Sharing files and folders in Files

In the Files app, you can share separate files and folders via a link, or share them individually with certain workspace users and groups.

Sharing via a link

To quickly create a link for a file, click the Copy shared link icon next to the file in the Compact view. The external link for viewing by anyone will be created and copied to the clipboard.

To create a link and adjust its parameters:

• Right-click the file and select the Share -> Manage links option or open the Info panel and switch to the Share tab. The Info panel also contains the History and Details tabs.

• In the Shared links section, click Create and copy. The Shared link appears where you can set basic link parameters.

  

• Click the icon and select who will have public access to your file: Anyone with the link or workspace users only.

• Click the icon and provide different access permissions. The following options are available for files:

  • Editing – a user can edit the shared file but cannot manage or create shared links.

    note

    When a file is shared with Editing permission via a link, or shared with custom permissions where editing is enabled but sharing is disabled, the recipient's access to the Share panel is restricted — they cannot create or manage links for this file further.

  • Review – a user can edit the file but the changes should be accepted or rejected by the file owner.

  • Filling – a user can only fill out PDF forms.

  • Comment – a user can comment the content of the file without editing it.

  • Read only – a user can only view the file.

  

  note

  The set of the available roles depends on the file type. For text documents, these are Editing, Review, Comment, and Read only. For spreadsheets, the Review role is not available: only Editing, Comment, and Read only can be selected. For PDF forms, the available roles are Editing and Filling.

  The following options are available for folders:

  • Editor – a user can perform the following operations with files in the folder: viewing, editing, form filling, reviewing, commenting.
  • Reviewer – a user can perform the following operations with files in the folder: viewing, reviewing, commenting.
  • Commentator – a user can perform the following operations with files in the folder: viewing, commenting.
  • Viewer – a user can only view files in the folder.

• By default, the link is valid for an unlimited time. To make the link expire, open the link settings and use the Limit by time period option described below.

• Click the Show link actions icon to open the link settings, copy or delete the link.

  The Edit shared link panel allows you to change basic link parameters if necessary or set additional ones. The following settings are available:

  

  • Use the Role for link option to change permissions for a file (Editing, Review, Filling, Comment, Read only) or folder (Viewer, Editor, Reviewer, or Commentator). Note that recipients accessing the file via a link with Editing permission cannot manage or create further shared links.
  • Use the Link name to distinguish various links.
  • Who has access – select who will have public access to your file: Anyone with the link or workspace users only.
  • Set a password to protect the link.

    1. Turn on the Password access switch.

    2. Click the icon to generate a password or enter it manually into the corresponding field.

       note

       The password must be at least 8 characters long. The following characters are allowed: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, !"#%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[]^_`{|}

    3. To clean the password field, click the Clean button.

    4. To copy the password to your clipboard for future sharing, click the Copy password button.

  • Enable the Restrict file content copy, file download and printing switch to disable downloads of files and folders shared via a link.
  • Use the Limit by time period option to limit the availability period for the link: click Select date and set an expiration date.
  • To save the changes made to the shared link parameters, click the Save button.

If you need more than one link, use the icon in the Shared links section.

Sharing with certain workspace users

In the Files app, you can also share the selected file or folder with certain workspace users or groups:

1. Open the Info -> Share screen by clicking the icon next to the file in the Compact view. Alternatively, right-click the file and select the Share -> Manage links option.

   You can also click the Share button within the opened document.

2. Click the icon.

3. On the Contacts screen, switch between Members, Groups, and Guests tabs and check the necessary people or groups.

4. You can set a common permission level for all selected members, guests, and groups using the menu at the bottom of the screen:

   • Full access – sharing, editing, reviewing, commenting and renaming.
   • Editing – viewing, editing, reviewing, commenting.
   • Review – viewing, reviewing, commenting.
   • Comment – viewing, commenting.
   • Read only – file viewing.
   • Deny access – no access to view, edit, or manage this file.

   The list above is shown for text documents. For spreadsheets, the Review level is not offered, and reviewing is excluded from the Full access and Editing descriptions.

   When ready, click the Select button – it displays the number of the selected contacts, for example, Select (1).

   

5. On the Info -> Share screen, you can change the selected permission level for each member, guest, or group using the menu near their names. The same menu contains the Remove option that revokes the access granted to this person or group.

6. The shared file or folder will be marked with the icon in the file list and will be available for the selected workspace users in the Shared with me section of the Files app.

note

Sharing with certain contacts is available in the Files app only. In the Rooms and Forms apps, access is managed through room membership.

Depending on the permission level, the following actions with files are available:

Actions	Full access	Editing	Review	Comment	Read only	Deny access
Editing the file
Editing text	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖
Editing field properties (content controls)	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖
Editing filters in a spreadsheet	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖
Filling out form fields	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Reviewing	✔	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖
Commenting	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖	✖
Viewing (reading)
Viewing content	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Viewing comments	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Copying content to the clipboard	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Printing	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Downloading	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Save as	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Viewing version history	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Management
Access to the Share panel	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Viewing history	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✖
Managing version history	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖
Highlighting changes made by other users	✔	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖
Displaying users who are editing the file ("View users")	✔	✔	✔	✖	✖	✖
Renaming a file	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Creating files/folders	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Uploading files	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Removing files/folders	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖
Moving files/folders	✔	✖	✖	✖	✖	✖

Sharing PDF forms

When sharing PDF forms stored in the Files app, the link is created for editing. The available roles for the link are Editing and Filling.

If you choose the Filling option, the Share to fill out panel opens with the available sharing options:

• The Quick sharing option allows creating an external link with the rights to fill in and share it directly without creating a room.
• The Form data collection option allows you to share the form via a form filling room and export the collected data to XLSX for further analysis. You can choose one of the existing rooms or create a new one. Learn more about form filling rooms.
• The Recipient role-based filling option allows you to fill out the original form together with other recipients in a Virtual Data Room. You can choose one of the existing rooms or create a new one. When you copy the PDF form to a Virtual Data Room, a new window appears with a proposal to assign roles. Learn more about Virtual Data Rooms.

note

The Filling access right, including Quick sharing, is only available for PDF forms stored in the Files app. For PDF forms located in Public, Custom, or Collaboration rooms, the Filling option is not available when creating a link. The only available link permission for such forms is Editing.

For forms that are already stored in a form filling room, see Sharing forms in Forms.

Creating rooms based on the Files app content

If you want to create a new room based on the selected files or folders from the Files app, select several files or folders and use the Create room option that appears on the top toolbar. For separate files/folders, you can right-click the file/folder and select the Share -> Create room option from the context menu. Then follow the instruction for creating rooms.

All the selected files or contents of the selected folder will be copied there.

Afterward, you can invite other users to collaborate on the files within a room.