Since the official launch of Google Drive, we can agree that this is one of the best tools of the people of La Gran G, a cloud storage solution that many of us use for different reasons, including the great ease of operation from different devices . Of course, we can always discover how to take advantage of it even more. In this case, if you want others to have access to the content you store on your computer, we will show you how to create download links for Drive files ..
Basically, we want to show you then how to create a link to download a file in Google Drive , so that you do not have to be granting permissions or anything like that, in turn making it easier for other people to download those elements on any device, and always have them at hand.
The interesting thing about the case is that there are as many methods to create these download links for Google Drive files as there are reasons for wanting to do so, so in the following lines you will discover some of them..
Generate a file download link in Google Drive
Create a public folder first
Before continuing with the tutorial, the first thing we have to do is create a public folder in Drive, for which we are going to log in to this service, enter "My Drive" and create a new folder with its name .
Once created, you have to right click on it and select the "Share" option to modify its access on the Internet, when someone outside of it wants to access it..
In the next menu, you have to go to "Change to anyone who has the link" and click on Done
Once you have done the above, then you have a public folder in Drive, to which you will upload all the files for which you want to get a direct download link . No more no less.
Once this is done, then, you will be able to share folders, files and documents in Google Drive more simply.
Create link for direct mode downloads
Let's take an example, because this is the way that everyone will understand how to generate a file download link for Drive and thus get out of trouble. It takes a couple of seconds, but it's not complicated .
In the public folder, you must right click, and go to Get link to share. You will see a link like this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/ 1ANDcc90D8bAUVtgwFOmXPDVv507XXXXX / view? usp = download
You have to identify the ID of the file , which is the one we have marked in bold in the previous line, and copy it. But do not copy it anywhere, but you have to add it to this address:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=Id_File
Therefore, we could say that the result achieved should be the following:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1ANDcc90D8bAUVtgwFOmXPDVv507XXXXX
As you can see, you don't need anything else to be able to create a download link, and you only have to modify the ID considering that of each of the elements you want to share. For once, it is enough.
Create download link with Download Link Generator for Drive
A second alternative that we have in these cases is to use a complement available in GSuite, and for many it is essential. This is the Download Link Generator for Drive plugin .
All you have to do is go to the plugin page from this link , granting it the permissions it asks for, installing it, and starting to generate your links in the simplest way possible.
Basically, when you right-click on any file located within the public folder, and scroll to the "Open with ..." menu , you have to select this add-on , and you will get your link, without any delay.
If you usually have to create links, there is no doubt that this solution is superior .
Conclusions and details
Finally, it is interesting to take into account some issues, such as that the files that we are going to provide to others cannot exceed 25MB. And this is a major problem .
What happens is that Google Drive performs an antivirus check above that weight or size, thus preventing a direct download from being made , and sending us to use another storage in the cloud.
Of course, below that weight we are seeing, and we have the possibility of saving the money it costs to pay for hosting, something that does not make much sense if we talk about rather small files.
Of course, the good news is that the type of file we are talking about is indifferent , and it can be videos, as well as photographs, images, audios, office package documents, etc.