Back Up Every Attachment Without Thinking About It
Form submission comes in with three files attached. Within seconds, they're copied to a Google Drive folder named after the project. Your files live in two places. You sleep at night.
Set Up Attachment BackupSound familiar?
IT Administrator
Airtable stores attachments on their CDN. If someone accidentally deletes a record, the files are gone. No recycle bin. No undo after 30 days.
Compliance Officer
Regulatory requirements say documents must be stored in your own infrastructure. Airtable's CDN doesn't count. You need files in S3 or your own storage.
Project Manager
Team members upload files to Airtable, but the rest of the organization uses Google Drive. You copy files between them manually every day.
What it does
Cloud storage sync
Copy attachments to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Amazon S3. Files appear in your storage within seconds.
Folder organization
Create folder structures using record data: /Projects/{Project Name}/{Date}/. Files land in the right folder automatically.
Selective download
Download all attachments or filter by file type. Only PDFs, only images, or everything. Your call.
Link back
Save the cloud storage URL back to a field on the Airtable record. One click to open the file in Drive or Dropbox.
How to set it up
Connect your storage
Authorize Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or provide S3 credentials. Choose the root folder for downloads.
Select attachment fields
Pick which attachment fields to monitor. You can set up different destinations for different fields.
Configure folder structure
Build a folder template using field tokens: /{Year}/{Client Name}/{Project}/. Folders are created automatically.
Enable
Activate the downloader. Every new attachment is copied to your storage. Run on existing records to back up historical files.
Going deeper
Storage options
- Google Drive with folder selection
- Dropbox with path templates
- Amazon S3 with bucket and prefix
- OneDrive for Business
Organization
- Folder paths from record field values
- Auto-create missing folders
- File naming templates
- Duplicate file handling (skip, overwrite, rename)
Options
- Filter by file type (PDFs only, images only)
- Save cloud URL back to Airtable record
- Batch download existing attachments
- Download on schedule or on submission
Frequently asked questions
Does it delete the attachment from Airtable?
No. It copies the file to your storage. The Airtable attachment stays in place unless you choose to remove it.
What happens if my storage is full?
The download fails and the record is flagged with an error status. The attachment remains in Airtable.
Can I download files from existing records?
Yes. Run a batch download to copy all attachments from your existing records to cloud storage. Great for initial backup.
How fast are files copied?
Typically within seconds of form submission. Large files (>10MB) may take a few more seconds depending on your storage service.
More processor tools
Related reading
Explore by industry
Try Attachment Downloader free
Five forms free, unlimited submissions. Add attachment downloader to any form and start processing records today.
Get Started Free