Hey everyone, I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to get a direct URL for files in Google Drive. You know, like how Dropbox lets you change the link to make it a direct file URL?
I want to be able to share links that open files directly in the browser, not start a download. For example, if I have a video or text file, I want it to play or show in the browser instead of downloading.
Right now, when I share a Google Drive link, it either opens the Drive viewer or starts a download. That’s not what I’m after.
Has anyone found a trick to get direct file URLs in Google Drive? Something that would let me link to file.mp4 or document.txt and have them open right in the browser? Any help would be awesome!
yo, i found a trick that works pretty good. use the file ID from the drive URL and add it to this: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=YOUR_FILE_ID
it works for images and some other stuff. just replace YOUR_FILE_ID with the actual ID. not perfect but helps alot for sharing stuff quick
I’ve been grappling with this issue too, and I’ve found a workaround that might help. While Google Drive doesn’t offer a native solution like Dropbox, you can use Google Drive’s API to generate direct links. It’s a bit technical, but essentially you need to create a small script or use a third-party tool that interfaces with the API. These tools can generate direct download links that bypass the usual Drive interface.
Another option is to use Google Sites. If you embed your Drive files in a Google Site, you can often get more direct access to the content. It’s not perfect for all file types, but it works well for documents and some media files.
Keep in mind that these methods might require some setup and aren’t as straightforward as Dropbox’s system. But they can be effective if you’re willing to put in a bit of effort.
I’ve actually been using a nifty trick for this lately. Instead of messing with the Google Drive API, which can be a pain, I’ve found that using the ‘publish to web’ feature works wonders for certain file types. Here’s what I do:
For Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, I go to File > Publish to the web. This gives you a link that opens the document directly in a viewer.
For other file types like PDFs or images, I upload them to Google Drive, then create a new Google Site. In the site, I embed the file using the Google Drive embed option. Then I publish the site and use that URL. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done for most things I need.
One caveat though - this method doesn’t work great for super large files or if you need to update the file frequently. But for most day-to-day stuff, it’s been a real time-saver for me.