How do I replace a media file with SAME URL?

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  dncb · Member · Sep 22, 2016 at 6:53 pm

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  I have some MSWord documents which can be downloaded from the Blog page. They are stored in my Media Library. Quite frequently, documents need to be revised; I will ‘permanently delete’ the original document from the Media Library, then upload the revised document.
  1. Even though the original document is deleted, WordPress renames the revised document with a ‘1’ or ‘2’ or ‘3’ appended to the file name, as if WP’s cache has not cleared (‘outings’ becomes outings1, or outings2, or outings3)
  2. If the new version is uploaded to Madia in a different month, there is a further change to the URL e.g. https://dncb.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/2016_dncb_outings.doc (uploaded in August) becomes https://dncb.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/2016_dncb_outings3.doc (uploaded in September). In both cases the original document I uploaded was called 2016_dncb_outings.doc

  So how do I just REPLACE a document, keeping the SAME URL so that I don’t have to update the links from my web pages?

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  lance · Staff · Mar 7, 2017 at 8:44 pm

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  Hi there, it’s not possible to update media files on WordPress.com, because the newly uploaded file will have a new URL based on the date.

  One solution is to share the permalink of the page or post where you have a link to download the file — but don’t share the direct link — just the page link.

  So that URL you share won’t change, at least.

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  dncb · Member · Mar 7, 2017 at 11:42 pm

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  The point is that I have to update the links on at least one page of the Blog. Please ask the WordPress designers to work on making a “replace file” feature – like they have on Flickr, where you can replace a photo with an edited version, yet still retain all the metadata & tags.

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  dncb · Member · Mar 7, 2017 at 11:46 pm

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  P.S. While I appreciate lance’s response, I am a bit surprised that it took 5 1/2 MONTHS (Sep. 22, 2016 – Mar 7, 2017)!!

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  timethief · Member · Mar 8, 2017 at 12:02 am

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  I’m sorry this happened. It’s unfortunate that you did not know how to use the support docs to get support. They are all at https://en.support.wordpress.com/
  Search results https://en.support.wordpress.com/?s=help

  How do I get a Moderator/Staff reply for my question? https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-help-in-the-forums/#how-do-i-get-a-moderatorstaff-reply-for-my-question