A Share Link reaches its audience in one of three ways: an emailed invitation from your site, a raw URL you publish, or an embed in another web page. Each method has different security implications and different ways of identifying who used the link.

The URL key is the part of a Share Link address that identifies the link on your site. By default, Files.com generates a random alphanumeric key. The randomly generated address makes a link difficult to discover by guessing its URL.

Site administrators control the Allow Share Links to use custom URLs setting. When it is enabled, users who can create or manage a Share Link can choose a key for a new link or change the key of a link they manage. The key must be unique among Share Links on the site that have not been revoked or expired. When the setting is off, Files.com generates keys for new links, and users cannot choose or change a key.

A custom URL produces a friendly name that is easier to share verbally or through marketing materials. It also carries a security risk: a guessable URL can be discovered the same way a common password can. Only site administrators have the option to enable this setting.

Revoking a Share Link, reaching its expiration date, or revoking it through Auto-revoke Share Links for deactivated users releases its key for reuse on the site. When custom URLs are enabled, any user who can create or manage a Share Link can assign that released key to a new link or another link they manage. The key is not reserved for its previous owner. A link that has not been revoked or expired still holds its key.

Reusing an address lets you restore a URL that people already have. For example, a Site Administrator can create a replacement for a revoked link that belonged to a departed user and give it the same address. Visitors using that address reach the replacement link, subject to its own access settings. Review the replacement's contents and access controls with that existing audience in mind.

The replacement is a separate Share Link with its own owner, contents, and settings. The original link stays inactive and cannot be reactivated. Its Access Log, Registrations, and Recipients remain with its record under Inactive Links; reusing the address does not transfer that history to the replacement.

Descriptive Text for Your Visitors

The publicly visible description for a Share Link provides extra information or instructions to Share Link visitors. As a security measure, this setting supports Markdown formatting but not HTML.

Sending Email Invitations

Whenever you've enabled access control for your Share Links, you must invite recipients to the link via emailed invitations generated by the Files.com platform. Enabling access control helps to secure your link against unwanted access by people you did not intend.

Even if a Share Link doesn't require access control, sending email invitations to specific contacts allows you to track whether your expected contacts have used the link by reviewing the list of outstanding invitation recipients.

When you send email invites, you can direct it to 50 different email addresses at once. Share Groups allow you to define re-usable lists of recipients to make inviting those recipients more efficient.

Your site includes a generous limit on the number of email invitations that can be sent for a Share Link each hour. In the unlikely event that you receive an error about exceeding those limits, you can try again later. If you believe you are receiving the error when you should not be, contact our support team for assistance.

One Invitation Email Per Recipient Per Day

Invitation emails for Share Links can only be sent one time every 24 hours to each recipient, even if you invite the same person to the link repeatedly.

Inviting someone to a Share Link more than once within 24 hours will not generate new emails. This prevents people from receiving repeat emails that they would experience as spam, and it reduces the number of emails that could fall into the wrong hands.

Directly inviting someone more than once to your Share Link with an invitation email is different from an automatically re-sent invitation generated when an access-controlled link is opened in a new browser.

Email Invitation Reply-To Addresses

When you send email invitations, the email address of the user who is sending the invitation will be used as the reply-to address for the emails. This is true even if you have customized your SMTP settings with a specific reply-to address for notification emails.

Access Control and Forwarded Invitations

When Access Control is enabled, each invitation URL is bound to the first browser that opens it. Opening that URL in a different browser requires a replacement invitation sent to the invited email address. Forwarding an unused invitation can give the first session to someone other than the intended recipient. Share Links explains the effect on access and activity records.

Recipient Email Restrictions

Site administrators can block certain domains from receiving Share Link invitations using the Recipient email restrictions settings. See Recipient Email Restrictions for the details.

Embedding in a Web Page

Instead of (or in addition to) emailing invitations or publishing the URL, you can embed a Share Link directly in another web page. The embedded link transfers files securely no matter where it's embedded. See Embedding a Share Link Within a Web Page for the setup and the security implications.

Share Link Invitations and URLs