Sell Digital Downloads on Shopify: The Free App and Setup

To sell digital downloads on Shopify, install Shopify’s free Digital Products app, create the product, and attach the file (an ebook, a song, a template) or a link to content hosted elsewhere, such as a Notion page or an online course. After payment, the customer gets an email with a download link, and you can also show the link on the thank-you page. You need another app only for things Digital Products does not list, such as license keys or streaming.

Facts come from the Shopify Help Center page on Digital Products, read on October 23, 2026. Many older guides still call the app “Digital Downloads”; its App Store listing now names it Shopify Digital Products, free, with a 4.8 rating from 1,394 reviews on the same date.

Sell a file or a link

The app sells two kinds of assets, and one product can have both:

Links suit content that changes or that lives in another tool: a course on Teachable, a booking page on Calendly, a Notion template. Files suit something finished that the buyer keeps: an ebook, a sample pack, printable art. Shopify does not monitor a link’s destination, so if the page is deleted or made private, buyers get the provider’s error page. Place a test order after adding any link.

Set up a digital product

1. Install Digital Products from the Shopify App Store. It also adds the Digital Products block that the product page needs.
2. Go to Apps > Digital Products and click Add assets, then File or Link. On a store with no digital products yet, the buttons read Add file and Add link.
3. Add the asset. For a file, upload it. For a link, enter the URL (the only required field), and optionally a Link name, the Button CTA text customers click, and Instructions shown with the link.
4. Set delivery. Expand the delivery settings. Access limit defaults to Unlimited; choose Limited and a number in Times per customer if you want to cap downloads. Delivery method is Send automatically by default.
5. Click Save, then open the product from Products to set its price, status and sales channels.
6. Show the download at checkout. In the app’s Settings, under Digital products at checkout, click Add to open the checkout editor and add the Digital Products block to the Thank you page, the Order status page, or both. Buyers of files then see a Download Now link right after paying, and buyers of link products a button with your Button CTA text (or Open Link). This does not work on development stores or stores with a paused plan.
7. Place a test order and check the email, the download page and the thank-you page.

To add a download to a physical product, for example an MP3 with a vinyl record, open that product in the app and click Add an asset. Set its delivery method to Send manually, so the email goes out when you mark the order fulfilled.

Delivery, updates and access

The emails. Digital Products sends two emails you can edit under Settings > Digital products via email: the Digital product ready email with the download link, and the Digital product update email when you change a file or link. Both accept Liquid variables such as {{ customer.first_name }} and {{ shop.name }}.

Updating a file. Customers who already bought keep their links. If you upload a replacement with the same file name, their existing links deliver the new version. If you change the assets of a variant that people already bought, Shopify asks on save whether to email them the updated assets.

Access limits. The limit counts per link a customer receives, not per customer overall. All files in a variant share one count, and each link has its own. Resending the download email keeps the existing count; an update email or a share link starts a new one. A change to the access limit applies to past sales as well as future ones.

Lost emails and gifts. From Orders in the app you can resend the download email or update the customer’s email address. From the product page, Copy download link creates a share link, for example for a gift recipient. Anyone with a share link can download until the limit, and share links do not expire, so do not post them publicly.

Revoking access. In the order, under Product details, click Deactivate. For a link product, also change the sharing settings on the provider’s site, because a buyer who saved the destination URL can still open it directly.

The app’s Orders section shows every digital order with the number of downloads, and each order keeps a history of downloads with date and IP address, which helps when someone claims they never received a file.

When you need another app

Digital Products covers files, supported links, access limits, emails and checkout downloads. Look elsewhere when you need what it does not list. For example, SendOwl’s listing names license keys, PDF stamping and audio and video streaming, with plans from $39 a month (Launch, up to 5,000 orders and $10,000 in sales a year) and a 3.5 rating from 90 reviews on October 23, 2026. Memberships with recurring access are usually a subscription question; our guide to subscription boxes on Shopify covers the free Shopify Subscriptions app.

If you are still deciding what to sell, our guide to profitable Shopify niches compares product types, and the marketing and SEO hub covers how to promote them.

Frequently asked questions

Can you sell digital products on Shopify? Shopify’s free Digital Products app lets you sell uploaded files, such as ebooks and music, and links to content on supported providers, such as Notion pages or online courses, with an email delivered after payment.

Is the Shopify Digital Downloads app still available? The app is now called Shopify Digital Products on the App Store. It is free, made by Shopify, and adds links as well as files.

How large can a digital download be? Each variant can have up to 50 files with a combined size of 5 GB when you upload in the Digital Products app. Files added from the product page in the Shopify admin are limited to 500 MB each.