A merchant is experiencing failures with Shopify’s official ‘Digital Downloads’ app—purchased digital files are not being delivered to customers either on the order confirmation page or via email, despite proper file uploads being confirmed.
Troubleshooting Steps Suggested:
Reported Solution:
One user reports successfully fixing the issue by:
Alternative Approach:
Another participant notes this is a known recurring bug with Shopify’s Digital Downloads app, particularly when orders are manually fulfilled or payment processing delays occur. They suggest considering alternative apps that deliver files through multiple channels (email, thank you page, customer accounts) for better reliability.
The discussion remains open regarding whether the widget configuration solution works universally.
Hi, I’m using the ‘Digital Downloads’ app which is an app developed by Shopify to deliver digital files to the customer upon purchase.
However, I’ve been encountering issues where the digital files are not being delivered to customers upon purchase NOR are the files being emailed to customers. I have made sure that all of the proper files have been uploaded. Is there anything I can do to fix this?
Here are some images to explain what I mean:
Bump, please help me with this issue.
Hi, @NathanKim !
Thank you so much for connecting with our network and sharing your concerns.
I spent quite a bit of time researching similar instances of this occurring on other stores and I was unable to find similar reports or replicate this issue in my own test environment. With that being said, we always want to rule out any local errors as being the cause of this issue, so can you please try the following:
If you are able to replicate the issue at that point, then our technical team will absolutely need to take a deeper look. In order to better prepare you and fasten the process please have the following information ready:
Then, connect with our Live Team directly so the issue can be escalated. We look forward to supporting you further and ensuring this gets resolved sooner than later.
In the meantime, make sure you have a back up app or instructions for your customers to access your files.
Warm regards,
Hi,
It seems this issue has now been fixed!!!
FINALLY!
Here’s what you need to do:
Visit Settings > Checkout > Customise (under Configuration)
Select Apps
Beside Digital Downloads, press the + button to add the widget to your Thank You page and Order Status page, position it appropriately & save!
That’s it. It works for me now!
Please let me know if this worked for you too!
Hey, unfortunately this is a common issue with Shopify’s Digital Downloads app - it’s been buggy for a while now. The app often fails to trigger emails, especially if orders are manually marked as fulfilled or if payment processing has any delays.
Quick troubleshooting: Check if “Automatically fulfill the order’s line items” is enabled in the app settings, and verify your email notification templates are active in Settings > Notifications. Sometimes the download links are actually in the order confirmation email but customers miss them.
If that doesn’t work, honestly you might need to switch apps. I created Alva Digital Downloads partly because of these exact reliability issues. We handle delivery through multiple channels (email, thank you page, and customer accounts) so if one fails, customers still get their files: Alva Digital Downloads
The free plan might be all you need depending on the size of your files (1.5 Gb in free plan). Main thing is you need something reliable - nothing worse than customers paying and not getting their downloads.
Let me know if the troubleshooting helps!
