How to Download Documents from Scribd for free 2020

UPDATE NOTE: This guide, posted back in 2015, has been continuously updated and is still 100% Working. By following various Scribd Downloader methods discussed in this post, you can download any document from Scribd for free. If you want to download books for free, refer to this guide: How to download books from Scribd.

Everyone is aware of  Scribd, the world’s largest digital library of all kinds of written books as PDF mostly. Scribd consists of nearly 40 million documents posted by their users. On Scribd, new and old authors publish or sell their work and readers can browse through the pages and find the appropriate one for their needs.

It is essentially a paid service and hence even if it lets you view a certain amount of documents for free, you can’t download them unless you upgrade to a paid membership. With a small subscription fee, Scribd readers can view and read all such documents and books from their favorite platforms like Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Linux.

But with a free Scribd membership, you can view only a limited number of documents in Scribd’s database. You need a Scribd downloader in order to get the files you want for free.

In this blog post, you are going to learn how to download unlimited files from Scribd for free. You don’t even have to create an account with Scribd to download most of the documents with these simple tricks explained below.

This Scribd Downloader Guide covers the following topics:

• How to download Scribd Documents for free?
• Download Documents and Books from Scribd without Account Login
• Download Scribd Documents using Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer
• How to get Free Scribd Subscription and Download Books and Audiobooks from Scribd for FREE?
• Multiple Methods to Download Documents from Scribd

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Method 1: By Scribd Uploading Method

We discovered a loophole in the Scribd website that allows any user to view or download the documents from Scribd for free. No need to pay for the subscription. Follow these instructions below to download or view a Scribd document file for free.

Step 1: Go to Scribd.com

Step 2: Search document or page you want to view or download without paying to Scribd and copy the URL of that page

Step 3: Now login to Scribd account or simply sign up for a new account. Alternatively, use the Facebook Login option

Step 4: After signing up, you will be asked for a subscription if you are not a monthly subscription. Just skip it and get back to your account (important step)

Step 6: Now Upload any type of document. For eg: create a new text document and write anything on it and upload it.

Step 7: Give a title and enter a description of the uploaded content (not required but if you want, you can) and save it to continue.

Step 8: Now paste the URL you copied in Step 2 in the address bar for downloading that document

Step 9: You will see a download button, just click on it and your download will start. You can notice here that the Scribd document, once not downloading, getting downloaded easily

This is the easiest way that still works, most of the time (check comments). All you need to do is create an account on Scribd to upload a file and then download the desired document from the Scribd website for free.

Watch this Video Explaining Upload Method

Method 2: Using Greasemonkey Script to Free Download Scribd Documents

This is another method that will let you download desired documents from Scribd for free. You don’t even have to log in using your Facebook account or Sign up for a new account or buy a paid membership, nor upload any document to Scribd. You just need the Mozilla Firefox Web Browser for this task.

Step 1: Go to this link and download the Firefox

Step 2: Then add Greasemonkey add-on or Tampermonkey ( works on Google Chrome/Safari/UC Browser/Opera and Firefox) to your browser. Click download and it will install automatically

Step 3: Now download this user-script

Step 4: Install it within Greasemonkey

Step 5: Finally, go to any document you want to download from Scribd and click on ‘Download’. This custom script will automatically bypass Scribd’s payment page and give you the option to download your document.

This works!

Method 3: The Easiest way to Free Download Documents from Scribd

This requires Internet Explorer.

Step 1: Go to Scribd.com, search for the document you want and open it

Step 2: Right-click anywhere on the page and click the view page source

Step 3: Search for access_key, once you find it copy it to someplace. See the image above for an example of what the key looks like

Step 4: Get the document id of the documents that you want to free download from Scribd. Refer the image below for an example of what the document ID looks like

Step 5: Replace access_key and document id in this URL

http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=108992419&access_key=key-13davbcdewnewn9m5w02

And paste the modified URL into a new browser window

Step 6: Let the document load. Once it is completely loaded, click on the print button and then save as pdf
Step 7: That’s it! The document will be downloaded as a pdf document file to your computer.

There are a few more free Scribd download methods explained below that you can follow and download documents from Scribd without paying a single penny. money.

Method 4: Using Command Prompt or Terminal in Windows PC, Mac, and Linux Machines

This is a bit tricky method but if you follow our instructions, you will find it easy. However, please note that this method may get deprecated with time since Scribd updates their websites and patches vulnerabilities frequently.

So if this does not work, don’t worry, we have a few other options discussed below.

Step 1. Download and install Python 3.5

Step 2. Open command prompt and type following command

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Users\ravi.singh\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36\Scripts

set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Users\ravi.singh\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python36

Step 3. After setting the environment variables, we need to check if python and pip are working.

Step 4. Open a new Command Prompt window and type in command prompt pip and press Enter. If see an output with commands, pip is working

Step 5. Now type pip install Scribd-dl and press Enter. Let it install the python package

Step 6. Now go to Scribd and browse the document you want to download. Copy the URL to the document and paste the following command

scribd-dl https://www.scribd.com/document/90403141/Social-Media-Strategy

Replace the URL with your document URL and press Enter. Wait for a while till it downloads the file. Then browse the directory where cmd was running and access the downloaded Scribd document.

Method 5: Get up to 2-Month Scribd Subscription for Free

The trial subscription entitles you to use the Scribd platform as a paid member. After getting a free trial subscription, you can download the required documents and up to 3 books in one month and listen to unlimited audiobooks.

All you have to do is, sign up either on their website or Android /iOS app and start your free 30-day trial.

How to get 2-Month FREE Scribd Subscription

We recently found that Scribd with Samsung is giving a 2-month extended trial instead of just 1-month. That is insane! There’s no other way currently to get a 2-month free Scribd trial. Samsung bears the cost for an extra one-month subscription but you must own a Samsung Galaxy device.

If any of your friend or relative owns a Samsung Galaxy device, take their help and get access to your favorite book, audiobook, or documents in just a few taps.

1. Open Galaxy Apps in your Samsung Galaxy device
2. Search Scribd and install Scribd for Samsung app
3. Sign in and start your 60-day free trial. Access your favorite books and documents for limitless reading completely FREE!

Method 6. Using Scribd Downloader

If you reached here, it means either you have not tried any method yet or trying to download a book which is impossible for now. Read more on How to download Books from Scribd post I recently posted.

One more possibility is that you are looking for the easiest way to download the required document from the Scribd repository.

However, when you search for Scribd Downloader, you will rarely find a working Scribd downloader website. The Scribd updates their websites with new lines of code occasionally after which these Scribd downloader websites fail to download the Scribd documents via URL.

However, some sites like DLscrib.com—an amazing Scribd downloader web app—lets you download required Scribd documents with just a few clicks. So go ahead and try the Scribd downloader. Also, let us know if that worked or which one worked for you.

Now that you know how to download documents and books from Scribd for free, download whatever documents file or book you like.

If you face any problems following this tutorial, leave a comment below. We will help you get the document. But don’t comment directly, without even trying any Scribd downloading methods discussed in this post.

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