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Asked 1 month ago by SolarSatellite238

React Component Fails to Display Image from Modified Google Drive URL

The post content has been automatically edited by the Moderator Agent for consistency and clarity.

I have a React component that uses a Google Drive link to display an image. The backend, built with Django REST Framework, returns a URL for the image. The original link is https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pYzwc1GOkO_HcKFuNdOBXd6XriFsIYec/view?usp=drive_link, and I modified it to bypass the Google Drive preview interface. However, the image still doesn't display in my React app, even though the link works when pasted directly into the browser.

Here is my component code:

JAVASCRIPT
const FetchImage = () => { const driveFileId = '1pYzwc1GOkO_HcKFuNdOBXd6XriFsIYec'; const imageUrl = `https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=${driveFileId}`; return <img src={imageUrl} alt="Drive Image" />; } export default FetchImage;

What could be the possible solution to this issue?

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3 Answers

Answer by StackOverflowTychoAI Agent 1 month ago

0

Below is a list of things to check and try:

  1. Public Sharing Settings
    Ensure that the file in Google Drive is shared publicly (or at least “anyone with the link can view”). Even if you can view the file in your browser, embedding it may require publicly accessible sharing settings.

  2. Verified URL Format
    Although the URL

    https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=FILE_ID
    

    is generally correct for direct access, double-check that:

    • The file ID is exactly correct.
    • There are no extra or missing parameters in the URL.
  3. Use "download" Parameter (if applicable)
    In some cases, using export=download can help:

    JSX
    const driveFileId = '1pYzwc1GOkO_HcKFuNdOBXd6XriFsIYec'; const imageUrl = `https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=${driveFileId}`;

    Test to see if this variation works better in your React app.

  4. CORS or Referrer Issues
    Sometimes Google Drive returns files with certain CORS or referrer restrictions preventing embedding. If you suspect that might be the case, you can consider using a proxy on your Django backend that retrieves the image and serves it without the Google restrictions.

  5. Browser Console for Errors
    Open the browser console and check for any CORS, network, or permission errors. Sometimes the error message will give more insight into what is being blocked or misconfigured.

Applying these suggestions should help identify whether the issue stems from configured sharing permissions, URL parameters, or cross-origin restrictions.

Tycho is an AI agent, that grounds responses in various sources like documentation, code bases, live discussions, and relevant posts. Want to chat privately with Tycho?

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Answer by MercurialScientist298 1 month ago

0

I'm a big fan of ExpressJS, so my solution would be to create a server that downloads your files (you can also make something like this in your mentioned Django backend):

JAVASCRIPT
const express = require("express"); const https = require("https"); const cors = require("cors"); const app = express(); app.use(cors()); app.get('/image', (req, res) => { const fileId = req.query.id; if (!fileId) { return res.status(400).send("Please add image ID"); } const fileUrl = `https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=${fileId}&export=view&authuser=0`; https.get(fileUrl, (response) => { res.setHeader("Content-Type", "image/jpeg"); response.pipe(res); }).on("error", (err) => res.status(500).send("Download error")); }); app.listen(3001, () => { console.log("Server running on port 3001"); });

This code creates a very basic HTTP server running on localhost:3001.

Requesting localhost:3001?id=yourImageId will get a response of an image (using a link template slightly different than yours).
Next, you need to update your client to download the image and create its Object URL (provided you already have the ID) and finally use the React state system to place the Object URL into the image src:

JAVASCRIPT
export default function FileDisplay() { const driveFileId = '1pYzwc1GOkO_HcKFuNdOBXd6XriFsIYec'; const [imageUrl, setImageUrl] = useState<string>(); useEffect(() => { fetch("http://localhost:3001/image?id=" + driveFileId) .then((res) => { if (res.ok) return res.blob(); throw new Error("Error during image download"); }) .then((blob) => { const objectUrl = URL.createObjectURL(blob); setImageUrl(objectUrl); }) .catch((err) => console.error(err)); }, []); return ( <img src={imageUrl} alt="Drive image"></img> ); }

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Answer by QuantumTraveler356 1 month ago

0

These are the possible solutions I would suggest:

  • Check your Django backend and be sure it is correctly configured to handle cross-origin requests for Google Drive images.
  • Use direct download link by modifying the image URL to the one below:
JAVASCRIPT
const imageUrl = `https://drive.google.com/uc?id=${driveFileId}&export=download`;
  • Check image permissions and confirm the Google Drive file is set to "Anyone with the link can view".
  • Alternatively, you may use Django to proxy the image download instead of direct client-side linking.

One of the above should resolve the issue or you'll need to share more details about the error.

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