

Please note that additional settings can be found in the WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Approved Download Directories screen (linked to from this screen). This is setting is fully backward compatible and can be turned off-on at whim without affecting any already generated file links. No filename or links will be affected when you turn it on, only files uploaded when this setting is checked will have a unique string added to them.

It’s recommended to be turned on and will be turned on by default, but it’s not required if someone has properly configured their upload directory. Select Append a unique string to filename for security if you want to make sure that the security of your files is enhanced.Tick the Grant access to downloadable products after payment checkbox if you wish to grant access to files when orders are Processing, instead of Completed.Guest checkout would need to be disabled. Tick the Downloads Require Login checkbox if you want users to be logged in to download files.This comes with similar drawbacks to those noted above regarding Redirect only (insecure), but it can still be useful in situations where you host assets across a range of different platforms and where some of those are not suitable for your preferred method. When enabled, if for any reason an individual file cannot be served via your preferred method then a redirect will be used instead. If you have selected either Force Downloads or X-Accel-Redirect/X-Sendfile then you may also wish to enable the Allow using redirect mode (insecure) as a last resort setting.Using this method means your files will be unprotected and whoever has the upload link will be able to access the file, even when they are not logged in. Redirect only (insecure) – When users download a file, their link redirects to the file.It’s the most reliable method because the file is served directly to the customer and gives you the best performance. Confirm with your web host that one of these modules is installed before using this method. This method requires the X-Accel-Redirect/X-Sendfile module to be installed and enabled on the server. X-Accel-Redirect/X-Sendfile – Downloads are handled by the server (nginx/apache).

In this case, you need to either look at your server or use the redirect method. However, if your files are large, or the server is underpowered, you may experience timeouts during download. Force Downloads – File downloads are forced, using PHP. To ensure files are protected from direct linking, Force Downloads can be used.

Select a File Download Method from the dropdown.Go to: WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Downloadable Products.
