Troubleshooting Download Issues

Comprehensive solutions to common download problems for both customers and merchants.

Quick Troubleshooting Guide

Most common issues:

Problem	Quick Fix
Can’t find download link	Check spam folder, look in account
Link expired	Request new link from support
Download won’t start	Try different browser, disable popup blocker
Limit reached	Contact support for reset
File won’t open	Install required software, check file integrity
Slow download	Check internet connection, try off-peak hours

Customer-Reported Issues

Issue 1: “I Never Received the Download Link”

Common causes:

Email in spam/junk folder
Incorrect email address
Email service blocking
Order under fraud review

Solution Steps:

Step 1: Check spam folder

Ask customer to check:
• Spam folder
• Junk folder
• Promotions tab (Gmail)
• All Mail folder

Step 2: Verify email address

In Shopify admin:
1. Find order
2. Check customer email
3. Verify spelling
4. Check for typos

Step 3: Check email logs

In app:
1. Go to Email Logs
2. Search for order number
3. Check send status:
   - Sent ✓
   - Failed ✗
   - Pending ⏳

Step 4: Resend email

If not sent or failed:
1. Find order in app
2. Click "Resend Download Email"
3. Confirm customer email
4. Send

Step 5: Check fraud status

If order flagged:
1. Go to Flagged Orders
2. Find order #
3. Approve if legitimate
4. Email sent automatically after approval

Workaround: Manual link sharing

If email repeatedly fails:

1. Copy download link from order
2. Send directly via:
   - Support chat
   - Separate email from personal account
   - SMS (if available)

Issue 2: “Download Link Says It’s Expired”

Cause: Link past expiry date (typically 60 days)

Solution for customers:

Contact support with order number
Support will generate new link

Solution for merchants:

Verify purchase:

Check order in Shopify admin
Confirm payment received
Verify legitimate customer

Generate new link:

In app:
1. Find order
2. Click "Generate New Download Link"
3. Old link deactivated
4. New link created
5. Copy and send to customer

Optional: Extend expiry

Adjust expiry in Settings if too short
Consider: 90 days or longer for certain products

Prevent future occurrences:

Adjust global expiry setting:
Settings → Download Security → Link Expiry
Increase from 60 to 90 days

Send expiry reminders (if available):

Email customer 7 days before expiry:
"⚠️ Your download link expires soon!"

Issue 3: “I Clicked Download but Nothing Happened”

Common causes:

Popup blocker
JavaScript disabled
Browser extension blocking
Slow ZIP generation

Solution Steps:

Step 1: Check popup blocker

Customer should:
1. Look for popup blocked indicator (address bar)
2. Click to allow popups
3. Retry download

Browser-specific:

Chrome: Icon right of address bar
Safari: Settings → Websites → Pop-up Windows
Firefox: Shield icon in address bar

Step 2: Try different browser

If Chrome doesn't work:
• Try Safari, Firefox, or Edge
• Use incognito/private mode (disables extensions)

Step 3: Disable browser extensions

Ad blockers or security extensions may interfere:
1. Disable extensions temporarily
2. Retry download
3. Re-enable after download

Step 4: Check if ZIP generating

If multiple files:
• Look for "Preparing ZIP" message
• Wait for generation to complete
• May take 30-60 seconds for large files

Step 5: Try individual file download

If "Download All" doesn't work:
• Try downloading files individually
• One at a time
• Bypass ZIP generation

Issue 4: “Download Limit Reached”

Cause: Customer exceeded download count (typically 3-5)

Customer sees:

❌ You've reached the maximum downloads (5) for this order.
Contact support for assistance.

Solution for merchants:

Step 1: Verify legitimacy

Check download history:
• Review IP addresses
• Check dates/times
• Look for abuse patterns

Legitimate reasons:

Hard drive failure
Accidental deletion
File corruption
New computer
Downloaded wrong file

Suspicious patterns:

Many different IPs
Rapid consecutive downloads
International locations (if customer local)

Step 2: Reset counter (if legitimate)

In app:
1. Find order
2. Click "Reset Download Count"
3. Counter resets to 0
4. Notify customer
5. Add note explaining reason

Step 3: Communicate with customer

If suspicious:
"We need to verify a few details before resetting
your download count. Can you confirm:
1. Reason for additional downloads needed
2. Are you sharing the link with others?
3. Billing address: [address]"

Prevention:

Adjust download limit if too low:
Settings → Security → Download Limit
Increase from 3 to 5 or 10

Or use unlimited (less secure):

Download Limit: Unlimited
Trade-off: Enables link sharing

Issue 5: “File Won’t Open or Is Corrupted”

