diff --git a/src/class-ss-util.php b/src/class-ss-util.php
index 5500432f..bfc6cd14 100644
--- a/src/class-ss-util.php
+++ b/src/class-ss-util.php
@@ -2825,6 +2825,22 @@ public static function add_archive_status_message( $messages, $task_name, $messa
 	public static function abs_path_to_url( $path = '' ) {
 		$normalized_path = wp_normalize_path( $path );
 
+		// Uploads may live outside WP_CONTENT_DIR (or behind a symlink), so use
+		// WordPress's authoritative filesystem-to-URL mapping before checking the
+		// standard WordPress roots.
+		if ( function_exists( 'wp_upload_dir' ) ) {
+			$upload_dir = wp_upload_dir();
+			if ( is_array( $upload_dir ) && ! empty( $upload_dir['basedir'] ) && ! empty( $upload_dir['baseurl'] ) ) {
+				$normalized_upload_dir = wp_normalize_path( untrailingslashit( $upload_dir['basedir'] ) );
+
+				if ( $normalized_path === $normalized_upload_dir || 0 === strpos( $normalized_path, $normalized_upload_dir . '/' ) ) {
+					$url = untrailingslashit( $upload_dir['baseurl'] ) . substr( $normalized_path, strlen( $normalized_upload_dir ) );
+
+					return esc_url_raw( $url );
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Check if the path is within WP_CONTENT_DIR
 		if ( defined( 'WP_CONTENT_DIR' ) && defined( 'WP_CONTENT_URL' ) ) {
 			$normalized_content_dir = wp_normalize_path( untrailingslashit( WP_CONTENT_DIR ) );
diff --git a/src/tasks/class-ss-create-zip-archive.php b/src/tasks/class-ss-create-zip-archive.php
index 7a61438c..096561dd 100644
--- a/src/tasks/class-ss-create-zip-archive.php
+++ b/src/tasks/class-ss-create-zip-archive.php
@@ -191,9 +191,7 @@ public function create_zip() {
 
 		do_action( 'ss_zip_file_created', $zip_archive );
 
-		$download_url = Util::abs_path_to_url( $zip_archive->zipname );
-
-		return $download_url;
+		return $this->get_zip_download_url( $zip_archive->zipname );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -215,7 +213,35 @@ private function create_empty_zip( $zip_filename ) {
 
 		do_action( 'ss_zip_file_created', (object) array( 'zipname' => $zip_filename ) );
 
-		return Util::abs_path_to_url( $zip_filename );
+		return $this->get_zip_download_url( $zip_filename );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Validate a completed ZIP and resolve its public download URL.
+	 *
+	 * @param string $zip_filename Full path to the zip file.
+	 *
+	 * @return string|WP_Error Download URL on success, WP_Error otherwise.
+	 */
+	private function get_zip_download_url( $zip_filename ) {
+		clearstatcache( true, $zip_filename );
+
+		if ( ! is_file( $zip_filename ) || ! is_readable( $zip_filename ) || filesize( $zip_filename ) < 22 ) {
+			return new \WP_Error(
+				'zip_file_missing',
+				__( 'The ZIP archive could not be found after it was created.', 'simply-static' )
+			);
+		}
+
+		$download_url = Util::abs_path_to_url( $zip_filename );
+		if ( empty( $download_url ) ) {
+			return new \WP_Error(
+				'zip_url_unavailable',
+				__( 'The ZIP archive was created, but its temporary files directory is not publicly accessible. Choose a directory inside the WordPress uploads directory and try again.', 'simply-static' )
+			);
+		}
+
+		return $download_url;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -489,7 +515,6 @@ private function create_zip_batched( $zip_filename, $archive_dir, $batch_offset,
 
 		do_action( 'ss_zip_file_created', (object) array( 'zipname' => $zip_filename ) );
 
-		$download_url = Util::abs_path_to_url( $zip_filename );
-		return $download_url;
+		return $this->get_zip_download_url( $zip_filename );
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/Unit/UtilSecurityTest.php b/tests/Unit/UtilSecurityTest.php
index 23e633b8..0e321a77 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/UtilSecurityTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/UtilSecurityTest.php
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@ public function test_absolute_paths_are_converted_only_inside_wordpress_roots():
 			WP_CONTENT_URL . '/simply-static/export.zip',
 			Util::abs_path_to_url( WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/simply-static/export.zip' )
 		);
+		self::assertSame(
+			WpEnv::$upload_dir['baseurl'] . '/simply-static/temp-files/export.zip',
+			Util::abs_path_to_url( WpEnv::$upload_dir['basedir'] . '/simply-static/temp-files/export.zip' )
+		);
 		self::assertSame(
 			'https://example.test/wp-content-backup/export.zip',
 			Util::abs_path_to_url( WP_CONTENT_DIR . '-backup/export.zip' )
diff --git a/tests/Unit/ZipArchiveTaskTest.php b/tests/Unit/ZipArchiveTaskTest.php
index d66cb166..200dc832 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/ZipArchiveTaskTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/ZipArchiveTaskTest.php
@@ -106,6 +106,37 @@ public function test_perform_publishes_structured_download_link(): void {
 		self::assertStringEndsWith( '/activity-link-test.zip', $status['link']['url'] );
 	}
 
+	public function test_perform_maps_an_external_uploads_directory_to_its_public_url(): void {
+		file_put_contents( $this->archive_dir . 'index.html', '<h1>Archived</h1>' );
+
+		self::assertTrue( ( new Create_Zip_Archive_Task() )->perform() );
+
+		$zip_file = untrailingslashit( $this->archive_dir ) . '.zip';
+		$status   = WpEnv::$options['simply-static']['archive_status_messages']['create_zip_archive'];
+		$relative = substr( wp_normalize_path( $zip_file ), strlen( wp_normalize_path( WpEnv::$upload_dir['basedir'] ) ) );
+
+		self::assertFileExists( $zip_file );
+		self::assertGreaterThanOrEqual( 22, filesize( $zip_file ) );
+		self::assertSame( WpEnv::$upload_dir['baseurl'] . $relative, $status['link']['url'] );
+	}
+
+	public function test_perform_does_not_report_success_when_the_zip_has_no_public_url(): void {
+		$private_temp_dir = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/simply-static-private-zip-' . uniqid( '', true );
+		$private_archive  = trailingslashit( $private_temp_dir ) . 'site/';
+		wp_mkdir_p( $private_archive );
+		file_put_contents( $private_archive . 'index.html', '<h1>Archived</h1>' );
+
+		WpEnv::$options['simply-static']['temp_files_dir'] = $private_temp_dir;
+		Options::reinstance();
+
+		$result = ( new Create_Zip_Archive_Task() )->perform();
+
+		self::assertInstanceOf( \WP_Error::class, $result );
+		self::assertSame( 'zip_url_unavailable', $result->get_error_code() );
+		self::assertFileExists( untrailingslashit( $private_archive ) . '.zip' );
+		self::assertArrayNotHasKey( 'create_zip_archive', WpEnv::$options['simply-static']['archive_status_messages'] );
+	}
+
 	public function test_filtered_files_outside_archive_and_symlink_escapes_are_excluded(): void {
 		file_put_contents( $this->archive_dir . 'safe.txt', 'safe' );
 		$outside = WpEnv::$upload_dir['basedir'] . '/outside-secret.txt';