Written by Admin on 2025-05-06

How to Disable PDF Download on WordPress

If you are managing a WordPress website and don't want users to download PDFs, you may want to disable this functionality. This can be useful if you want to protect copyrighted material or limit access to certain resources. In this article, we'll show you how to disable PDF downloads on your WordPress website.

Method 1: Using a Plugin

One of the easiest ways to disable PDF downloads on your WordPress website is to use a plugin. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to "Plugins" > "Add New."
2. Search for "protect PDF" in the search bar.
3. Install and activate the "Protect PDF and Documents" plugin.
4. Configure the plugin's settings by going to "Settings" > "Protect PDFs."

In the "Protect PDFs" settings, you can specify which PDFs you want to protect by entering their URLs or by selecting certain categories.

Method 2: Editing Your Theme's Functions.php File

If you don't want to use a plugin, you can also disable PDF downloads by editing your theme's "functions.php" file. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Access your WordPress website's files by using an FTP client or the cPanel File Manager.
2. Navigate to the "/wp-content/themes/your-theme-name/" directory.
3. Open the "functions.php" file in a text editor.
4. Add the following code to the file:

```php function disablepdfdownloadattachment( $url ) { /* Get the attachment ID */ $attachmentid = attachmenturlto_postid( $url );

/* Check if attachment is a PDF */
if ( 'application/pdf' == get_post_mime_type( $attachment_id ) ) {
    /* Set attachment URL to null */
    $url = '';
}

return $url;

} addfilter( 'wpgetattachmenturl', 'disablepdfdownload_attachment' ); ```

5. Save the file and re-upload it to your website's directory.

With this code, when a user clicks on a PDF download link on your website, they will be redirected to a blank page instead of downloading the PDF file.

Conclusion

Disabling PDF downloads on your WordPress website can be an effective way to protect your content and limit access to certain resources. You can use a plugin or edit your theme's "functions.php" file to achieve this. We hope this guide has been helpful in showing you how to disable PDF downloads on your WordPress website.