Share files and folders externally from My Folders

Share files and folders externally from My Folders

When you share your personal files with people outside of your team, it's important to retain control over the original files. WorkDrive allows you to share files and folders from My Folders with external users in the following two ways:
1. Share a file or folder externally with default permissions (for anyone on the internet)
 
External users will only be able to view and download files and folders. This is the default external sharing option in WorkDrive.

2. Share a file or folder externally with custom share links
  1. Create new external share links and set passwords and expiration date, allow or disallow downloads, and even request user information for the shared link to help restrict access and track activity.
     
  2. Access levels for files: View, Edit
    Access levels for folders: View, Edit, Upload
     
  3. You can create multiple custom external share links for each file or folder. 
Notes
  1. The external sharing feature can be enabled or disabled at the team level.
  2. If external sharing is enabled in a Team, any Team Member can share files and folders externally from My Folders.
  3. If external sharing is disabled, Team Members will not be able to share files and folders externally from My Folders.

Share a file or folder externally with default permissions (for anyone on the internet )

1. Select My Folders in the left pane.
 
2. Select a file or folder and click the share icon  in the top actions bar. A share dialog box will appear.
Alternatively, you can also right-click a file or folder and select Share. 
 
3. Click Change Visibility next to Permalink in the share dialog box. By default, Collaborators will be selected.

 

4. Click the dropdown next to Collaborators and select Anyone on the internet.

 

5. Click SAVE.
 
6. Click Copy, then share the link with external users via email, group chat, or social networking sites.
 
7. To stop sharing with anyone on the internet, click Change Visibility next to Permalink in the share dialog box and select Collaborators or Anyone in your team.
 
Notes
External users will only be able to view and download the file or folder. 
1. Select My Folders in the left pane.
 
2. Select a file or folder and click the share icon  in the top action bar. A share dialog box will appear. 
Alternatively, you can also right-click a file or folder and select Share.
 
 
 
3. Click the +NEW button in the share dialog box, then select External share link from the dropdown. An external share link dialog box will open.
 
4. Enter a link name for easy reference.
 
5. Choose the Access Level for the file or folder you want to share externally.
 
Permissions for files:
 
For Zoho format files, i.e., Writer, Sheet and Show, external users can be given view or edit access.
For non-Zoho format files (documents, spreadsheets and presentations), and other file types such as images, videos and pdfs, external users can only be given view access.
 
Permissions for folders:
 
View - Restricts an external user to only viewing files inside the folder.
Upload - Allows an external user to do the following:
      Upload files (file upload limit will apply based on the WorkDrive plan)
      Preview and download files
Edit - Allows an external user to upload and edit files inside the folder.

Notes
  1. The maximum file upload size is 1 GB in Starter Edition, 5 GB in Team Edition, and 50 GB in Business & Enterprise Editions.
  2. Only files in Zoho's native formats (i.e., Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheet, and Zoho Show) can be edited.
  3. Only external users with edit access can comment on files.

5. To enable password access to the file or folder, toggle Set password on and enter a password.
 
You can add passwords when you share confidential files and folders. Anyone who tries to open the link will have to provide the password you've set for the file or folder.
 
6. Toggle ON Set expiration to set an expiration date for the shared file or folder. This will make your share link invalid after the set date.
 
Consider a scenario where your team makes deals with clients or parties for a fixed period of time. You can set the expiration date for links you share with them to ensure that they won't have access to your file or folder once the contract ends.
 
7. Toggle ON Allow downloads to let external users download the shared file folder. If you wish to restrict users from downloading the file or folder, toggle OFF.
 
8. Toggle ON Request user data and choose the required user details like name, email address, and phone number. If this is enabled, a user has to submit their details every time to access the file or folder. This way you know who opens your file or folder via the external share link.
 
Info
  1. If the name is not requested in a share link, external users will be mentioned as or called Guest# (in sequence as Guest#1, Guest#2, etc.) in WorkDrive.
  2. This setting cannot be enabled or edited once the external share link has been created.

 

9. Click Create. A new dialog box will open.
 
10. Click Copy, then share the link with external users via group chat or social networking sites.
 
11. To email the share link, enter email addresses of external users, separated by commas, add a personal message if needed, and click SEND EMAIL.
 
12. Close the dialog box and click the share icon  again in the top to see the external share link created at the bottom of the share dialog box.
 
13. Click Actions next to the share link and you will have these options:
 
 
 
Copy link - You can copy the share link to share with your external users.

View stats - You can view the list of external users who have accessed the file via this external share link, their number of views and downloads, and the date and time they recently accessed.
 
 
 
Email share link - You can email the share link to external users.
 
Change settings - You can change the share link settings (password, expiration date, and download setting) at anytime after creating the link, or create a new custom share link for the same file.
 
Delete share link - You can delete the share link if required.

Notes
  1. You can create multiple custom external share links for a single file or folder, and share them with the appropriate person or group.
  2. You can find separate access stats for each external share link by clicking its Stats in the share dialog box.
  3. To access an externally shared file or folder, external users have to go to the email or app where they received it. The file or folder will not be listed anywhere in external users' folders, even if they have a Zoho account.
  4. Deleting external share links will remove access to files or folders for external users.
 
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