Are you looking for ways to share files from Google Drive conveniently? Look no further. When you're working with files, nobody wants to be redirected to a page where they still have to click the download option.

Luckily, you can create a direct download link to share your files. That way, your recipients can download files from you by simply clicking a link. Here, you’ll learn how to create a direct download link for your Google Drive files.

The process of creating a direct download link might not seem like the simplest of Google Drive tricks, but if you pay attention to what you're doing, you'll be done in no time. We'll show you two methods you can use to create a direct download link. You can either create the link yourself or use a third-party application.

To create one yourself, here's what you have to do:

  1. Open Google Drive.
  2. Right-click on your file.
    Getting a file link from Google Drive
  3. Click on Get Link.
  4. Below the link, make sure not to restrict your sharing options. Your file should be available for Anyone with the link.
    Copying a file link from Google Drive
  5. Click on Copy link.

The next step is to convert your link to a direct download. Follow these steps:

  1. Paste your link into a notepad (or other text editing app) so that you can edit it.
  2. Your link should be similar to this one: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RG3CAPiwiFlFATUlIIwhk0RrbEU4PgVP/view?usp=sharing
  3. Each file has a unique file ID in the link, this is the text between d/ and /view: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RG3CAPiwiFlFATUlIIwhk0RrbEU4PgVP/view?usp=sharing
  4. Remove the text file/d/ from the link and replace it with uc?id=
  5. Now remove the section after the file ID, including /view and replace it with &export=download in place of the text you have removed. This is what it should look like afterward: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1RG3CAPiwiFlFATUlIIwhk0RrbEU4PgVP&export=download

Anyone who has access to the link can download the file by just clicking on the link.

If you don't want to change the link manually, you can use the Google Drive Direct Link Generator. To convert your link, here’s what you need to do:

  1. Open Google Drive.
  2. Right-click on your file.
  3. Click on Get Link.
  4. Below the link, make sure your file is available for Anyone with the link.
  5. Click on Copy link.
  6. Go to Google Drive Direct Link Generator.
  7. Paste the link into the Enter your sharing URL box.
    Converting a Google Drive link
  8. Click on Create Direct Link.
  9. Copy the link and start sharing.

Google Drive Is a Great Way to Share Files

When you're sharing your files from Google Drive, you’d want to do it in the most convenient way possible. A direct download link will help you save your recipients a lot of time.

The steps mentioned in this article will help you create a direct download link for your Google Drive files. But, there’s still a lot more you can do on Google Drive to help you share files easily.