Let’s see how to download any file in Laravel. You have to write a function to start the download process and to move the file to download location.

public function getDownload()
{
    //PDF file is stored under project/public/download/info.pdf
    $file= public_path(). "/download/info.pdf";
 
    $headers = array(
              'Content-Type: application/pdf',
            );
 
    return Response::download($file, 'filename.pdf', $headers);
}

Laravel 5 and above versions use the below code :

public function getDownload()
{
    //PDF file is stored under project/public/download/info.pdf
    $file= public_path(). "/download/info.pdf";
 
$headers = [
              'Content-Type' => 'application/pdf',
           ];
 
return response()->download($file, 'filename.pdf', $headers);
}

When using these methods do reference the public_path()in order to locate the file.You have to keep the directory private and limit access by creating a method in controller class if you want to  offer real-time monitoring  or control access to the file.