Link-based file sharing
Exchange sensitive files with partners. Keep access under control.
Send files to suppliers, customers and subcontractors and collect theirs back — by secure link, with no accounts for IT to create. Outside recipients register once as guests and never take a paid seat.
- SendFiles and folders to named partners, by link
- CollectPartner uploads into the folder you choose
- Set policyExpiry, recipient domains and MFA, site-wide
- TrackWho received what, and when
15-day free trial · Link sharing on every plan · FedRAMP Rev 5 (Class C) Certified option
12 files · no size limit
Copy a link to send yourself instead: one link, not tied to a recipient, uses pooled.
Part of one platform
Where does link sharing fit in the Sharetru platform?
Link sharing is the browser side of Sharetru; systems connect to the same site over SFTP, FTPS and the REST API. All of it shares one set of folders, permissions and logs.
Replacing an MFT platform? Scheduled transfers keep running from the tools you already use — cron, Task Scheduler, Azure Data Factory — over SFTP or the API, while partners exchange files by link.
People (this page)
Share links and the web app, over HTTPS
Systems
SFTP, SCP, FTPS and FTPeS for scripted transfers
Software
A 60-endpoint REST API for files, users, shares and logs
The problem
Every team shares files with partners — each in its own way
Engineering sends drawings one way, purchasing another, and partners send files back however they can: attachments, personal cloud folders, whatever tool they already use. Each choice is reasonable on its own. Together they leave IT with no single place to set the rules or see what went where.
Three problems, one cause: external exchange has no single home. Sharetru gives every team the same one.
See how an exchange works-
Provisioning drag
External sharing creates another IT ticket
A partner needs the files today. Creating an account, setting permissions and remembering to remove them later turns a quick send into a ticket and a wait.
Fixed by links your users create under a policy your administrator set once. Partners register themselves as guests — no account for IT to create, no seat to buy.
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Evidence gap
We need a usable record of the exchange
When a customer or auditor asks who received the files and when, the answer is spread across sent mail, a sharing tool's history and someone's memory.
Fixed by one Shares list of every link and an access history of every upload and download, by person and time — filterable and exportable to CSV.
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Access sprawl
Partner access keeps growing after the work ends
Projects close, contracts end and people change jobs. The links and accounts created for the work stay open, and nobody owns them.
Fixed by expiry by days and uses, every link visible on one list, and ownership you hand to a colleague before a user is deleted.
Send and collect
How do I send files to partners and collect theirs back?
In Sharetru, send packages out with an outbound link and collect partner files with an inbound link into the folder you choose. Both follow the same domain, MFA and expiry rules and appear on the same Shares list.
An outbound share carries up to 50 files or folders, with no total size limit. Uploads to an inbound link land in a subfolder of the folder where the link was created.
Send the package to the supplier. Collect the records back.
A supplier quality engineer shares a build package with a casting supplier and an inspection lab, then collects first-article inspection reports back — both directions under the same site policy.
Select the drawings, CAD model and specifications and name the share.
Add the supplier and the lab. Sharetru sends each of them their own link, tied to their address.
Set access, days and uses, or keep the defaults your administrator chose.
The supplier signs in and downloads. You are notified, and each download is on record.
Open the supplier's folder — Suppliers / CastPartner / HX-220 — and create an inbound link there.
Send it to the supplier. They see your site's inbound memo and sign in as a guest.
They upload inspection reports and material certificates. Files land in that folder, logged and notified.
The link expires by days or uses — or stays open as a standing collection point when your administrator allows it.
The same two links in other industries
Architecture, engineering & construction
OutPlan sets to subcontractors
InSubmittals and RFIs back
Financial services
OutWorkpapers to auditors
InRequested documents back
Healthcare
OutReferral records to a specialist
InResults back
How a Sharetru link works
What happens when Sharetru sends a share link?
When Sharetru sends the link, each recipient gets their own link tied to their email address and must sign in before anything opens. Registered users sign in as usual; anyone else registers once as a guest.