Possible causes:

Download interrupted
File actually corrupted
Missing required software
Wrong software association

Solution Steps:

Step 1: Verify file downloaded completely

Check file size:
Expected: 15.5 MB
Downloaded: 15.5 MB ✓ Complete

If mismatched:
Downloaded: 8.2 MB ✗ Incomplete
→ Download interrupted
→ Download again

Step 2: Check file extension

File: ebook.pdf
Requires: PDF reader (Adobe, Preview)

File: course.mp4
Requires: Video player (VLC, QuickTime)

File: template.psd
Requires: Adobe Photoshop

Install required software:

PDF: Adobe Acrobat Reader (free)
Video: VLC Media Player (free)
Audio: Any media player
ZIP: Built into OS (Windows/Mac)

Step 3: Try opening with different software

If default app doesn't work:
Right-click file → Open With → [Other App]

PDF won't open in Edge?
→ Try Adobe Reader or Chrome

Step 4: Re-download file

If file truly corrupted:
1. Delete corrupted file
2. Clear browser cache
3. Download again
4. Check file size matches

Step 5: Verify file integrity (Advanced)

For merchants:
1. Download file yourself
2. Verify opens correctly
3. If corrupted at source, re-upload
4. Regenerate ZIPs/cached files

Issue 6: “Download Is Very Slow”

Causes:

Slow internet connection
Network congestion
Large file size
Peak usage time
ISP throttling

Solution Steps:

Step 1: Test internet speed

Use speed test (speedtest.net):
• 5 Mbps or less: Slow
• 10-50 Mbps: Average
• 50+ Mbps: Fast

Large files (>500 MB) need faster connection

Step 2: Download during off-peak hours

Peak times (slower):
• 9 AM - 5 PM (business hours)
• 7 PM - 11 PM (evening)

Off-peak (faster):
• Early morning (6-8 AM)
• Late night (11 PM - 6 AM)
• Weekends

Step 3: Use WiFi instead of mobile data

Mobile data often slower and capped
WiFi typically faster and more stable

Step 4: Pause other downloads/streaming

Close:
• Video streaming (Netflix, YouTube)
• Other downloads
• Cloud backups (Dropbox, Google Drive)
• Video calls

Step 5: Try wired connection

Ethernet (wired) typically faster than WiFi:
• More stable
• Higher speeds
• Less interference

For merchants:

If many customers report slow downloads:

1. Check CDN status
2. Review file sizes (optimize if too large)
3. Consider breaking large files into parts
4. Contact support if systemic issue

Issue 7: “Link Says Order Under Review”

Cause: Fraud prevention flagged order

Customer sees:

⏳ Your order is under security review.
Expected completion: 1-2 hours (business hours)

Solution for merchants:

Step 1: Review flagged order

1. Go to Flagged Orders
2. Find order #
3. Review fraud indicators
4. Check customer history

Step 2: Approve or reject

If legitimate:
• Click "Approve"
• Download link activates
• Email sent automatically

If fraudulent:
• Click "Reject"
• Link stays disabled
• Process refund in Shopify

Step 3: Communicate with customer

For approved orders:
"Your order has been approved! Check your email for
download link. Sorry for the delay."

For rejected (rare):
"We were unable to approve your order due to security
concerns. Refund processing within 5-10 days."

Prevention:

If too many false positives:
Settings → Fraud Prevention
• Disable medium risk flagging
• Keep only high risk
• Reduce customer friction

Issue 8: “ZIP File Won’t Extract”

Causes:

Incomplete download
Corrupted ZIP
Extraction software issue
Insufficient disk space

Solution Steps:

Step 1: Verify ZIP downloaded completely

Check file size matches expected size
ZIP: 250 MB expected
Downloaded: 250 MB ✓

If mismatched → Download again

Step 2: Check disk space

ZIP extraction requires 2-3x the ZIP size:
ZIP: 500 MB
Required free space: 1-1.5 GB

Free up space if needed

Step 3: Try different extraction method

Windows:

Method 1: Right-click → Extract All
Method 2: 7-Zip (free software)
Method 3: WinRAR

Mac:

Method 1: Double-click ZIP
Method 2: The Unarchiver (free software)

Step 4: Download ZIP again

If repeatedly fails:
1. Delete corrupted ZIP
2. Clear browser cache
3. Download fresh copy
4. Try extracting

For merchants:

If ZIP consistently corrupted:

