Turning a share link off is the one control that works after you've already sent something. It's also the one people misunderstand most, usually by expecting more from it than it can do.
It stops working for everyone, immediately
When you turn a link off, it stops working for everyone at once. The person you sent it to, the person they forwarded it to, the group chat it got pasted into, the browser tab someone left open from last week. The next time any of them try to open it, they get nothing.
There's no delay and no grace period. You don't need to find and notify each person. One switch, and the door is shut for the whole chain of people who ever got the link, including the ones you don't know about.
On FileNext, every link you create can be turned off, on every account. Find it under Shared in the drive, or right-click the file or folder and open Share.
It doesn't recall copies that already left
This is the limit, and it's the same on every service: turning a link off controls access from now on. It cannot reach into someone's downloads folder and delete what's already there.
If someone downloaded the file while the link was live, they have it. If they recorded their screen, they have a recording. If a video was shared into a chat and someone saved it, that copy is theirs. Turning the link off ends the stream of new copies; it doesn't undo the old ones.
So treat anything that goes out through a link as possibly out for good. That's not a reason to never share. It's a reason to decide before you send, and to use the controls that work in advance when the file is sensitive.
The file stays in your drive
Turning a link off is not deleting. The file, or the folder and everything in it, stays exactly where it was in your drive. Your own copy is untouched, the covers are untouched, nothing moves to Trash. Only the link is gone.
That matters because the two actions solve different problems. Turn a link off when the wrong people can reach a file. Move a file to Trash when you don't want it at all. If you only wanted to stop sharing, don't delete; you'll regret it when you need the file next month. And if you do want it gone, remember that turning off the link is still the first step, since a file in Trash can be restored but a link that's off is off.
Re-sharing creates a new link
Once a link is off, it stays off. Sharing the same file again creates a new link with a new address. The old one doesn't come back to life.
This is useful. It means you can turn off a link that leaked, make a fresh one, and send the fresh one only to the people who should have it. Everyone holding the old link is cut off; everyone with the new one is in. For a class that runs in batches, or a client project where the first reviewer should no longer have access, this is the whole workflow: off, new, send.
It also means you can't accidentally revive a dead link by sharing the file again. If you shared a folder for a project that ended and someone finds the old link a year later, it stays dead even if you've since shared that folder with someone else.
Set the end before you send
Turning a link off is a manual act. You have to remember. For anything with a natural end date, it's better to decide the end when you create the link, so it closes on its own.
On FileNext, three Premium controls do this:
- Expiry date. The link stops working on a date you pick. A class recording expires at the end of the week. A review link expires the day after comments are due. A gallery for an event closes a month after the event. Nobody comes back two years later to a link that still works.
- Download limit. The link allows a set number of downloads, then stops allowing more. Set it to one for a single handover, or to the size of the group you're sending to. If it hits the limit before everyone you sent it to has grabbed the file, somebody forwarded it.
- Password. The link only opens with a password you send separately. The link can be forwarded; the password is the part that controls who actually gets in.
Premium also shows per-link stats: opens, plays and downloads for each link. That's how you notice a link that should be quiet is still being opened, and decide whether to turn it off early. See /pricing for what's included.
If you're not on Premium, you still have the manual switch, and it still works for everyone at once. Put a reminder in your calendar for the day the project ends.
When something's already gone wrong
Sometimes you need the switch right now. You sent the wrong file. You shared a folder and then noticed something in it that shouldn't be there. A link turned up somewhere public.
Do these in order:
- Turn the link off first. Don't delete the file, don't rename anything, don't write the apology yet. Shut the door.
- Figure out what should have been sent, and make a new link for that.
- Then tell the people who need to know, with the new link in the same message.
If you shared a folder, the mistake is usually something you added to it after sharing. The fix is the same: link off, move the file out, re-share the folder, send the new link.
If the problem is the other way around, your file appearing on someone else's link, the Report button on every share page is the route. Pick the reason, add details, and you'll get a ticket number you can check. /report explains how moderators review it, and /copyright covers what a copyright notice needs to include.
Before you share
A short checklist. Thirty seconds, every time the file matters.
- Is this the file I mean to send? Open it and look at the cover before you copy the link.
- If it's a folder, is everything inside meant for everyone with the link? Including the subfolders.
- Would it matter if this link got forwarded? If yes, add a password or send it to fewer people.
- Does this link have a natural end? If yes, set an expiry date now instead of remembering later.
- Is this a one-time pickup? If yes, set a download limit.
- Am I fine with the recipient keeping a copy forever? If no, don't share it as a download at all. No link control can take back a file that's been saved.
The last one matters most. Every other control manages the link; only your decision manages the copy.
There's more on each of these controls in /help, and the /security page covers what FileNext does on its side to keep your drive private by default.