Notification Email: PDF download link only keeps loading

Hi - I'm trying this out for something similar. I believe I did everything correctly, but when I try to go to the link it just spins. Any ideas?

Hi Ben,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. Are you pertaining to your form CSPG Time Entry Form - 2025-26? I cloned and tested your form, everything worked the way it was supposed to. I was able to download the submission PDF using the PDF Link in the Notification Email. Take a look at the screencast below to see my results:

In addition to this download link, you can also attach your submissions as PDF files to your Notification Emails. Let me walk you through it:

1. In Form Builder, in the orange navigation bar at the top of the page, click on the Settings tab.

2. In the menu on the left side of the page, click on Emails.

3. Hover your mouse over the Notification Email element and click on the Pencil icon.

4. Click on the Advanced tab, toggle Attach PDF to the On position, and select the PDF file you created.

5. Now, scroll down, click on Save, and you're done.

I have Cleared your Form Cache on my end to refresh your forms and as a precaution. You can also clear the browser's cache and cookies. Can you give it a try and let us know how it goes? If the same thing happens again, we'll investigate more to see if we can figure out what's going on.

Once we hear back from you, we can get moving on a solution.

Thanks, John. What I am trying to do is slightly different than you described. In short, I want to store the URL for each PDF in a database that I have. The reason for this is so I can easily access it and resend it if needed. In the past, I was able to do this with no problem, as the URL for each PDF followed a standard format and was publicly viewable by default. Is that still the case? If so, what is the format for the URL of the PDF?

Hi Ben,

Jotform allows you to include a download link for each PDF submission in your Notification Email by using the {pdf-link} tag. This tag automatically generates a unique URL for every submission. By default, the PDF link requires the recipient to be logged into your Jotform account to access the file, meaning the URL is not publicly accessible. If you want users to download the PDF without logging in, you’ll need to disable the login requirement for viewing uploaded files in your account settings. Let me walk you through it:

1. Login to your Jotform account on your Desktop (it's not available yet on the Mobile App).

2. Click on your Avatar/Profile picture on the right side of the screen, and click on it.

3. In the dropdown, click on Settings, or click on this link to go directly to your Settings page.

4. Now, go to the Security tab and uncheck the box next to Require Login to View Uploaded Files under the Privacy section.

While you can store the PDF URL from the notification email in your database, it won’t be publicly accessible by default. To make the link viewable without requiring login, you’ll need to update your account’s privacy settings and disable the login requirement for viewing uploaded files.

Give it a try and let us know if you need any other help.

Hi,

I tried this, but it still isn't what I'm looking for. In my database, I'm looking to create a formula to automatically create the hyperlink to the PDF upon each submission. I know it will include the form ID, submission ID, etc. In short, I don't want to have to copy/paste the link to each PDF upon submission, I want it to automatically generate. I'm just not sure why the format of the hyperlink to the PDF is.

Hi Ben,

By default, accessing a PDF link requires the recipient to be logged into your Jotform account, meaning the URL is not publicly accessible. If you would like to make the PDF links accessible without login, you can adjust this in your account settings by going to the Security tab and unchecking Require Login to View Uploaded Files.

That said, because the PDF URLs are dynamically generated and managed by Jotform, there isn’t a supported way to manually construct or predict the exact link for each submission. The only reliable methods are using the {pdf-link} tag in your email notifications or accessing the files directly through Jotform’s interface.

For this reason, the recommended solution is to include the {pdf-link} tag in your notification or autoresponder emails. This ensures you automatically receive the correct PDF link for every submission, which you can then store, share, or process as needed.

Reach out anytime if more questions come to mind.