How to Create a Link to a PDF

Updated

A short booklet lies on a light surface with a blank blue tag tied to its corner.

To create a link to a PDF, upload it somewhere that gives the file its own web address, set the file so anyone with the link can view it, and copy the link. Then open the link in a private window before you send it. It shows you what someone without your login sees.

To try it now, drop a PDF of up to 2 MB into the box at the end of this page or the PDF to Link tool, and open the link on your phone.

These are two different searches.

  • A link to a PDF is an address that opens the file. You paste it into an email, a message, your bio or a website. That’s what this page covers.
  • A link inside a PDF is clickable text in the document that opens a website or another page. You add it in a PDF editor. In Acrobat: Tools → Edit PDF → Link → Add or Edit, drag a rectangle over the text, and enter the address. You can also add the link in the app you wrote the document in, before you export it. Click it in the exported PDF to check it survived.

Choose where the PDF will live

The link works only while the file stays where you put it, shared the way you set it. So choose the place by how long the link has to work and whether you’ll change the PDF later.

WhereGood whenWatch for
Google Drive, OneDrive or DropboxThe PDF is already there and you’re happy sending from that account.A work or school account may not be allowed to share outside your organization. Deleting the file or changing its sharing breaks the link.
Your own websiteYou want the address on your own domain.A corrected PDF uploaded as a new file usually gets a new address.
A PDF link service such as LitehostYou don’t want the link to depend on your working drive, or you want a page that opens the PDF with a Download button.Check the size limit and how long a free link lasts.

Google Drive

  1. Upload the PDF, select it, and click Share.
  2. Under “General access,” choose Anyone with the link and set the role to Viewer.
  3. Click Copy link.

Share the PDF itself, not the folder it’s in. A folder link shows everything inside.

OneDrive

  1. Select the PDF and click Share.
  2. Open the link settings, choose Anyone, and turn off Allow editing.
  3. Click Apply, then Copy.

If “Anyone” is greyed out, your organization’s admin may have turned it off.

Dropbox

  1. Click Share on the PDF, then Copy link.
  2. Open the link settings and set Who has access to Anyone with link, view only. Then click Save.

People with the link can view and download the PDF. Paid Dropbox plans can turn downloads off; if you do, they can only preview it.

In the Google Drive app on an iPhone or Android phone:

  1. Select the PDF and tap Share.
  2. Under “General access,” tap Change, choose Anyone with the link, and set it to Viewer.
  3. Tap Copy link, then paste it where you need it.

If the PDF is only in your phone’s files, upload it to the Drive app first, or use the box at the end of this page from your phone. Then open the link in a private tab before you send it.

Upload the PDF to your site’s media or file library, copy the address it gives the file, and link words on your page to that address.

  • When the PDF changes, overwrite the old file if your site builder lets you. Otherwise the new file gets a new address, and you update every link that points to the old one.
  • To open it at a given page, add #page= and the page number to the end of the PDF’s address, like …/price-guide.pdf#page=5. Chrome’s PDF viewer follows it. Phone viewers and Google Drive previews may open at page 1, so test the link.

Check it before you send it

Your browser is signed in to your own account, so a link can work for you and still ask everyone else to sign in. Check it as a stranger would:

  1. Open it in a private window on your computer.
  2. Open it in a private tab on your phone.
  3. Scroll to the last page and try the download.

If you see a sign-in page or a “Request access” button, fix the sharing setting before you send it. If it says the file was deleted or the link is invalid, check that you copied the file’s link, not the folder’s.

A raw Drive link is a long string of letters. To show words instead:

  • Gmail, Word and Google Docs: select the words, press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), and paste the link.
  • Print: use a QR code that opens the link. Litehost makes one on Starter and above.

When the PDF changes

Prices, dates and menus change. Replace the file behind the link instead of uploading a new one, or everyone with the old link keeps reading the old PDF.

  • Google Drive: select the file, then More → Manage versions → Upload new version. Then open the link signed out and check it shows the new PDF.
  • Litehost: in a signed-in project, replace the PDF. The link stays the same.

Copies people already downloaded don’t change. If the PDF is a client deliverable, sending a PDF to a client covers when to attach it instead and how to handle copies after a correction.

Example: a price guide linked from Instagram

An illustrative example.

Leo is a wedding photographer. His price guide, Leo-Marsh-Pricing.pdf, is 8 pages and 4 MB, with “Prices for 2027” on the cover. He wants one link in his Instagram bio and in his replies to enquiries, and he’ll change the prices in January.

From Google Drive: he sets the PDF to “Anyone with the link,” Viewer, and opens it in a private window. It works. In January he uploads the new prices as a new version of the same file and opens the link signed out to check that it shows them. The cost: the link depends on that file staying in his Drive, shared that way. If he tidies the folder and deletes it, every reply he’s sent points to an error page.

From Litehost: he creates a project with the PDF and gets a link that opens it in the browser with a Download button. In January he replaces the file and the link stays the same. The cost: on the Free plan his link shows a small Litehost badge and holds 5 MB; Starter, currently $8 a month, removes the badge.

His choice: Drive, because the guide is already there and his account can share outside. He’d use a separate link if his Drive were a work account that can’t share outside, or if he didn’t want enquiries tied to how he organizes his files.

Common questions

How long does the link last? A Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox link works until you delete the file or change its sharing. On Litehost, a link from the box on this page lasts about 15 minutes unless you sign in to keep it. Once you sign in, a Free link stays online while it’s opened at least once every 90 days.

Can I put a password on it? Not on a Google Drive link. Dropbox can on paid plans, and Litehost can on Starter and above.

Where Litehost fits

Litehost gives a PDF its own link, separate from the drive you work in. Drop the PDF into the box below, or sign in at litehost.io and create a project, then copy the litepage.site link. The person you send a public link to doesn’t need an account to open it. A landscape PDF, like a deck exported to PDF, opens one slide at a time.

  • Replacing the PDF keeps the same link. This 37-second video shows a replacement.
  • Plans: a new account gets Pro free for 7 days, with no card. After that, the Free plan holds 5 MB; Starter, currently $8 a month, holds 500 MB.

You don’t need Litehost if your Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox link already opens signed out and you’re happy sending from there.

Before you send

  • You’re linking the PDF itself, not its folder.
  • In an email, the link sits behind words.
  • You know how you’ll replace the file when it changes.