Skip navigation
Tip: Using Notepad and a Small Bit of HTML Code to Avoid Offsite Downloads

Tip: Using Notepad and a Small Bit of HTML Code to Avoid Offsite Downloads

Have you ever visited a web site that includes a link to download a PDF, but then find that the PDF just opens in a corrupted browser Window? Or, would you rather just grab the actual download without being redirected to another web site somewhere? I've also experienced issues when the providing web site is down but the download links still work, probably because the download is stored in AWS or another file hosting service.

Here's a quick tip based on something I actually perform pretty regularly. It's valuable for me, so I figure some of you could also find it useful, too.

Create Your Own Download Link

  1. Open Notepad
  2. Insert the following HTML code:
Right-click and choose Save Target As...
  1. Between the quotes insert the download link from the web page.

Example:

Right-click and choose Save Target As...
  1. Choose File-Save As in Notepad and save the file with an .HTML extension.

  1. Locate your saved file, open it in your web browser, right-click the link and choose Save Target As… (or whatever option name your favorite web browser provides)

  1. Save the file wherever you like for opening later on.

I have a text file like this that I keep saved to my computer so that next time I just need to open it again in Notepad and alter the download link.

Have a different method for doing this? Let me know.

 

Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish