When you create a new Share Link, you decide whether to make a live Share Link or a snapshot Share Link. The two types of links offer different behavior.

Live Share Links

Live Share Links, the default behavior, include any changes made to folders in the share link after it has been created. Visitors to the link always have the most current version of files.

Use a live share link when you want your recipients to make changes in a folder shared with them.

You should choose a live Share Link if your link should stay active for more than 60 days, such as if your Share Link should never expire.

You should use live Share Links if you need to change the contents of the Share Link after it has been created.

Snapshot Share Links

Snapshot Share Links use the Snapshots feature to take a copy of the files you provide and store those files within a hidden, read-only directory used by that Share Link. This lets your users upload directly from their device at the time of sharing.

Files stored in snapshot Share Links are read-only and are automatically deleted when the Share Link expires. If you revoke a snapshot Share Link before it expires, the files will remain in the underscore folder until the expiration date.

Files stored in snapshot Share Links are included in your storage usage. If a user includes a large directory tree in a snapshot Share Link, the contents of the entire directory tree are copied to the hidden directory for the Share Link.

Snapshot Share Links support a much smaller set of allowed actions for link visitors than live Share Links do. Link visitors can never make changes in a snapshot Share Link, so you cannot set the link to allow uploads or full access by visitors.

Use a snapshot share link if you need your recipients to receive a copy of files as they were at a specific time.

Use a snapshot Share Link to send a file directly from your device without first uploading it to your site.

Disabling Snapshot Share Links

By default, any user who can share is allowed to make snapshot Share Links. Site administrators can disable the Enable Snapshot Share Links setting for the entire site. When the setting is disabled, users cannot create new snapshot Share Links, but existing snapshot Share Links are not automatically revoked.

One reason to disable snapshot Share Links is to prevent users from uploading arbitrary files from their device for sharing. If your organization has very strict controls on what can be uploaded to your site, disabling snapshot Share Links prevents users from sharing files that do not meet your site's requirements.

Organizations might also disable snapshot Share Links because of concerns about storage usage. Creating snapshot Share Links involves either copying existing files to the hidden directory, or uploading local files that could be extremely large, and this can lead to unplanned storage usage. Your site will never "fill up" and prevent uploading, even when you have used the space allocated for your plan, because we believe that disrupting your file transfers causes more harm than overage charges for excessive storage usage.