How can I create download link in HTML?

Question

I have a basic idea of HTML. I want to create the download link in my sample website, but I don't have idea of how to create it. How do I make a link to download a file rather than visit it?

Answer 1

This thread is probably ancient by now, but this works in html5 for my local file.

For pdfs:

<p><a href="file:///........example.pdf" download target="_blank">test pdf</a></p>

This should open the pdf in a new windows and allow you to download it (in firefox at least). For any other file, just make it the filename. For images and music, you'd want to store them in the same directory as your site though. So it'd be like

<p><a href="images/logo2.png" download>test pdf</a></p>

Answer 2

i know i am late but this is what i got after 1 hour of search

 <?php 
      $file = 'file.pdf';

    if (! file) {
        die('file not found'); //Or do something 
    } else {
       if(isset($_GET['file'])){  
        // Set headers
        header("Cache-Control: public");
        header("Content-Description: File Transfer");
        header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=$file");
        header("Content-Type: application/zip");
        header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
        // Read the file from disk
        readfile($file); }
    }

    ?>

and for downloadable link i did this

<a href="index.php?file=file.pdf">Download PDF</a>

Answer 3

Like this

<a href="www.yoursite.com/theThingYouWantToDownload">Link name</a>

So a file name.jpg on a site example.com would look like this

<a href="www.example.com/name.jpg">Image</a>

Answer 4

This answer is outdated. We now have the download attribute as described here.

If by "the download link" you mean a link to a file to download, use

  <a href="http://example.com/files/myfile.pdf" target="_blank">Download</a>

the target=_blank will make a new browser window appear before the download starts. That window will usually be closed when the browser discovers that the resource is a file download.

Note that file types known to the browser (e.g. JPG or GIF images) will usually be opened within the browser.

You can try sending the right headers to force a download like outlined e.g. here. (server side scripting or access to the server settings is required for that.)