What is Baidu Pan? pan.baidu.com and Baidu Netdisk explained
Baidu Pan, Baidu Netdisk and Baidu Cloud are one service. What a pan.baidu.com link and its code are, and why the files are hard to get from abroad.
Baidu Pan is Baidu's cloud storage service, China's equivalent of Google Drive or Dropbox. People use it to store files and to share them with a link. If someone sent you a link that starts with pan.baidu.com, it points to files in their Baidu Pan account.
One service, several names
You will see the same service under different names:
- Baidu Netdisk is the official English name.
- Baidu Pan and Baidu Wangpan come from the service's Chinese name, which means "Baidu net disk".
- Baidu Cloud and Baidu Yun are older names. The service used them for several years before it went back to Baidu Netdisk in 2016, and many READMEs and forum posts still use them.
TeraBox is a separate cloud service from a Baidu company, aimed at users outside China. Its links do not open on pan.baidu.com, and PanPull works with pan.baidu.com links only.
What a share link looks like
A share link is https://pan.baidu.com/s/1 followed by a string of letters and numbers. When you open it, the address may change to one that starts with https://pan.baidu.com/share/init?surl=. Both are normal.
Most shares are protected with an extraction code. It has four letters or digits, and Baidu's code box says it is not case-sensitive. The owner usually writes it next to the link, labelled "code", "password" or with the Chinese word for extraction code. Some links carry it at the end as ?pwd=abcd, so you do not have to type it. See where to find the extraction code.
The owner also decides how long a share stays open. Next to the share's date, the page shows when it expires, or that it never does.
Why you got a Baidu Pan link
Baidu Pan is the usual way to share large files in China. Where others would post a Google Drive link, developers, companies and online communities in China post a Baidu link. That is why these links turn up on project pages, download pages and forums far outside China.
Why the files are hard to get from abroad
Opening the share page is easy. Getting the files is not:
- You need a Baidu account. The Download button asks you to log in first. Signing up needs a phone number that can receive Baidu's text message, and many countries are not on Baidu's list. See signing up outside China.
- The website pushes the app. For larger files, folders or several files at once, the website sends you to the Baidu Netdisk desktop app. See downloading without the client.
- Free accounts are slow. Baidu gives its download bandwidth to paying members first. See why Baidu Pan is so slow.
- Everything is in Chinese. The website, the apps and the sign-up form have no English version. See the share page in English.
Is Baidu Pan free?
Yes. Anyone with an account can download from a share for free, just slowly. Baidu sells paid memberships, VIP and SVIP (super VIP), mainly for faster downloads and more storage. They are paid in Chinese yuan on Baidu's membership page.
Get the files without a Baidu account
PanPull downloads the share for you, so you need no Baidu account, no app and no Chinese:
- Paste the link into the link checker, with the extraction code if the link does not already contain it.
- Check the number of files, the total size and the price. Orders up to 150 MB are free.
- Sign in to PanPull with an email address and a password.
- If the order is not free, pay with PayPal or with a card through PayPal.
- Download from your order page when it is ready: one file as it is, or several files in one ZIP archive that keeps the folders.
Only download files you own or that the owner has allowed you to download. Wondering whether these links are safe to open? See is Baidu Pan safe.
Paste your share link
Check the total size first. You will see the full price before checkout; checking a link does not charge you.