Why Your Airtable Attachment Links Stop Working (and How to Fix Them)

You use Airtable to manage projects for different clients, keeping all your key details neatly organized in one place. You attach files directly to records so everything related to a project is easy to access and share.

At first, everything works perfectly. You upload the files, open them from Airtable, and the links work fine. Then you share those links with your clients so they can access the same files.

But after a few hours, your clients reach out to tell you the links no longer work. The files that opened earlier now show as broken links. You check your Airtable base and the attachments are still there, but the shared links have expired.

So what went wrong? Why did these links stop working even though the files still exist in Airtable?

Links in attachment fields expire

Airtable’s built in file hosting is meant for internal use. Each file you upload to an attachment field gets a temporary URL that expires about two hours.

Even though the attachments remain in your base, the public links you share with clients will stop working after a short time.

That is why links you send to clients can later show as broken.

To keep client links working permanently, host the files somewhere that provides non expiring URLs such as Google Drive or Dropbox, and store those shareable links in Airtable. Your base still tracks projects and metadata while the files live in a stable, shareable location.

Doing this manually for many records would take too long. You can automate the process with Make.

The automation can move files from Airtable to Google Drive, create shareable links, and update your Airtable records.

Below is a step by step overview of how to set that up.

Automating the Process with Make

Here’s how to automatically move new Airtable attachments to Google Drive and update Airtable with permanent Google Drive links. You can use the same workflow with any other hosting service such as Dropbox.

Step 1: Watch for New Records in Airtable

Start your Make scenario with the Airtable > Watch Records module.

Connect your Airtable account, choose your base and table, and set the trigger field to a “Created Time” field. This field will ensure that the scenario only triggers for newly created records.

Every time a new record with attachments is added, this module will start the process.

Step 2: Use an Iterator to Process Attachments One by One

If your record contains multiple attachments, you need to process them individually.

Add an Iterator module next.

This module will break apart the bundle of attachments so that each file can be handled one by one in the next steps.

Step 3: Download the File from Airtable

Next, add the HTTP > Get a File module.
Use the attachment’s URL from Airtable to download the file.

This step temporarily retrieves the file before uploading it to Google Drive.

Step 4: Upload the File to Google Drive

Now that you have the file, use the Google Drive > Upload a File module.

Connect your Google Drive account, choose the folder where you want to store your project files, and upload the file from the previous HTTP step.

Once the file is uploaded, Google Drive will return a file ID that you can use in the next step.

Step 5: Generate a Shareable Google Drive Link

Add the Google Drive > Get a Share Link module.

Select the uploaded file and configure the sharing settings so that “Anyone with the link” can view the file.

This ensures that the link will work indefinitely, without expiring.

Step 6: Combine All Links Back into One

If there were multiple attachments, you will now have multiple Google Drive links.

To combine them into one list before updating Airtable, use the Array Aggregator module.

Set the Source Module as the Iterator and the Target Structure Type as the Airtable > Update Record module.

This prepares the links in the correct format to send back to Airtable.

Step 7: Update Airtable with the Google Drive Links

Finally, add an Airtable > Update Record module.

Map the record ID from your Watch Records module and fill the attachment field (or a new field called “Google Drive Links”) with the array from the previous step.

This replaces the expiring Airtable URLs with permanent Google Drive links.

Once this setup is complete, you’ll never have to manually fix broken links again and your clients will always have working access to their project files.