Downloaded File Names (RESOLVED)

[Greg_Clarke]

Hi there,

We’re using Airtable as a CMS, and therefore need to maintain consistent file names for all documents - from upload to download.

However, when downloading any file, the name changes.

For example:

Uploaded file’s name - MThree Alumni Graduate Programme.pdf
File’s name when downloaded from Airtable - GIyeN98bRICCUcDTklzO_MThree Alumni Graduate Programme.pdf

Is there any to stop the file name from changing?

Thanks,
Greg

[Aristeidis_Zagk]

totally agree here, really big mess with the file naming. this is totally unconvenient
+it would be really nice if we could preview docs like pdf per page directly inside airtable, without downloading it. like the pictures.

[W_Vann_Hall]

Aristeidis_Zagklis:

it would be really nice if we could preview docs like pdf per page directly inside airtable

When I select a PDF saved as an attachment, I am able to view it within Airtable. (For example, go to my Wardrobe Manager base within Airtable Universe, select “Explore the base,” scroll down to the [Documentation] table, select the <Documents> view, and select any document. When the expanded record window opens, select the document thumbnail stored under {Attachments}; it should open within Airtable.)

(And, yes, it would be nice if downloaded files weren’t arbitrarily renamed.)

[kevin_mills1]

Hi, You seem to be the airtable guru! Have you ever come across a work around for this? Maybe something with zapier or another workflow service? I’ve been trying crack this for weeks to no avail. It’s crushing my soul.

[W_Vann_Hall]

I’m afraid not. About the best I’ve been able to do is create a link that can be exported and loaded into an HTML page; there, right-clicking and selecting ‘save link as’ will download the file with the correct name [with some browsers, under some circumstances]. I’ve not been able to do anything similar from within Airtable itself.

If you want to try the preceding — and maybe you can find a way to trick what we want out of Airtable — use the formulas from this post. Assuming an attachment field {images}, create a formula field with the following formula:

"<A href='"&MID(images,FIND("(",images)+1,(FIND(")",images)-1)-FIND("(",images))&
"' download='"&LEFT(images,FIND(" ",images)-1)&"'>Right-Click and Save as</a><br>"

(You’ll want to keep the precedence shown for double and single quotes; otherwise, you’ll run into trouble during the export.)

Create a grid view, and hide all fields except for the formula field. (If the formula field is the table’s priority field, simply select ‘Hide all fields’; the priority field, by definition, cannot be hidden.)
Export the view as CSV; include the exported file in an HTML page using whichever mechanism is appropriate (server-side, javascript, etc.); and right-click on the link and ‘save link as’ to download the file with its original name.

Admittedly, this will satisfy a small minimum of users facing this problem — but, as I said, perhaps someone can figure out a way to trick Airtable into providing the behavior desired…

[kevin_mills1]

Thanks, this is good cheat but doesn’t work for what I’m trying to accomplish. I do appreciate the help.

[Jacob_Lamoureux]

Hi folks!

We appreciate you posting about this frustration and have taken steps to address the underlying issue. Airtable now generally downloads files with the original uploaded filename, if the file is detected as a valid file type and the filename’s extension agrees with the file type. File type detection is inherently challenging, and we can’t promise it will work 100% of the time, but I think you’ll find some clear improvements here. Please refresh your Airtable app to pull these changes, and feel free reaching out to support@airtable.com if you encounter further issues. We’d be glad to look into them, to further our goal of making downloading and uploading as seamless a process in Airtable as possible.