# How to store files in the same place Glide does
**URL:** https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519
**Category:** Ask for Help
**Created:** [March 8, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519 "2024-03-08T14:06:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mikaeldorval](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Mikaeldorval)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/1 "2024-03-08T14:06:40Z")
Hi Gliders,
Up until now I’ve been using Google Drive as storage for files but this is not the best from what the users experience.
- Users have trouble accessing files
- Permissions can get tricky
- Often files previews don’t work in the app
- Opening a file link opens up the Google Drive app rather than a new window to access the file
My question is how can I upload files to the same storage as my Glide apps?
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 2:07pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/2 "2024-03-08T14:07:49Z")
Use a file or image picker in the app, or directly upload images to an image column in the data editor.
> **[File and Image Pickers | Glide Docs](https://www.glideapps.com/docs/essentials/components/file-and-image-pickers)**
>
> Let users upload files and images to your apps.
[https://www.glideapps.com/docs/essentials/security-and-user-data/files](https://www.glideapps.com/docs/essentials/security-and-user-data/files)
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### Author:  [@Eric\_Penn](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Eric_Penn)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 2:14pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/3 "2024-03-08T14:14:07Z")
Best to use Glide storage… if you use GDrive for images try formatting the link like…
[https://drive.google.com/uc?id=Id](https://drive.google.com/uc?id=Id)
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### Author:  [@Mikaeldorval](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Mikaeldorval)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/4 "2024-03-08T14:21:26Z")
Sorry I left a few details out when explaining.
I use Glide storage when uploading files directly from the app. So that’s not a problem.
Problem is when I use external services like e-signatures. These external services generate pdf files of signed documents but the only way to store them is to upload them to an external storage and add the url link back in the app via the API. This way brings the problems mentioned in my first post.
Is there a way to upload these files to the same storage as Glide natively does?
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### Author:  [@Eric\_Penn](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Eric_Penn)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/5 "2024-03-08T14:27:55Z")
Not that I’m aware of. For PDF’s in GDrive you could try this format…
`https://drive.google.com/file/d/YOURFILEID/view?usp=share_link`
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-store-files-in-the-same-place-glide-does/71519/6 "2024-03-08T15:51:06Z")
> [@Mikaeldorval](#):
>
> Is there a way to upload these files to the same storage as Glide natively does?
No, but if the files are not too big then one alternative is to base64 encode them, and then push them through the API into a Text column. You can then use something like `data:application/pdf;base64,{data}` (for a PDF file, for example) in a Template column, and use that in a webview component.
I’ve been using this method for a few months now, and it works quite well.