Hi @jtsn21
Could you confirm which version of WooCommerce your site is using?
We’re aware of an issue which has been affecting other sites since updating to WooCommerce 5.5.1 where downloadable files are not downloading using the ‘Force Downloads’ method.
If you are using a different version of WooCommerce, please let us know which version you are on and when you noticed this first started to happen.
I have included details about the recent issue below in case it is this.
It is due to a change that was introduced a few versions before the 5.5.1 update, but many customers are seeing it now as they update the plugin.
What is happening has to do with the download method set for digital products in your WooCommerce product settings (**WooCommerce > Settings > Products > Downloadable Products** in your site’s admin area).
Previously, if your file download method was set to “X-accel-redirect” or “Force Download” and and this didn’t work, we would automatically use “Redirect Only” instead (the third option), but we’ve recently removed that functionality.
To fix it, you can talk to your host about enabling this download method on your server, or you can switch to the Redirect Only download method in your settings, which is what was being used behind the scenes up until now anyway.
You’ll notice that the Redirect Only method is labeled as “insecure.” To clarify, it’s insecure because it makes it so that anyone with the file URL for a download associated with a product can use that URL to access that file, even if they haven’t purchased the product that grants them access. The other methods do a better job of preventing this. This is different than a “security vulnerability” in the sense of the bug that 5.5.1 was fixing, but it’s still something to be aware of.
You can read more about download methods here: https://docs.woocommerce.com/document/digital-downloadable-product-handling/
We will be standing by for your response.
