Updated Oct 6, 2026 ## How do I share a file as view-only? Upload the file, then turn downloads off in the link's settings. The reader opens your PDF or image in their browser and the save button is gone, so the frictionless copy never happens. It is a deterrent, not encryption: a screenshot still works, and anyone who can see a document can photograph it. Pair it with a password and an expiry for anything that matters. ### The download button simply disappears Turn off downloads and the public page loses both the save button and the direct file URL. The file streams into an inline viewer instead of being handed over, so a helpful recipient can't one-click save your draft and forward it onward. [Share a PDF people can view but not download](https://linkinseconds.com/blog/share-a-pdf-people-can-view-but-not-download) ### Pair it with a password for real control View-only decides what a reader can do once inside; a password decides who gets in at all. Add a password and a link that leaks into the wrong inbox is a dead end, while the people you trust can read but not casually download. [Password-protect a file](https://linkinseconds.com/blog/password-protect-a-file-you-share) ### Add an expiry so it doesn't outlive the deal A view-only link with no end date sits in someone's inbox forever. On any plan you can set an expiry date: once the deadline passes, the link stops serving the file, a cleaner guarantee than hoping people forget the URL. ### Know it was actually read A view-only link still counts every open, so you get the one signal that matters after you hit send: did they look? Every plan shows the view count, plus which devices and countries opened it, so you know whether to nudge, re-send, or move on. [Track who opened a proposal](https://linkinseconds.com/proposal-tracking) ### What view-only genuinely cannot do It does not stop screenshots or screen recording. Anything a person can see, they can capture. No web viewer anywhere prevents this, and one that claims to is describing a wish. It is not encryption or DRM. The file is served to the browser so it can be displayed. Turning off the download button removes the easy path, not every path. It does not watermark images. The watermark option overlays the PDF preview only; JPEGs and PNGs are served as uploaded. Burn a watermark in before upload if you need one on an image. It is not a legal or compliance control. If a document needs an audit trail, signature capture or retention policy, you want a document-management system. This is a share link with the save button hidden. ## How it works - 1 ### Upload the PDF or image Drop the file on the upload card. View-only works with documents you want people to read on screen, a contract draft, a design comp, a sample chapter, a priced quote. It renders in the browser, so viewers never touch your original file. - 2 ### Switch the link to view-only On the link's settings, turn off downloads. This hides the download button and the direct file URL from the public page, so the file is shown but not offered as a saveable copy. It's free on every plan, alongside password and expiry. - 3 ### Share the link and watch the views Send the clean linkinseconds.com link or its QR code. Every open is counted, and on any plan you see which devices and countries opened it, useful for knowing a proposal was actually read, not just delivered. Add a password or expiry if it's sensitive. ## What view-only actually does When you turn off downloads, the public page changes in two concrete ways: the download button disappears, and the direct file link, the URL that would let someone save the raw PDF or image, is no longer exposed. The file is streamed into an inline viewer instead of handed over as a file. So the reader can scroll through your document on any device, but there is no one-click way to pull down a copy and forward it, re-upload it, or archive it. That single toggle covers the most common leak: a helpful recipient who downloads your draft and emails it onward without thinking. ## Drafts, samples and priced quotes The best fits are files you want read but not circulated. A contract or proposal draft you're still negotiating, you want the other side to review the current version, not save an old one that resurfaces later. A sample: a chapter, a lesson, a stock photo, a template preview you're showing before someone pays for the full file. A priced quote where the number is for one client's eyes and shouldn't be forwarded to a competitor for price-matching. In all of these, the value is in reading, not in owning the file, and view-only quietly keeps it that way without you emailing back and forth. ## The honest truth: it can't stop screenshots