How to Share a PDF as a Link (Google Drive)

A PDF saved on your computer does not have a shareable link yet. To share it as a link, upload the PDF to Google Drive first.

After the upload, Google Drive creates a link for the PDF. You can send that link by email, chat, form, or spreadsheet instead of attaching the PDF file. Before you send it, check the file access so others can open it.

In this guide, you will learn two ways to share a PDF as a link and when to use each method.

Table of Contents

Video Tutorial

Prerequisites

A Google account
A PDF file on your computer or already stored in Google Drive

If your document is still an image, such as a scanned page or a photo of a form, see how to convert an image to PDF in Google Drive first, then come back to share it as a link.

Use this method when you need to share a single PDF link from your computer. You will get the shareable link from Google Drive and, if the PDF is not yet uploaded, add it first.

Getting the Shareable Link

You can copy a PDF link from Google Drive, but others can open it only if the file access is set correctly. Uploaded files are Restricted by default. If you send a restricted link, the other person may see Request access instead of the PDF.

Find your PDF in the Google Drive file list.
Right-click the PDF and select Share.
In the sharing dialog, find General access.

Click the Restricted dropdown and choose the access setting you need.

Access setting	Who can open the PDF	Best for
Restricted	Only people you add by email	Private files or controlled sharing
Anyone with the link	Anyone who has the link	Sharing with clients, customers, students, or external contacts
My organization (only visible on work or school Google accounts)	People in your Google Workspace organization	Internal team or school sharing

Set the permission role using the dropdown next to the access setting.

Permission role	What people can do	When to use
Viewer	Open and read the PDF	Best for most PDF sharing
Commenter	View the PDF and add comments	Use when you want feedback
Editor	Change the file and its sharing settings	Avoid for normal PDF sharing

Click Copy link.
Click Done.

The PDF link is now copied to your clipboard. Paste it into any text field. Google Drive PDF links always start with https://drive.google.com/file/d/. You now have a shareable PDF link you can paste into an email, message, form, spreadsheet, or document.

For a full overview of access settings and permission roles, see Share files from Google Drive.

Tip: Google Drive's sharing dialog gives a view link, which opens the PDF in the browser. If you want the PDF to download directly when clicked, see how to create a direct download link in Google Drive.

Uploading Your PDF to Google Drive

If your PDF is still on your computer, upload it to Google Drive first. Google Drive then creates a link you can send by email, chat, form, or spreadsheet.

Open Google Drive in your browser.
Click + New in the top-left corner.
Select File upload.
Navigate to the folder where your PDF is saved. Select the PDF file.
Click Open.
Wait for the upload to finish. Check the upload status box at the bottom-right. When it says the upload is complete, your PDF is ready.

For more details on uploading files, see Upload files and folders to Google Drive.

Once uploaded, follow the steps in Getting the Shareable Link above.

The web method works well for one PDF link. For multiple PDFs, repeating the upload, access, copy, and paste steps becomes slow.

If you need links for multiple PDFs, use Drive Explorer Pro in the next section to create and log PDF links in Google Sheets.

Drive Explorer Pro is a Google Workspace add-on that works inside Google Sheets.

Use it when you need to create links for multiple PDFs instead of copying each link one by one. Drive Explorer Pro adds each PDF's shareable link, direct download link, file name, and other file details to your sheet in one workflow.

Why use Drive Explorer Pro

Add links for multiple PDFs to Google Sheets without copying and pasting each link manually.
Get a shareable link and direct download link for each PDF automatically.
Save file names, sizes, and types in the same sheet for easy reference.

Install Drive Explorer Pro from the Google Workspace Marketplace:

Launching Drive Explorer Pro

Open Drive Explorer Pro from inside Google Sheets. You can use a new sheet or an existing one.

Open Google Sheets.
Click Extensions > Drive Explorer Pro > Open Drive Explorer Pro.

The Drive Explorer Pro sidebar opens on the right side of your sheet.

Drive Explorer Pro sidebar open in Google Sheets

Note: If Drive Explorer Pro does not appear in the Extensions menu, refresh the Google Sheets page.