1. Test ZIP yourself
2. Check ZIP generation process
3. Review worker logs
4. Contact support if needed

Merchant-Side Troubleshooting

Issue: Emails Not Sending

Check 1: Email notifications enabled

Settings → Email Notifications
Toggle must be ON

Check 2: Email provider configured

Settings → Email Provider
• Postmark configured: API token valid
• MailerToGo configured: SMTP credentials correct
• Test connection: Click "Send Test Email"

Check 3: Email logs

Go to Email Logs:
• Check send status
• Review error messages
• Identify patterns

Common fixes:

Verify API tokens/credentials
Check sender email verified
Ensure provider account active
Contact email provider support

Issue: Downloads Not Tracking

Possible causes:

Logging service issue
Database problem
Direct CDN access (bypassing app)

Check:

1. Verify download actually occurred
2. Check database logs
3. Review system status
4. Contact support if persistent

Issue: ZIP Generation Failing

Symptoms:

Customer reports “preparing” never completes
ZIP worker errors in logs
Timeout errors

Check:

1. Worker status (Heroku dyno running?)
2. Worker logs (errors present?)
3. File sizes (too large for timeout?)
4. R2 connectivity (storage accessible?)

Solutions:

1. Restart worker dyno
2. Check individual files downloadable
3. Review worker configuration
4. Contact support for persistent issues

Issue: High Failure Rate

If >5% downloads failing:

Investigation:

1. Review failure patterns:
   - Specific files?
   - Specific customers?
   - Specific browsers?
   - Specific times?

2. Check CDN status
3. Review file integrity
4. Test downloads yourself

Common causes:

• File corruption at source
• CDN issues (rare)
• Configuration problem
• Network issues

Advanced Troubleshooting

Browser Console Errors

For tech-savvy customers or merchants:

Check browser console:

Chrome: F12 → Console tab
Safari: Develop → Show JavaScript Console
Firefox: F12 → Console

Look for errors in red
Share with support team

Network Analysis

Check network requests:

Browser DevTools → Network tab
• Look for failed requests (red)
• Check request status codes
• Verify CDN URLs loading

Common issues:

403: Permission denied
404: File not found
500: Server error
Timeout: Slow connection

Testing Checklist for Merchants

Regular testing:

Monthly:

After app updates:

Repeat full testing
Test all access points
Verify integrations working

When to Contact Support

Contact support if:

❌ Emails consistently not sending ❌ ZIP generation repeatedly failing ❌ Multiple customers report same issue ❌ Critical functionality broken ❌ Data loss or corruption ❌ Security concerns ❌ Billing/plan issues

Before contacting support, gather:

📋 Order number
📋 Customer email
📋 Error messages (screenshots)
📋 Steps to reproduce
📋 Browser/device info
📋 Email logs (if available)
📋 Download logs (if available)

Preventing Future Issues

Best Practices

1. Regular Testing

Test download flow monthly
Catch issues before customers do

2. Monitor Metrics

Track success rate daily
Investigate drops quickly

3. Clear Communication

Provide detailed instructions
Set expectations (expiry, limits)
Offer multiple access methods

4. Responsive Support

Reply to inquiries within 24 hours
Have standard responses ready
Be proactive about known issues

5. Optimize Files

Keep file sizes reasonable
Compress appropriately
Test file integrity before upload

Customer Education

Create help resources:

FAQ page:

• Where is my download link?
• How do I download files?
• File won't open - help!
• Link expired - what now?
• How to contact support

Video tutorials:

• How to download files (1-2 min)
• Extracting ZIP files (1 min)
• Troubleshooting common issues (3 min)

Email instructions:

Include in download email:
• Brief download instructions
• Link to FAQ
• Support contact

Quick Reference

Common Error Codes

Error	Meaning	Solution
Link expired	Past expiry date	Generate new link
Limit reached	Too many downloads	Reset counter
Invalid link	Link not found	Resend correct link
Under review	Fraud check pending	Approve order
File not found	Missing file	Re-upload file
ZIP generation failed	Worker issue	Retry or download individually

Support Response Templates

Expired link:

Hi [Name],

I've generated a new download link for order #[number]:
[Link]

This new link is valid for 90 days.

Let me know if you need anything else!

Limit reset:

Hi [Name],

I've reset your download counter for order #[number].
You can now download again.

Your link: [Link]

In the future, you have 5 downloads available.

Can’t find link:

Hi [Name],

Here's your download link for order #[number]:
[Link]

For future reference, you can also find this in:
• Your email (check spam folder)
• Your account: [Account URL]
• Order status page: [Order URL]

Need help? Just reply to this email.

Next Steps

Customer Download Experience - Optimize UX
Download Security Settings - Configure security
Tracking Downloads - Monitor activity

Still having issues? Contact support via chat with your order number and details of the problem.