Selling digital & downloadable products
How to set up and sell digital downloads in WooCommerce — including uploading files, setting download limits, and how customers receive their files.
WooCommerce makes it easy to sell digital files — ebooks, music, templates, printables, software, and more. This guide explains how downloadable products work and walks you through setting one up.
Quick summary
For downloadable products, customers receive a secure, time-limited download link by email after they pay. You upload the file directly to WooCommerce, set a download limit and expiry if you want, and WooCommerce handles delivery automatically. No shipping required.
What you'll need
Beginner 10 minutes- A WooCommerce product already created, or ready to create
- The digital file you want to sell (PDF, ZIP, MP3, etc.) ready to upload
How digital downloads work in WooCommerce
When a customer buys a downloadable product:
- They pay at checkout.
- WooCommerce marks the order as complete (or you can configure it to require manual approval).
- An order confirmation email is sent with a secure download link.
- The customer clicks the link to download the file.
- If you set a download limit, the link stops working after that many downloads.
- If you set an expiry, the link stops working after that number of days.
The customer can also find their download links in the My Account section of your store at any time (while the links are still active).
Step-by-step: setting up a downloadable product
Create or open a product. Go to Products → Add New (or edit an existing one).
Fill in the basic product details — name, descriptions, image, categories. See How to add a simple product for the full walkthrough.
Set the product type. In the Product data panel, open the product type dropdown. Select Simple product. Then check both Virtual and Downloadable checkboxes that appear.
Checking Virtual removes shipping fields (no physical delivery needed). Checking Downloadable reveals the file upload section.
Upload the file. In the General tab of Product data, scroll to the Downloadable files section. Click Add file. Give the file a name (this is what customers see) and either upload the file by clicking Choose file, or paste a URL if the file is hosted externally.
Set the price. Enter the Regular price in the price field.
Set download limits (optional). Two fields control access after purchase:
- Download limit — how many times the customer can download the file (leave blank for unlimited)
- Download expiry — how many days the link stays active (leave blank for no expiry)
Publish the product. Click Publish (or Update).
WooCommerce handles delivery automatically
Once set up, WooCommerce emails the download link to customers immediately after a successful payment. You do not need to do anything manually for each sale.
Selling a product with multiple files
You can attach more than one file to a single downloadable product. Click Add file again in the Downloadable files section to add additional items. Customers receive links to all the files in their order email.
This is useful for products like a course bundle (multiple PDFs + an audio file) or a design kit (multiple format files).
Updating a file after purchase
If you update a file (for example, releasing a new version of an ebook), you can replace the file in the product settings. Customers who have already purchased will receive the updated file if they download again — as long as their download limit and expiry have not been reached.
Granting access manually
If a customer has a problem downloading, or you want to provide access to a product they did not purchase, you can add a download to their order manually.
Go to WooCommerce → Orders and open the customer's order.
Scroll to the Downloads section at the bottom of the order detail page.
Click Grant access and select the product and file. A new download link is issued.
Best practices for digital products
- Use a meaningful file name — "my-ebook.pdf" is less reassuring to customers than "brand-guide-2026.pdf"
- Test the download yourself before publishing — buy a test product using a coupon code to make sure the file downloads correctly
- Consider download limits — allowing unlimited downloads is fine for most products. For high-value software or exclusive content, a limit of 3–5 downloads per purchase is a reasonable safeguard
- File size matters — very large files may time out during download. For files over 50 MB, consider hosting them on a dedicated file hosting service and linking to them
Common questions
Related guides
- Products in WooCommerce explained
- How to add a simple product
- Setting prices & sale prices
- Understanding orders
- Store emails to customers explained
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