Sending Files to External Recipients
A client needs a completed report, a contractor needs a drawing package, or a customer needs files that are too large for email. The person sending them needs a convenient delivery method. The organization needs to control what leaves, who can retrieve it, and how long that access remains available.
A Files.com Share Link gives recipients browser-based access to selected files without creating an account on your site. Administrators decide who may create links and which sharing rules apply. Staff can then handle ordinary deliveries within those rules, instead of asking IT to create an account for every short exchange.
The important decisions happen before sending the URL: what the recipient should receive, how their access is established, and who will manage the delivery afterward.
The Recipient's Relationship to the Files
A Share Link fits a person who needs to open or download a delivery in a browser. A recipient who needs an ongoing login or an application that connects over SFTP needs an account instead. Partners organize those accounts when the relationship belongs to an external business.
For example, a client-services team sending a completed report can use a download link. It does not need to give the client access to the team's working folders. If the same client must also submit documents through a maintained intake page, an Inbox can provide that separate submission path. Choose each interaction according to what the other party needs to do.
The sender needs sharing permission on the files, and the site must allow Share Links. Preparing a new delivery in the folder also requires permission to upload there. Administrators can grant that permission to a team on an approved delivery folder. That creates a practical boundary: staff can distribute the material prepared there without gaining permission to share every folder they can read.
A Finished Delivery or an Updating Collection
A Snapshot Share Link captures a read-only copy of the selected files. It suits a completed report or document package whose contents should remain as sent. If a colleague later edits the source, the recipient's snapshot stays the same.
A Live Share Link serves the current contents of the selected files or folders. It suits an updating collection where recipients should receive later changes through the same link. Replacing a file changes what the link delivers, and sharing a folder can expose files subsequently added to that folder. Keep working drafts outside a folder intended for external distribution.
This choice is about the meaning of the delivery, not just convenience. A client asking what was sent last Tuesday and a contractor asking for the latest drawing set may need different arrangements. Snapshot copies consume native Files.com storage in the site's default region and expire within 60 days; check the snapshot storage and expiration rules when those constraints affect the exchange.
Access That Matches the Delivery
Expiration sets the period in which the link can be used. Recipient access control requires people to enter through email invitations generated by Files.com. When the exchange also requires verification that a visitor controls the invited mailbox, email-based one-time passwords provide that check.
For a confidential client report, the intended result might be that the named recipient opens their invitation and completes that email verification before downloading. Configure the link for that result before inviting anyone. A general URL pasted into an email is not equivalent to the personalized invitation used by these controls.
Password protection is another authentication option. A link uses either a password or email-based one-time passwords, not both. The site's policies may require a particular choice, maximum lifetime, or permitted recipient domains. Share Link access controls explains the combinations and their recipient experience.
Sending the First Report
For a first delivery, use a sample report and a recipient who can confirm the experience. Follow the same access policy you intend to use for real client files.
- Upload the completed report to the approved delivery folder. Select the specific file with Add to Share, rather than including a broader working folder.
- Choose a Snapshot Share Link for this fixed report and allow downloads. Supply any required password or internal note, then generate the link. If the delivery needs an updating collection instead, use a live link and account for later changes to its contents.
- Before sending, review the link's settings. Give it an Internal Name that identifies the delivery, set its expiration, and configure recipient access control and the authentication required for this exchange. Save those choices.
- Send the recipient an invitation through the Share Link's email invitation option. If password protection is in use, provide the password separately. Have the recipient open the invitation, complete the required authentication, and download the report.
The recipient should be able to identify the intended delivery and retrieve only its selected contents. If you test through your own mailbox, use a separate browser profile to see the visitor experience rather than relying on your signed-in administrator session.
Responsibility After Sending
The link's Access Logs record visitor actions, including downloads. They help answer whether a file was retrieved. An invitation being sent, a file being downloaded, and a client approving its contents are different events; any required business acceptance still needs its own confirmation.
Choose an owner who can answer questions and end access. Group ownership lets a team manage its deliveries when one staff member is away. A live link can continue after its creator's folder permissions change, so removing the sender's access is not a way to end a recipient's access.
Revoke the link when the exchange ends, or let its configured expiration end access. Those actions stop access through the link; they do not remove a copy the recipient already downloaded. The organization's delivery record and the link's lifecycle should reflect the same business decision about when the exchange is complete.