I’m trying to display a PDF from Google Docs in an IFRAME on my website. I’ve uploaded the PDF using Python’s gdata library and got a link to the document. Here’s what I’m getting:
doc_link = gdocs_entry.GetAlternateLink().href
print(doc_link)
# Output: 'http://docs.google.com/a/mycompany.com/fileview?id=abc123xyz&hl=en'
The problem is when I use this link in an IFRAME, it doesn’t work because the PDF viewer redirects to itself, breaking out of the IFRAME.
I’ve heard about an embeddable Google Document Viewer, but I can’t figure out how to use it with a document I’ve uploaded to Google Docs. Is there a way to make this work? Has anyone successfully embedded a Google Docs PDF viewer in an IFRAME? Any tips or alternatives would be really helpful!
have u tried using the Google Drive API instead? it’s way easier to work with than gdata. u can get an embed link directly from the API, which should work in an iframe without any redirection issues. just make sure ur file permissions are set to ‘anyone with the link can view’ and you should be good to go!
I’ve encountered a similar issue when working with Google Docs PDFs in iframes. One solution that worked for me was using the Google Drive File ID instead of the direct Google Docs link. You can extract the file ID from your doc_link and use it with the Google Drive viewer URL.
Try this approach: extract the file ID from your doc_link (it’s the ‘id’ parameter in the URL) and then use the template https://drive.google.com/file/d/{FILE_ID}/preview, replacing {FILE_ID} with your actual file ID. This URL should work within an iframe without breaking out.
If that doesn’t work, consider alternatives such as pdf.js or Mozilla’s PDF viewer for better control.
I recently faced a similar challenge and found that switching to Google Drive’s embed functionality resolved the issue. I uploaded the PDF to Google Drive and then extracted the file ID from the URL. With that ID, I constructed a URL in the format of https://drive.google.com/file/d/{FILE_ID}/preview, replacing {FILE_ID} with the actual value. This method reliably keeps the PDF in the iframe, ensuring the viewer doesn’t break out. It also provides a clean and responsive look on both desktop and mobile. Just ensure that the sharing settings are properly configured so the file is accessible.