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When you share a Zip file in Google Drive, you land on a page to view all the files inside the zip file and to download the entire file the user has to click File → Download. I've noticed a lot of users don't get this so I actually have to tell them to click File → Download when all I really want to do is give them a link to directly download the file.

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  • I found out that for some reason, the direct link works only on the current file version. If I update the zip files and upload it again to Google Drive, with the same name, the direct link I have created before goes to the old version of the file and not the new file. So I have to create a new direct link, which doesn't help so much.
    – user39655
    May 7, 2013 at 9:57
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    @user39655 - I have minimal experience with Google Drive so I don't know if it would work, but couldn't you share a folder, then whatever files and file-versions you put into the folder would be shared.
    – Kevin Fegan
    Mar 31, 2015 at 18:45
  • Same post, just in SO: stackoverflow.com/q/25010369/435605
    – AlikElzin-kilaka
    Jun 22, 2019 at 10:56

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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For the moment, you have to build the URL manually.

https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=YourIndividualID

Where YourIndividualID is the ID of the respective document (zip file). You get it either from the URL or by clicking File → Share and copying it from the sharing URL.

Source.

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    I do this quite a bit so created a Google sheet that I can paste the original sharing link into so it can pull out the ID then creates the new direct download link.
    – Dennis
    Aug 14, 2015 at 20:37
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    It's kind of hack way, i worry it will not work in future. Is there any official way to do that
    – Jacky
    Nov 17, 2016 at 23:50
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    Not working....
    – Riyafa Abdul Hameed
    Aug 29, 2017 at 3:18
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    This works for files. Is there a solution for a directory?
    – Hrvoje T
    Jan 8, 2019 at 6:38
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    The article Share Direct Links to Files in Google Drive and Skip the Web Viewer shares a bit more information about how to construct the URL correctly.
    – Senseful
    Mar 7, 2019 at 20:16
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Also, while viewing the content of zip file, you can click Ctrl+S to download the whole directory as zip file.

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  • How does one "view the contents of a zip file" in Google Drive? I think you meant to say "view the contents of a folder".
    – ahorn
    May 23, 2020 at 10:41
8 
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=YOUR_FILE_ID

Replace "YOUR_FILE_ID" for the ID of your file

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2

This is also a good link:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=no_antivirus&id=XXXXXXXXX

with antivirus inactive, and you can download files of any size.

Just replace the xxxxx by the file ID that you get when sharing a file:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=no_antivirus&id=0BzAzYuV51kTzRkt4bEpIZ3UwX3c
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  • 6
    confirm=no_antivirus doesn't stop the warning/prompt for scanning
    – rainabba
    Dec 5, 2015 at 16:37
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I wrote a user script for this you can install with Tampermonkey/Greasemonkey: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/10052-google-drive-direct-links

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