Copy a link to send yourself and it works differently: it is one link, not tied to a recipient. Whoever opens it must still sign in or register as a guest, and its uses are pooled across the link.
How Sharetru sends one share
Your share passes your domain rules and site policy. Each recipient gets their own link. A forwarded copy is refused at sign-in.
Swipe the diagram to follow the share →
Send your first link from your own Sharetru site — free for 15 days.Link sharing and view-only links are included on every plan.
Admin controls
What can an administrator control about share links?
A Sharetru administrator sets link lifetime, uses, recipient domains and guest MFA once, for the whole site. Every share form your users open already follows that policy.
You also decide whether the people creating links may change the days and uses — one choice that applies across the site — and whether recipient domains run as an allow-list or a block-list.
The record
What record does Sharetru keep of an external exchange?
Sharetru keeps two records: the Shares list shows every link that exists, and the access history logs each upload and download by person and time. Filter either by share or recipient, and export to CSV.
- CSV
The Shares list: what exists
One row per link, inbound or outbound: reference, files, recipients, owner, uses and expiry. From any row: extend expiry, raise uses, change owner, go to folder.
Yours - CSV
The access history: what happened
Every upload and download by person and time, one row per event. Filter by share or recipient and export to CSV.
Yours
Know the moment it is used. Link creators are notified as their links are used — with the link's dates, its remaining uses, and the address and IP behind each use. Nothing leaves with the employee. When someone leaves, change the owner of their links to a colleague before you delete the account. Recipients keep the same link; the history stays whole.
Where to get it
- Logsfilter, export CSV
- Share Links reportlast 90 days
- REST APIfile log, 90 days
- loghistory folderfull retention
Swipe sideways to see the whole row →
Illustrative access history · HX-220 exchange
Illustrative entries. One row per event, not one row per link.
Guests
Do partners need a paid Sharetru account to open a link?
Partners do not need a paid account: they register once as free guests, and guests never consume a paid user seat, in any number.
Returning guests sign in with the same email and password on every link. An invitation nobody opens shows no uses on the Shares list and expires on schedule.
First link
Register once
The guest enters the address the link was sent to, confirms a six-digit code emailed to that address, sets a name and password, and enrolls an authenticator app if the site requires MFA. The HX-220 build package then opens.
Every link after
Sign in
The same guest signs in with email, password and an authenticator code. Here the next link is a request for the HX-220 inspection records, and the upload page opens.
What is the difference between a guest and a registered user — and can a guest become one?
Registered users sign in to your Sharetru site and count toward your plan; guests only open what is shared with them by link, free. An administrator can convert a guest to a registered user at any time.
Registered users own folders, connect over the web app, SFTP and the API, and open links with that same sign-in. Guests cannot browse the site, do not consume a seat, and are unlimited. Conversion keeps the same account and adds folders, protocols and a seat.
Guest. Receives and sends files through links. Registers once, signs in with MFA. Sees only what is shared with them. Unlimited, never billed.
Registered user. Signs in to your site. Opens links with the sign-in they already have. Owns folders; web app, SFTP, FTPS and the API. Counted in your plan.
Choose your platform
Sharetru Commercial or Sharetru Federal?
Sharetru Commercial and Sharetru Federal offer the same share links, records and guest model; Federal adds FedRAMP Rev 5 (Class C) Certified status (the new name for FedRAMP Moderate), authenticator-only guest MFA and watermarking. Choose Federal for CUI and ITAR data, Commercial for regulated commercial data.
Regulated commercial data
For manufacturing, engineering, construction, financial services and healthcare teams sharing files under customer requirements, HIPAA, SOC 2, GLBA/SOX/PCI or GDPR.
- FIPS 140-2 validated encryption; TLS 1.2 on every link
- SOC 2 Type II Attested; HIPAA Support Package available
- Guest MFA by authenticator app, email or SMS
- Link sharing, view-only links and unlimited guests on Core and Complete
- Domain allow- or block-list, expiry by days and uses, Shares dashboard; 15-day free trial
CUI, ITAR and the defense industrial base
For contractors, primes and agencies that share controlled files with partners and need a FedRAMP Rev 5 (Class C) Certified service a C3PAO can verify.