One-time setup: Complete the steps below once. Drive Explorer Pro saves your settings for future sessions.

Setting File Access and Column Details

Set the file access level and choose which PDF details Drive Explorer Pro should write into your sheet.

Setting the File Access

In the Drive Explorer Pro sidebar, go to the Settings tab.

Under File Access Settings, choose the access level you need.

File access setting	What it means	When to use
Only me	Only you can open the PDFs	Use for private files or drafts
My organization	People in your Google Workspace organization can open the PDFs	Use for internal team sharing
Anyone with the link	Anyone with the link can open the PDFs	Use when sharing PDFs with clients, customers, or external contacts

Select Anyone with the link if you want people to open the PDFs without requesting access.
Click Save Selected Settings as Default.

Important: This setting applies to the files you select in this session. It does not change permissions on files already in your Google Drive that you do not select.

Choosing Column Details

Go to the List Files tab.

Under Start listing file from, choose where the PDF details should appear.

Option	What it does	When to use
Currently selected cell	Starts adding PDF details from the cell you selected	Use when your sheet is empty or you want to choose the starting point
Append below existing data	Adds new PDF rows below existing rows	Use when adding more PDFs to an existing sheet

Under Select File Attributes to list, select the PDF details you want to add.

Attribute	What it adds to Google Sheets	Why it helps
File Name Linked to URL	A clickable PDF file name	Opens the PDF from the file name itself
File URL	The regular Google Drive view link	Use when people need to open the PDF in their browser
Direct Download Link	A link that downloads the PDF directly	Use when people need to download the PDF instead of previewing it
File Size (MB)	The PDF file size	Helps you identify large files
Mime Type	The file type, such as `application/pdf`	Helps confirm the listed files are PDFs
File ID	The unique Google Drive file ID	Useful for advanced tracking or automation

For most PDF sharing workflows, select File Name Linked to URL, File URL, Direct Download Link, File Size (MB), and Mime Type. Drag the handles on the left to arrange the attributes in the order you want them to appear as columns.

Click Save Selected Settings as Default.

Listing Your PDFs and Getting the Links

Select the PDFs already stored in Google Drive, then let Drive Explorer Pro write their links and file details into your sheet.

Click the List Files tab.
Click Select existing files from Drive and List in Sheets.
Navigate to the folder where your PDFs are stored.
Select one or more PDF files. Hold Ctrl on Windows or Cmd on Mac to select multiple PDFs.
Click Select.

Note: Do not close the Drive Explorer Pro sidebar while it is listing files. Closing it early can stop the process and leave rows incomplete.

Result: Drive Explorer Pro writes the selected details for each PDF into your sheet. Each row shows the PDF name, shareable link, and direct download link based on the attributes you selected.

Google Sheets with PDF file names shareable links and direct download links logged in columns by Drive Explorer Pro

You now have a log of every PDF link. Copy links from the sheet, paste them into emails, or share the sheet with your team.

Important: The Google Sheet and the PDF files have separate access settings. Setting PDF links to Anyone with the link does not automatically share the Google Sheet. In Google Sheets, click Share in the top-right corner, change General access to Anyone with the link, set the role to Viewer, and click Copy link. Send that link so recipients can open the sheet and access all the PDF links in one place.

If you want to format these links inside cells, see how to add a PDF link in Google Sheets.

Creating the PDFs first? Generate business documents as PDF, upload to Drive, then share or link them using the methods above:

Invoice Generator — professional invoices ready to share as PDF links
Quotation Generator — send quotes clients can download directly
Salary Slip Generator — payslip PDFs for payroll folders
Browse all free business tools

Conclusion

A PDF link works only when the access setting is correct. If the PDF is Restricted, people see Request access instead of the file.

Use Google Drive when you need to share one PDF from your computer.
Use Drive Explorer Pro when you need links for multiple PDFs, direct download links, or a saved PDF link log in Google Sheets.

Before you send the link or share the sheet, check access once so recipients can open the PDF without requesting permission.