Convert a Drive link into a direct download link

If you've ever shared the link of a file hosted on Google Drive, you know that the generated link forces you to go through the Google Drive interface, before being able to download the file.

But there's a trick to turn this link into a direct download link, with just two steps:

Step 1: Get your Google Drive link

To do this, right-click on your file > Get link

You'll then need to allow access to anyone with the link, and all that's left to do is click on "Copy link".

Here's what you should get: https://drive.google.com/file/d/[XXXXXXX]/view?usp=share_link

Note that this trick only works for uploaded files (images, pdf,...) and not for Google Docs, Spreadsheets,...

Step 2: Build a new link

To build your direct download link, all you need to do is take the link below, and replace the document ID present in the link you just got!

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=[XXXXXXX]

And there you go!

Alternative: Use GDocs2Direct

If you don't feel like bothering with this, you can also use the tool below to do it automatically:

https://sites.google.com/site/gdocs2direct/