window, from the "Get Link" section, select "Copy Link." This copies the link to your Google Drive file.

Your copied link should look something like the following. From this link, copy the text that's between d/ and /view . This is the unique file ID for your Google Drive file.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q7MB6smDEFd-PzpqK-3cC2_fAZc4yaXF/view?usp=sharing

In the following link, replace FILEID with the unique file ID that you copied from above.

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=FILEID

Your final link should look similar to this:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1Q7MB6smDEFd-PzpqK-3cC2_fAZc4yaXF

And that's the direct download link for your selected Google Drive file. Click the link or paste it into your browser, and instead of displaying a web page, it will immediately start the file download. Very handy!

On a related note, did you know you can create "Make a Copy" links to your Google Drive files?

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