The Files.com Outlook Add-In lets you replace email attachments with secure, revocable Share Links without leaving Outlook or switching to another app. Instead of attaching a file directly to your email, the add-in uploads it to Files.com, generates a Share Link automatically, and inserts it into your email body. The file never travels through email. The recipient clicks the link and downloads it from Files.com in their browser. You keep full control over who can access it, and you can revoke it at any time after sending.

The add-in ships as part of the Files.com Desktop App for Windows and works with Classic Outlook for Windows only. It is not currently supported on the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, or Outlook for Mac.

When to Use the Outlook Add-In

The add-in is useful for anyone who regularly sends files over email: sharing contracts with clients, distributing reports to stakeholders, exchanging sensitive documents with external parties, or delivering files too large for standard mail servers. Common use cases include:

Mail Server and Mailbox Limitations

Outlook and Exchange enforce attachment size limits, typically 10–35 MB by default. SMTP servers on either end may also reject messages that exceed their threshold, or strip certain file types outright — executables, scripts, archive formats, and sometimes PDFs if they trigger a scan rule. The email either bounces or arrives with the attachment silently removed. Large attachments also consume quota in both the sender's and every recipient's mailbox: a 50 MB file sent to a distribution list of 200 people consumes 10 GB across the organization. With the add-in, the file uploads to Files.com and never touches the mail path, so none of these limits apply and no mailbox storage is consumed.

Controlling Access After Sending

An attachment is permanent the moment it lands in a recipient's inbox. If a contract draft goes to the wrong person, a proposal gets sent before pricing is finalized, or a file needs to be pulled back after a deal falls through, you can revoke the link within seconds. A Share Link with recipient restrictions also means only the named recipients can open the file, even if the URL is forwarded. This is useful for documents sent to clients, external counsel, or vendors where the content must stay with the intended audience.

Compliance and Audit Requirements

Healthcare, legal, finance, and insurance organizations are often required to prove who accessed a document, when, and from where. A law firm sending discovery documents, a financial advisor sharing a client portfolio, or a healthcare provider transmitting patient records all face this requirement. Files.com Share Links carry a full audit log: every access is recorded with the recipient's identity, timestamp, and IP address. Contracts, financial statements, personal data, and pre-release materials can also be sent with a password required to open the link, adding a second layer of protection beyond delivery.

Temporary or Time-Limited Access

Bid documents, pre-release materials, or time-sensitive contracts can be sent with an expiration date on the link. Once the link expires, the recipient can no longer open it, even if the email is still in their inbox. This enforces deadlines and limits exposure without requiring follow-up to ask recipients to delete the file.

Preventing Version Confusion

Each forwarded attachment creates a static copy. When a contract or report gets revised, recipients may be working from an outdated version without knowing it. A Share Link always points to the file you intended. Because the add-in uses a Snapshot, that version is frozen at the moment of sending and cannot be altered, giving you a permanent record of exactly what was shared.

Installation

The add-in installs automatically with the Files.com Desktop App for Windows. No separate download or manual installation is needed. Once the Desktop App is installed and signed in, the Files.com buttons appear in the Classic Outlook for Windows compose toolbar.

Outlook loads COM add-ins at startup. If the buttons do not appear after installing or updating the Desktop App, restart Outlook.

Prerequisites

The add-in requires the Files.com Desktop App for Windows version 6.0.2675 or later, installed and signed in to at least one site. It only works with Classic Outlook for Windows and is not supported on the new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, or Outlook for Mac.

Site Administrators, Workspace Administrators, and Folder Administrators always have sharing permissions. Other users need at least one folder on their account with share permissions explicitly granted. Without this, the add-in cannot create Share Links.

The add-in also requires Share Links and Snapshot Share Links to be enabled at the site level. Both are enabled by default. If either has been disabled by a Site Administrator, the add-in cannot create Share Links. Contact your Site Administrator to re-enable them if needed.

From the Files.com web interface, you can create either a Live Share Link or a Snapshot Share Link. A Live Share Link reflects the current state of the file. If the file changes, the recipient sees the updated version. A Snapshot Share Link takes a frozen copy of the file at the moment the link is created; the shared version cannot be changed after that, even if the original file is modified or deleted.

The Outlook Add-In always creates Snapshot Share Links. Snapshots capture the file exactly as it exists at the moment of sending and cannot be modified after that, giving both the sender and recipient a fixed, tamper-proof copy of what was shared. There is no option to create a Live Share Link through the add-in.

There is also a workflow difference. When you create a Share Link from the web, you navigate to the file, generate the link, copy it, switch to Outlook, and paste it into your message. With the add-in, you stay in Outlook the entire time. You pick a local file or convert an existing attachment in the compose window, and the link is inserted directly. There is no copy-paste step and no context switch.