Download read-only GDrive files

I stumbled across a 15 year old file shared in a G:Drive, which I wanted to read! Fantastic! However, I could only read it online: I was unable to download the file. There were no save or download options under the "Share" menu. Further, the print button had been disabled, so I couldn't print the file to pdf either. 

Not being able to read offline is a bit tricky if the internet drops in and out (we live in the country and have an intermittent radio link internet signal). I hoped there might be an alternative way to download the file, and after a bit of searching, I found a great set of instructions from Epic Guide (2025) which walks us through how to download a read-only file. I have included a link to Epic Guide's two minute video explainer below (2025):

The chromestore link that Epic Guide (2025) tells us about is here: https://chromewebstore.google.com/search/document%20preview%20exporter?authuser=0

We install the extension and pin it to the extension tray in our toolbar. Then we go back to our document and refresh the page (Epic Guide, 2025). Then we can click the pinned icon in the extensions tray to begin imaging each page. Once all the pages have been imaged, then we can save the resulting file to our desired location.

Please note that the resulting file is just a series of images: it is not searchable, nor can the text be copied out. 

But now we can read at our leisure!

Sam

References:

Epic Guide. (2025, September 25). How to Download View Only PDF files from Google Drive 2025 - Download Protected PDF Files [video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/exMGYP4Kmm4

Chrome Web Store. (2025). Search "document preview exporter". https://chromewebstore.google.com/search/document%20preview%20exporter?authuser=0