Two Google Drive PDF Hacks You Need To Know as a Course Creator

Raise your hand if you’ve practically live in Google Drive running an online business! ✋Between Kajabi and Google, that’s probably where I spend at least 75% of my time as an online business owner. 😂

Along the way, I’ve picked up some Google Drive tricks that can save you time and headaches. If you run an online business as a course or membership creator, see if these can help you, too.

 1. Force a PDF Download 

Do you ever want to share a PDF with someone, but instead of just sharing the Google “share link” where the person views it in their web browser but still needs to download it, you want it to automatically download to their device when they click the link instead? Here’s how you can!

1. Click the sharing button to get the share lin
2. Copy that link into your Notes App (or somewhere else on your computer)
3. Find the string of numbers and letters in the link that is the file ID
4. Delete /file/d and /view?usp=drive_link
5. Add in uc?export-download&id= right before the file ID
6. Share your newly created link!

I love to use this option if I am sharing a PDF file as part of a lead magnet. When they click a button on a Kajabi page or in an email, I can add this link so that it automatically downloads the PDF.

2. Update a PDF File While Keeping the Same Link

Have you ever created a PDF for a lead magnet or as part of your course or membership materials, shared it via the Google Drive share link, and then made changes to that PDF later on? Instead of just uploading the new version of the PDF and creating a brand new share link, you can actually upload the new version of the PDF right over the original version and keep the share link the same. Here’s how:

1. Click the PDF file in Google Drive that you want to replace
2. At the top right, click More, then File Information → Manage Versions
3. Click the button “Upload New Version”
4. Upload your PDF and you’re done!

That’s it! You now have the newest version uploaded and the link stays the same!

Which one of these are you most excited to try out? I’d love to know! Send me an email at [email protected].

P.S. If you stumbled across this blog post - hi, I’m Courtney! I’m a Kajabi specialist that helps experts set up their online course or membership tech in Kajabi in a day. If you want to learn more, just click here to get all the details about my VIP Day service.