Disclosed are a document providing method and apparatus. The method comprises: receiving an access request to a target document that is sent by a user; determining whether an access link used by the user is valid; if the access link is invalid, further determining whether the user identifies the access link before the access link is invalid; and if yes, providing the target document for the user. According to this application, by providing a document providing method and apparatus, when the access link is invalid, it is further determined whether the user identifies the access link before the access link is invalid, and if yes, the target document is provided for the user, so that a user that obtains the document provided by the access link when the access link is valid can obtain the document provided by the access link again after the access link is invalid, thereby providing convenience for the user to obtain the document.