This is the part most tools bury, so here it is plainly. Anyone who can see your file on screen can screenshot it, photograph it with a phone, or retype it. View-only removes the easy download button; it does not, and cannot, stop a determined person from capturing what's in front of them. There's no DRM, no watermark, no lock on the pixels. If a leaked screenshot would genuinely hurt you, view-only is not enough on its own. Treat it as a speed bump that stops accidental and casual copying, not a vault. We'd rather tell you that up front than let you over-trust it. ## Pair it with a password for real control View-only decides what a viewer can do once they're in; a password decides who gets in at all. Layering them is where it gets genuinely useful. Add a password and your view-only link won't open until the reader enters the code you shared separately, over a call, a text, a different channel. Now a link that leaks into the wrong inbox is a dead end, and the people you did trust can read but not casually download. For a confidential quote or an unreleased draft, that combination, locked entry plus no download, is far closer to "private" than either control alone. ## Add an expiry so it doesn't outlive the deal The other half of control is time. A view-only link with no end date sits in someone's inbox forever, and old drafts have a way of getting opened long after they're stale. On any plan you can set an expiry date: once the deadline passes, the link simply stops working, view-only or not. Use it to match the life of the thing you're sharing, a quote that's valid for two weeks, a sample that expires when the free trial ends, a proposal that shouldn't be readable after the pitch. When the window closes, the file is no longer served, which is a cleaner guarantee than hoping people forget the URL. ## Know it was actually read A view-only link still counts every open, so you get the one signal that matters after you hit send: did they look? Every link shows a view count. On any plan you see more, which devices and countries opened it, so you can tell a proposal was read on a laptop in the client's city versus never touched at all. That changes how you follow up. Instead of a blind "just checking in," you know whether to nudge, re-send, or move on. It won't tell you who by name, and it can't see a screenshot being taken, but it reliably answers whether your file got attention. ## When view-only is the wrong tool Be honest with yourself about the job. If the recipient needs to keep the file, sign a PDF, edit a spreadsheet, print a boarding pass, load a design into their own software, don't use view-only; you'll just create friction and a support message asking for a downloadable copy. If the content is legally sensitive or regulated, view-only is not a compliance control and shouldn't be treated as one. And if you actively want people to save and reuse the file, leave downloads on. View-only earns its place in a narrow, real band: files meant to be seen, on your terms, for a while, not everything you share. contract-draft.pdfPDF proof-01.jpgJPG priced-quote.pdfPDF sample-preview.jpgJPG proposal.pdfPDF contract-draft.pdfPDF proof-01.jpgJPG priced-quote.pdfPDF sample-preview.jpgJPG proposal.pdfPDF contract-draft.pdfPDF proof-01.jpgJPG priced-quote.pdfPDF sample-preview.jpgJPG proposal.pdfPDF contract-draft.pdfPDF proof-01.jpgJPG priced-quote.pdfPDF sample-preview.jpgJPG proposal.pdfPDF sample-chapter.pdfPDF shoot-selects.zipZIP policy-draft.pdfPDF event-proofs.jpgJPG deck-final.pdfPDF sample-chapter.pdfPDF shoot-selects.zipZIP policy-draft.pdfPDF event-proofs.jpgJPG deck-final.pdfPDF sample-chapter.pdfPDF shoot-selects.zipZIP policy-draft.pdfPDF event-proofs.jpgJPG deck-final.pdfPDF sample-chapter.pdfPDF shoot-selects.zipZIP policy-draft.pdfPDF event-proofs.jpgJPG deck-final.pdfPDF 2,600+ people sharing files 5,100+ links shared 17,400+ times opened Keep reading [DocDroid alternative](https://linkinseconds.com/docdroid-alternative)[Client photo proofs](https://linkinseconds.com/client-photo-proofs)[Share a pitch deck](https://linkinseconds.com/share-pitch-deck)[Proposal tracking](https://linkinseconds.com/proposal-tracking)[PDF to link converter](https://linkinseconds.com/pdf-to-link-converter)[Share files online](https://linkinseconds.com/share-files-online)[Share a video with a password](https://linkinseconds.com/share-video-with-password)[Send a file with a password](https://linkinseconds.com/password-protected-file-sharing)[Send design files to clients](https://linkinseconds.com/send-design-files-to-clients)[A PDF link that expires](https://linkinseconds.com/expiring-pdf-link) Source: https://linkinseconds.com/view-only-file-sharing