Airtable attachment links are temporary. Each time you read a record through the API, an automation, a CSV export or a sync, Airtable returns a fresh download URL for each file, and that URL stops working a few hours later. Airtable guarantees at least 2 hours and may change the exact window. The change took effect in November 2022; before that, attachment links were permanent.
The files themselves are still in your base. Only links copied out of Airtable stop working.
What breaks
| Where the link was used | What you see | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Images on a website or in a newsletter | Broken images a few hours after sending | Copy the file to permanent hosting first and use that link |
| A CSV export | Links in the file lead to an error page | Download the files right after exporting |
| An automation or Zapier/Make step that passes the link on | Works in testing, fails if the next step runs later | Download the file in the same run and upload it to the destination |
| A backup that stores attachment links | The backup has records but no files | Use a backup that saves the files themselves |
| Links in another tool's database or a shared doc | Dead links | Store a permanent copy, or fetch a fresh link from Airtable each time |
Links to files that live elsewhere, such as Google Drive or Box links pasted into a URL field, aren't affected.
Getting a fresh link
Reading the record again always gives you a working link. In an automation, use the attachment's expiring download URL from the trigger or a "Find records" step in the same run. Through the API, list or fetch the record and use the URL right away.
That's fine for showing a file in a tool that reads Airtable live. It doesn't work for anything that has to keep working after it leaves Airtable, like an email or a backup.
Making a permanent copy
To keep a file usable outside Airtable, download its bytes while the link works and store them somewhere you control: a storage bucket, Google Drive, or your website's media library. Then use that copy's link.
For a one-off copy of every file in a table, see how to download all attachments.
What this means for backups
A backup of an Airtable base needs the files, not their links. Check that a backup tool:
- downloads each attachment during the same run that reads the records;
- stores the file itself, with the record it belongs to;
- reports a file it couldn't download instead of silently keeping the link.
A CSV export, or a backup that only keeps the URLs, loses every attachment within a few hours. The backup options guide compares the approaches.
Source: Airtable's support article on attachment URL behavior, checked October 17, 2026.