In this sectionFiles and delivery5 articles
Download limits and link expiry
How long a buyer's download link lasts and how many times they can use it.
Where these are set
Both are per offer, set when you create it and changeable any time afterwards.
Link expiry
The download link works for this long from the moment of purchase, then stops.
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Default: 30 days
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Minimum: 7 days
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Maximum: 365 days
Why links expire. A link that never expires is a permanent address for your product. Given enough time it ends up posted somewhere and you have no way to stop it. Expiry is what makes the link safe to email — it limits how long any leak stays useful.
Choosing a window. 30 days suits most sellers: long enough that a busy buyer still gets their file, short enough that a leaked link goes stale. Go longer for reference material buyers return to. Go shorter for high-value products or a time-limited release.
Buyers keep the file once they've downloaded it. Expiry limits how long they can fetch it, not how long they can own it — saying that on your product page prevents anxious emails.
Download limit
How many times a single buyer's link can be used.
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Default: 5
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Range: 1 to 20
Only completed downloads count. A failed or interrupted download doesn't burn an attempt.
5 is right for most sellers. It covers the legitimate cases — downloading on a phone then a laptop, losing the file, a corrupted first attempt — without turning the link into unlimited distribution.
Setting it to 1 is a mistake most people make once. One failed unzip, one accidental deletion, one buyer who downloads on their phone and then wants it on their computer, and you have a support email. The piracy it prevents is minimal — a determined sharer uploads the file elsewhere after their single download anyway.
Higher numbers suit large files, bundles buyers work through in stages, or anything where re-downloading is genuinely normal.
These are your only controls
Expiry and the download limit are what protect your file. There's no way to cut off an individual buyer's link early, so choose both with that in mind.
Two consequences worth knowing:
Refunding doesn't stop a download. A refunded buyer keeps their link until it expires or hits its limit. If that concerns you, a shorter expiry across the board does more than any action you can take after the fact.
A shared link stays live until it runs out. Tight settings on high-value products are the defence here, not intervention afterwards.
Changing them later
Both settings apply to new purchases only. Links already issued keep the expiry and limit they were created with.
What you can see
Open an order and you'll see how many downloads have been used, when the link expires, and when it was last opened. That's how you spot a link being shared — downloads far beyond normal use on a single order.
If it doesn't work
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A buyer's link expired or ran out. Resend it. A resend issues a fresh link with the download count reset.
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You want unlimited downloads or links that never expire. Not available. 20 downloads and 365 days are the ceilings.
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You need to stop someone downloading. Not possible at the moment.