Downloading a file from SharePoint library using JavaScript and REST API

November 17, 2018

Brent Ely

Howto download a file from SharePoint Library using REST. This technique produces a BLOB that can be streamed/saved directly from a web browser and works with both text and binary files.

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Example: Using client browser to download a file

sprLib.file("Path/SomeFileName").get()

Returns: Blob containing the file (either text or binary).

Sample Code: Download a file from SharePoint

// Example: Client-browser code to download file from SharePoint using JavaScript and REST
sprLib.file('SiteAssets/img/sprestlib.png').get()
.then(function(blob){
    var url = (window.URL || window.webkitURL).createObjectURL(blob);
    var link = document.createElement("a");
    link.setAttribute("href", url);
    link.setAttribute("download", _fileName);
    link.style = "visibility:hidden";
    document.body.appendChild(link);
    link.click();
    setTimeout(function(){ document.body.removeChild(link); }, 500);
});

More Information

See File API for a working demo.