Attach URLs as Assets

URL assets let you sell digital products without uploading the files to Fileflare. You add a URL — pointing to a file you host on Dropbox, Google Drive, a course platform, or anywhere else — and Fileflare delivers a redirect link to the customer when their order is fulfilled. The customer never sees the underlying URL; they hit a Fileflare-domain link that redirects to your hosted file.

When you’d use this

• You’re already paying for cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, AWS) and don’t want to pay twice.
• You’re delivering very large files where Fileflare’s storage tiers don’t make sense.
• You’re delivering access to a third-party platform — a course site, a Notion page, a Loom video, a Zoom recording.
• You want to keep your files in a single source of truth (e.g., a shared Drive) and reuse the URL across stores.

How it works

The URL is added to Fileflare as an asset and attached to a Shopify product. When the order is fulfilled, the customer receives a download link on the Fileflare domain (e.g. store.com/apps/digital-downloads/...). When they click it, Fileflare redirects them to the URL you configured.

The Fileflare-domain link is what gets emailed and shown on the download page — not the underlying Dropbox/Drive URL. That means access controls Fileflare offers (download counts, IP limits, expiration, manual blocking) still apply to the link itself. If a customer’s order expires, the Fileflare redirect stops working — even though your underlying file at Dropbox is still accessible to anyone with that direct URL.

Important: once Fileflare hands the customer off to your URL, anything that happens at the destination is outside Fileflare’s control. If you make a Dropbox link public and someone shares the direct URL, Fileflare can’t block that. For the strongest protection, upload files directly to Fileflare instead.

How to add a URL asset

Single URL

1. Open Fileflare from your Shopify Apps menu.
2. Click Upload in the main navigation.
3. Switch to the Add a URL asset tab.
4. Enter a name, an approximate file size, and the destination URL.
5. Click Save. The asset appears in your asset list with a purple Download Link badge to distinguish it from uploaded files.

Once created, attach the URL asset to a product the same way you would any uploaded file — from the asset page, or from the product page in Fileflare.

Bulk via CSV

If you have hundreds of URLs to attach, the CSV import is much faster than adding one at a time. See Bulk add URLs and attach to products for the full walkthrough.

Updating a URL asset

If you replace the underlying file at Dropbox / Drive / wherever, the URL it generates often changes — meaning the existing URL asset in Fileflare points to a dead link. To swap the URL:

1. Upload the new file to your hosting service and copy its new URL.
2. In Fileflare, go to Assets and open the URL asset.
3. Click Edit.
4. On step 3, paste the new URL.
5. On step 4, choose whether to email previous customers letting them know a new version is available. The notification uses your File replace email template (see Customize email templates).
6. Save.

Common issues

• Customer clicks the link and gets a “file not found” error — the destination URL is broken or the file was moved/deleted on your hosting service. Update the URL in the asset.
• Dropbox / Google Drive shows a permissions screen instead of downloading — the underlying file’s sharing setting isn’t set to “anyone with the link can view.” Reshare with public link access.
• You want to apply PDF stamping to a URL asset — not possible. Stamping requires Fileflare to host the file. Upload the PDF directly to Fileflare instead.
• The URL asset isn’t showing in customer download emails — confirm the asset is attached to the product, the product is on the order, and the order status is Paid. URL assets follow the same delivery rules as uploaded files.

Keep learning

• Bulk add URLs and attach to products via CSV
• Other ways to upload files to Fileflare
• URL Assets API reference
• Prevent customers from sharing files