Download limits
There are three independent limits. Each can be set in three places, and each resolves on its own.
The settings
Under Settings, then Limits:
Total downloads per link. How many times a buyer can collect one file, for the life of the link. Empty means unlimited.
Downloads per window, with Window length (hours). A cap inside a rolling period, for example three downloads in any twenty four hours. The window slides: it is not a daily reset. The window length is only used alongside a per-window cap.
Link expires after (days). Counted from the moment the order is paid, and fixed on the link at that point. Empty means the link never expires on its own.
Leaving the whole card empty is how you say “unlimited downloads, links never expire”. That is a real answer, and for a low-value file it is often the right one.
Where each can be set
| Level | Applies to | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Store default, on Settings | Everything, unless overridden | The policy you want most of the time |
| Product assignment, on Products | Every download of that file from that product | A file that needs looser or tighter limits than the rest |
| A single download, on Orders | One buyer, one file | Fixing one person’s problem without changing policy |
An assignment carrying its own limits is marked Overridden on the Products page.
How conflicts resolve
Most specific wins, one field at a time:
single download > product assignment > store default > no limit“One field at a time” is the part that catches people out. Each setting resolves independently. If your store default is “five downloads total, no window” and a product assignment sets “three per twenty four hours” and nothing else, the result is five total and three per twenty four hours, not “three per twenty four hours and unlimited total”.
That is deliberate. Overriding one setting should not silently discard the others.
Links keep what they were issued with
A download is stamped with the limits that applied when it was created. Changing your store defaults later does not retroactively tighten or loosen links already in buyers’ inboxes.
To change one buyer’s link, change that download on the Orders page. To change everything from here on, change the default or the assignment.
Choosing numbers
- A cap is a support cost. Every buyer who hits one writes to you. A generous total with a tight window usually gives you the protection you wanted with far fewer emails, because it slows a link being passed around without punishing someone who lost a file.
- Expiry is the blunt one. A buyer who comes back a year later to re-download something they paid for will not be pleased. If you set an expiry, say so on the product page.
- Unlimited plus flagging is defensible. For a low-value file where a limit would only create work, leave it open and watch the flags instead.
When a limit is hit
The buyer sees a page telling them the limit has been reached, not a broken link, with a way back to the rest of their downloads. You can raise the limit on that single download without touching your store policy, and the next click works.