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How to Add a Google Drive File to OSDownloads

Written by Steve Burge Steve Burge
Published: 23 January 2026 23 January 2026
How to Add a Google Drive File to OSDownloads

Several customers have asked how to configure OSDownloads to use Google Drive as a remote file repository.

Google Drive’s free storage offers generous disk space. Hosting files on Google Drive and serving them through OSDownloads can also help reduce your site’s bandwidth usage.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to configure OSDownloads Free to offer Google Drive–hosted files for download on your Joomla site.

This process consists of five simple steps:

  1. Upload the required file to your Google Drive account.
  2. Get the Google Drive file ID.
  3. Create an OSDownloads file using this ID.
  4. Create a front-end menu item for the file.
  5. Test the file download.

First, you upload the required file to your Google Drive account. This is where OSDownloads will fetch the file from when visitors download it.

Once the file has been uploaded, you will copy its ID. OSDownloads uses this ID to locate and download the file from Google Drive.

In the third step, you will create an OSDownloads file using the Google Drive file ID. This file acts as a placeholder that presents your Google Drive file for download on your Joomla site.

After creating the OSDownloads file, you must make it available on the front-end of your site. You do this by creating a front-end menu item.

Finally, you will visit your site’s front-end and test the file download.

Let’s take a closer look at each step.

Step #1. Upload the required file to Google Drive

  • Log in to your Google Drive account. In the top-left corner, click New:

click new

  • From the drop-down menu, click File upload:

click file upload

  • Upload the required file from your computer to Google Drive.

Next, you will create a direct download URL for this file. You will use this URL in Step #3.

Step #2. Get the file ID

  • After the upload completes, right-click the file name.
  • Click Share > Copy link.

the copy link menu

  • Paste the link into a text editor, such as Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (macOS), or KEdit (Linux). You should see a URL similar to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNwK-_qHzjJWVc0BqnJpGqL8htMB3C1W/view?usp=drive_link.
  • Copy the file ID located between /d/ and /view?. In this example, the file ID is 1fNwK-_qHzjJWVc0BqnJpGqL8htMB3C1W.
  • In your text editor, create the following URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=<FILE_ID>.
  • Replace <FILE_ID> with the ID you copied from the Google Drive URL. Using the example above, the final URL would be https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1fNwK-_qHzjJWVc0BqnJpGqL8htMB3C1W.

Well done! You have now created a direct download URL for your Google Drive file. Next, you will configure OSDownloads to use this URL.

Step #3. Create an OSDownloads file with the URL

  • In your Joomla dashboard, go to Components > OSDownloads Free > Files:

the files menu item

  • You will be taken to the OSDownloads Free: Files screen. Click New:

the new button

  • This opens the OSDownloads Free: New File screen. Enter a name for your file in the Name field and set the File type parameter to URL.

the url file type button

  • In the File URL field, paste the link you created in the previous step:

the file url field

  • Optionally, enter a description for the file in the Description field.
  • In the settings panel on the right, set the Status parameter to Published.
  • Click Save & Close.

Excellent! Your file is now ready in Google Drive, and OSDownloads is configured to offer it for download.

The next step is to make the file visible on the front-end of your Joomla site.

Step #4. Create the OSDownloads file front-end menu item

  • In your Joomla dashboard, go to Menus. In your selected menu, click the Add Site Menu Item plus icon:

the add new menu item icon

  • Enter a title for the menu item in the Menu Title field.
  • Click Select.

the select button

  • In the Menu Item Type modal window, select OSDownloads Free > Single File:

the single file

  • In the File field, select the OSDownloads file you created in Step #3:

the selected file

  • Click Save & Close.

Step #5. Test your OSDownloads and Google Drive integration

  • Visit your site’s front-end.
  • Click the new menu item for your downloadable file.
  • Click the Download button.
  • You will be prompted to download the file to your computer. Congratulations! You have successfully added a Google Drive file to OSDownloads and made it available for download on your Joomla site.

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