Google drive image gives 403 forbidden error

Question

I am using google drive to show images on a website. I'm using the following url to show the images:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id={fileId}

It works fine on most occasions, but some users don't see the images and get the following error message:

Failed to load resource: the server responded with a status of 403 ()

The image files and folders on the google drive are shared with everybody with a link to see. The problem does not seem browser related.

Anyone an idea how to fix this? Are there some things I forgot to do (do I need some kind of API key in the link)?

Answer 1

As of today I have the same issue. (just like a few months back when Google ended the classic sites, which I (mis)used as an image repository.)

After I cleared all cookies from the browser, the images were visible again. So that solved this problem.

If your problem persists, you should change the URL.

This URL gives a 403 err:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id={img-ID}

Change that to:

https://lh3.google.com/u/0/d/{img-ID}

For example: setting a favicon in a WebApp:

return template.evaluate()
  .setFaviconUrl('https://lh3.google.com/u/0/d/1qMrq5o54jhg5jedu9fLtzUG4dF1ijKZT1#.ico')

Answer 2

I've dealt with this problem working with Ionic Angular, in the lastest versions you should use https://lh3.google.com/u/0/d/{img-ID} as Edso said and it solves the problem. Consider that the images will only load if you have a logged google account, otherwhise the status of the response will be 302 and image will never load.