Share a document for a limited time
A link with no end date stays open until somebody closes it, and it gets forgotten. Setting a deadline at the moment of sharing saves you from having to think about it later.
01Choose the duration when you share
On the share creation screen, open Advanced options, then the Expiry and language block. Six durations are offered: one hour, 24 hours, seven days, 30 days, one year, or no expiry.
The first three are open to every account. The last three are part of a paid tier: a link that lasts is what separates an archive from a file transfer.
02Check the end date on the share page
Open Public sharings, then the share. The end date is shown on the right, under the preview, and a label at the top of the page announces the time left.
03Change the end date afterwards
In the Access and security block, the End date menu is set to Do not change. Choose another duration, then save. The new deadline runs from the moment you save.
Shortening is always possible. On a free account, extending is too, up to seven days after the share was created: the page tells you the date not to go past.
04Close the share on the first download
In the same block, Disable after the first download closes the link as soon as one person has taken the file. That is the setting for a single delivery, to one named person.
Just below, Download limit does the same thing with a count: the share switches off once that number is reached. The value 0 means no limit.
05Close a share without waiting for its date
The Delete button, at the bottom of the share page, closes the link immediately. Your original document stays in your archive: it is the published copy that disappears.
06Worth knowing
- What happens exactly at the deadline
The published copy is deleted, and the link answers that the document cannot be found. The original document has not moved from your archive, and you can share it again.
- A share is a frozen copy
Publishing a document makes a dated copy of it, separate from the original. Correcting the document in your archive therefore changes nothing for the recipient, and deleting the original does not break the link.
- An end date does not erase what has already been downloaded
It prevents new access. A document somebody has already saved stays with them. It is a way of limiting circulation.