How to download files from google drive really fast

Should you download it? Lows Storage allowance must be spread across Google Photo management best via an add-on Account-switching can get messy Not especially fast No sharing encryption. Andy A free Android emulator for Windows. Chrome Remote Desktop Remote access with no hassle.

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This causes extra confusion and an extra step to obtain that the customers need to figure out just to obtain their file. If I send a customer a link to their product, I expect that when they click on that link that the file will be downloaded, not previewed. Second, from a personal stand point, being able to send a file and not have to worry about if the receiver can figure out how to download it is a major plus.

There are many reasons why creating a direct link to a file is useful, and luckily there is an easy way to do this. How to create a download link with Google Drive. First off, Google Drive does not allow the user to create a direct download link natively. You will need to alter the URL of your shared file to enable direct download. There are two methods of creating a direct download link; with a third-party application or by yourself. To create a direct download link follow the steps below.

First is the steps to upload and share a file via Google Drive, which always has to be done before you can create a direct download link. How to Alter the URL manually. When you have your Google Drive Sharable Link copied you will need to paste the link somewhere so you can edit it. I suggest Notepad as it will be easy to see and edit without creating a clickable link. Your Sharable URL should look something like this:.

First, you will need to look at the ID number of the file. In the example above, the ID number is in red:. How this works is by telling Google, via a URL, what to do with the file instead of previewing it. Now when your customer or family member clicks on the link they will be directed to the file itself and not Google Drive default user interface.

This method does have drawbacks. Only files. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Affiliate Disclosure: Make Tech Easier may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

Content 1. ZIP Extractor 2. Is this article useful? Yes No. Never Miss Out Receive updates of our latest tutorials. Sign up for all newsletters. I would like to receive newsletters via email. We will not share your data and you can unsubscribe at any time. Just open the file into Docs either by double-clicking it within Drive, if it already has the Docs icon next to it and is set to open there by default, or by right-clicking it and then selecting "Open with" followed by "Google Docs" if not.

From there, if the file is a PDF, it'll automatically get converted into a plain-text document on the spot. If it's any other type of file, you can click "File" followed by "Download" to find options for saving it into an alternate format.

But what if you're dealing with something beyond a basic text file? The answer there lies within an ultra-handy Google Drive add-on called CloudConvert. Open up the add-on's page within the Google Workspace Marketplace, click the button to install it, and follow the steps to add it into your account. You'll see some warnings about the level of access you'll be granting the service, but don't fret: First of all, CloudConvert will have access only to the Drive files that you explicitly send to it or create with it, not to your entire Drive storage — and second, the company's privacy policy makes it clear that it never reads or collects data from uploaded files or does anything shady with your info.

The company makes its money by selling subscriptions , but unless you anticipate doing more than 25 file conversions a day, you won't have to pay to use it. After you've got that added, you can right-click on any file within Drive and then select "Open with" followed by "CloudConvert" to select a new format and begin a conversion.

The resulting file will be saved back into your Drive storage as soon as it's finished. The Drive syncing systems we talked about a minute ago are great on the desktop front — but when you're using Drive from your phone, you're much more limited in options.

Sure, you can use the Drive app's built-in "Make available offline" function — which you can find by tapping the three-dot menu icon alongside any individual file — if you need to keep specific Drive files accessible on your device even when you aren't online.

If you want to actually sync entire folders in either direction, though, or have any files available for use outside of Drive itself, the official app won't be of any help. On Android, an app called Autosync for Google Drive will fill that void. It's among my picks for the best Android file management apps around , in fact, and for good reason: The app makes it as easy as can be to create pairs of folders that are continuously synced between your Drive storage and your phone — in both directions, in just one direction, or even in an upload-and-then-delete sort of arrangement.

You just pick out the local folder and the Drive folder you want to use, select the appropriate parameters, and then sit back and let the app do its work silently in the background over time.

Autosync is free to use for a single folder pairing and with files that are 10MB or smaller. Drive's Quick Access panel — that big strip o' suggested files at the top of the website's main page — is meant to make it faster for you to pull up items you've accessed recently or that Google for some reason thinks you're likely to be looking for soon.

If it seems more like wasted space than a helpful resource for you, though, take note: You can disable it. It'll take you all of 10 seconds to do: Click the gear-shaped icon in the upper-right corner of the Drive website, select "Settings," then scroll down within the first section until you see "Suggestions. We all have those perpetually important files — documents, images, and other resource-like items we pull up all the time. And always having to search for said VIP files to find 'em isn't exactly fun or productive.

Drive doesn't have any way to pin files to the top of a list, but it does have some helpful tools for treating certain files as high priority and making them especially easy to find and access.