How to Share a File or Folder with Another Archive

How to Share a File or Folder with Another Archive

Sharing is the most restrictive and private way to share records. Sharing allows you to grant access to selected records in the Private workspace and restrict that access to specific archives while remaining privately stored in your Permanent Archive. The records you choose to share are only visible in the Shares workspace of the archives you select. 

In order to share files and folders within an archive, you must have an access role that gives you permission to share files. You can learn more about access roles here.

Sharing a File or Folder with Another Archive


To check your access role for an archive, open the archive and look at the left side of your screen. Under the Profile Photo and Archive name, you will see your access role. You must be a Manager or an Owner of the archive to share files.



Once you have verified that you have permission to share materials in the archive, navigate to your Private Workspace by clicking Private on the left side of your screen. You can only share files in your Private workspace, as files in your Public workspace are already shared publicly on the internet.

Next, select the file or folder you wish to share with another archive by clicking on it. The file or folder will highlight yellow, and a toolbar will appear at the top of your screen. Click the Share button.



A new window will appear. Enter the email address of the owner of the archive you want to share with. The default archive associated with that account will appear in the search list. If this is the archive you want to share with, click the name of the archive to share the file or folder with that archive. Please note that archive names will only appear in the search list if you have previously shared with the archive or established a relationship between your archive and that archive.



Once you have selected the archive you wish to share with, you can set the archive's access role for the file or folder with the drop down next to the archive name. Learn more about access roles here.

Share Via Link

You can also create a link to send to someone via text or email to invite people to access a file or folder in your archive. To generate a link, find the file or folder you wish to share, then select it by clicking on it. In the new toolbar that appears, click the Share button. A new window will appear where you can enter in the archive name or email address, or you can choose to create a Share Link. Click "Create."



You will now see the URL for the Share Link along with a couple of settings for the link:
  1. Share Preview: if the Share Preview is on, anyone logged into Permanent with the link can view a preview of the content you have shared. If the Share Preview is off, they will not see the content until they have accepted the share invite
  2. Auto Approve: If the Auto Approve is on, anyone logged into Permanent with the link will automatically be granted access to your shared file. If the Auto Approve is off, you will receive a notification that the person is requesting access to the shared file, and you will have to approve the share.
  3. Link Expiration: Set the expiration date for the share link. If Never is selected, the link will always be active. If you choose to have an expiration date for the link, the Share Link will stop working after the expiration date has been reached.
Once you've customized the settings to your liking, you can copy the Share Link and share it through text message, email, or however you wish to send it to others.

If you change your mind and wish to revoke access through this link, you can click the Remove Link button to deactivate the link.

Manage a Shared File or Folder

If a file or folder in your archive is shared with another archive, you will see an icon near the file name that indicates that it has been shared. In the example below, the first two files have been shared, but the third has not.



To view and manage which archives have access to a file or folder, select the file or folder, then navigate to the Sharing tab on the right side of your screen.



The Sharing tab will list all of the archives that have access to the file, as well as each archive's access role. Learn more about access roles here.

If you wish to change an archive's access role, or remove an archive's access to the file, click the Manage button in the Sharing tab. You can also click the Share button on the File Action Toolbar at the top of your workspace. A new window will appear.



To change an archive's access role, or to remove them from the shared file, find the archive's name and then click the drop down next to it. You can change the access role, or click Remove to remove their access to the file. 











    • Related Articles

    • How to Share a Folder with Others (Mobile App)

      This article will walk through how to set up a folder in your archive and share it with others so they can view the materials in the folder and contribute to the folder. The Permanent.org shares feature allows you to share a file or folder from your ...
    • Getting Started from a Share Link

      Welcome to Permanent.org! Your family member, friend, colleague, or neighbor sent you a link to preview the work they've done on their archive on Permanent.org. This link gives you a preview of some files they want to share with you and possibly ...
    • Tour of Your New Permanent Account and Archive

      Congratulations on taking the first steps towards preserving the materials and memories that mean the most to you! We are excited to have you joining the Permanent community. When you log into your Permanent.org account, you will land in your first ...
    • Folder Thumbnails and File Type Icons in Public Archive

      Folders in your Permanent.org Public Archive feature thumbnail previews of one of the files inside the folder. Files and folders in your Public Archive also include icons that indicate the file type. This article documents what each of those icons ...
    • Sharing Files from the Permanent App with a Share Link

      You can share a file, multiple files, or entire folders in your archive with other Permanent members on the mobile app through generating a share link to view the selected files. With this share link, friends, family members, and colleagues can ...