Creating downloadable products in webstore

Downloadable Simple Products

To get started:

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Products > Add Product to add a new Simple product as outlined in Adding and Managing Products.
2. Tick the Downloadable checkbox:
3. After ticking this box, other options appear – Downloadable Files, Download Limit, Download Expiry.
4. Select the Add file button, and then name the file. Enter the downloadable URL if it’s hosted elsewhere, or select the Choose file button to either insert an existing file from your Media Library or to Upload a new file. Upload the file and click Insert to set up each downloadable file URL.
5. Enter “Download limit” (optional). Once a user hits this limit, they can no longer download the file.
6. Enter “Download expiry” (optional). If you define a number of days, download links expire after that.
7. Once you’ve completed this edit to the product, press Publish or Update as usual.

Downloadable Variations

Variable products can also have downloadable variations. When adding a variation tick the Downloadable checkbox and more options appear.

Options work the same as Simple Products: Set the file path, optionally choose a download limit and expiry, and save.

Combining Downloadable and Virtual products

If you tick the Downloadable checkboxes, products can have stock and are treated as physical products. This allows you to sell downloads and real products together.

If you want to add/sell a downloadable product that does not have a physical component, enable the Virtual option.

Usage

The ordering process for downloadable products is:

1. The customer adds a downloadable product to their cart.
2. The customer checks out and pays.
3. After the payment, several things can happen depending on your setup:
   • If items in the order are all downloadable + virtual, the order is completed.
   • If items are physical and downloadable/virtual, the order is processing until you change it.
4. Once complete, or if the option “Grant access to downloadable products after payment” is enabled, the customer can:
   • Be granted download permission
   • See download links on the order received page
   • See download links in their email notification
   • See download links on their ‘My Account’ page if logged in

Customers can then download files.

Invoice/Order Email

The customer receives an invoice/order confirmation with a clickable link to download if the order is processed and paid.

If your Completed Order emails do not include links for the download files, then there may be an issue with your site’s database, which we have a guide for fixing here: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/completed-order-email-doesnt-contain-download-links/

Managing Orders with Downloadable Line items

1. Go to: WooCommerce > Orders and select the order to view or edit.
2. Scroll down to the Downloadable Product Permissions meta box, which displays the download and how many times the customer had accessed it.
3. Revoke access, grant access to new downloads, or exit order.

Download logs/reports

Downloads of digital/downloadable products have unique IDs that are tracked and logged in Reports.