- FedRAMP Rev 5 (Class C) Certified IaaS, PaaS and SaaS
- FIPS 140-3 validated encryption — the current federal standard
- Guest MFA locked to authenticator apps only — no email or SMS codes
- Watermark every file a guest views through a link
- Built for CUI and ITAR; supports CMMC Level 2 and NIST SP 800-171 evidence
FAQ
Questions teams ask before they share
Can a recipient forward a Sharetru link to someone else?
A link Sharetru sends is tied to the recipient's address, so a forwarded copy is refused at sign-in. Each recipient must sign in with the address the link was sent to.
A link you copy and send yourself is different: it is not tied to a recipient, anyone you give it to can sign in or register as a guest to open it, and its uses are pooled. Choose it only when you mean to.
Do guests count against my plan or cost extra?
Guests never count against a Sharetru plan and are never billed, on any plan, in any number. Only registered users — the people who sign in to your site, own folders and use SFTP or the API — count toward your plan.
Can a guest become a registered user later?
A guest can be converted to a registered user later by an administrator, with no second account to create. As a registered user they sign in to the site, own folders, connect over SFTP and the API, and count toward your plan.
Can I use links to share with people inside my own company?
Sharetru links work for people inside your company too: a registered user opens a link with the sign-in and MFA they already use. The link carries the same expiry, uses and dashboard entry as an external one — the way to hand a colleague a specific set of files without granting a folder permission.
How do guests authenticate?
Guests sign in with the email address the link was sent to, a password they set once, and MFA when your site requires it. On Sharetru Commercial the MFA methods are an authenticator app, email or SMS; on Sharetru Federal, an authenticator app only.
Can I restrict which domains can receive links?
Yes — an administrator restricts recipient domains with either an allow-list (only these domains) or a block-list (never these domains), one mode per site.
The list is checked when a link is sent and again when the guest signs in. Personal mailbox providers are a common block-list; approved partner domains a common allow-list.
How long can a link live?
A Sharetru link can live up to 365 days and can also be capped by number of uses, both set by the administrator.
Uses count per recipient when Sharetru sends the link and per link when you send it yourself. Expired links can be deleted automatically a set number of days later.
Can I change a link after I have sent it?
Yes — you can extend a sent link's expiry or raise its use limit from the Shares dashboard, and change its owner. Recipients keep the same link; changing the owner is how you hand off links before deleting a user who has left.
Can a guest send files to me?
Yes — a guest sends files to you through an inbound share, a drop-off link created in the folder where you want the files. Uploads land in a subfolder there, logged and notified like any other upload.
Inbound links run on the same day-and-use limits, or stay open when your administrator allows it.
Can I stop guests from downloading?
Yes — a link can be set to view only, download only, or view and download, so guests can see files without downloading them. Sharetru Federal can also watermark the files a guest views through a link.
What replaced link passwords?
Guest registration replaced link passwords: every Sharetru link now requires the recipient to register once and sign in, with MFA if you require it. That replaces a password typed into a link — which travels with the link when it is forwarded — with an authenticated identity for every recipient.
Is link sharing on every plan?
Link-based sharing is included on every Sharetru plan — Core, Complete and Sharetru Federal — with view-only links, guest access management and unlimited guests. All of it is included in the 15-day free trial.
See it work
See a partner exchange from invitation to access record.
We run a complete exchange on a live Sharetru site with sample files: an engineering package out to a test supplier, inspection records back in, and the record it all leaves behind.
Replacing an MFT platform, a self-run server or a process that grew on its own? Talk through how you move files today, 30 minutes, no slides. Or read the sharing guides.
Sources. Link-sharing details on this page are drawn from the Sharetru Knowledge Base (Link Based File Sharing: outbound and inbound guides, advanced settings, Shares FAQ) and the Sharetru plan comparison.