Google Drive has very limited options when you share or reference files as URL paths, so here is how to share Google Drive files as a URL or Link

In our instance, digital signage software needed to reference videos, and other Google Drive content, as an HTTP or URL path.

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How to share a google drive file or doc as a link:

 

1. Go to your Google Drive webpage and open the file you want to share
2. Click on the 3 buttons on the top right and choose “SHARE“
3. Click on “Advanced” and then change the file from “Private” to “On=Public to the web”  (you can share it as URL to specific people as well but then I’m not sure why you would need these instructions as you can just send them a link to the file directly)
4. Click Save and then Done
5. Go back to the 3 buttons on the top right and choose “Get Shareable Link“
6.  

Now, what we are going to need from this link is the FILEID. You need to copy everything after the ‘d/’ but before the ‘/view’

In the example above I highlighted the part you need

1. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9F7aa5Cm7ZFc3RhcnRlcl9maWxl/view?usp=sharing
2. Now take your FILEID and use this link but replace my FILEID with yours –

 

http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0B9F7aa5Cm7ZFc3RhcnRlcl9maWxl 

So you simply take the FILEID and paste it into the above URL and you will now have a Google Drive file that can be shared as a link and see over the web

 

How to share the google drive files so that when people click on the link it automatically downloads the file  (AKA, sending the google drive file as a download)

This site will create a downloadable link of any Google Drive file: https://sites.google.com/site/gdocs2direct/

Copy the “Shareable link” you got from step 1 in the above section and then click on “Create Direct Link“

Copy the provided link from the site and then when you send that link, it will automatically queue up a download of the file

If you want to shorten this link to something more palatable go to bitly.com and you can shorten the URL into something more easily shared

Using BITLY, I changed this URL from: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B9F7aa5Cm7ZFc3RhcnRlcl9maWxl to this http://bit.ly/2sNp2oz

Here is a video of me explaining how to share google drive files step by step

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To share a Google Drive files as a URL you must change the file’s share settings to Public, get the shareable link and enter it into the Google drive direct link generator