Why your share links keep expiring — and how to make ones that don't

You share a file. You paste the link into an email, a bio, or a printed flyer. A week later, someone clicks it and gets a dead page. Now you're back in your inbox typing the four worst words in file sharing: "can you resend that?"

This is not your fault. Most of the tools people reach for are builtto make links die. Here's why they expire, what a dead link actually costs you, and how to share a file link that stays live for good.

Why your share links keep expiring

There are a few common culprits, and each one breaks in its own way.

Transfer services delete on a timer

WeTransfer and similar "send a file" tools are designed around a countdown. A free transfer typically dies in about 7 days — the file is deleted from their servers and the link goes with it. That's the product working as intended, not a glitch. If you need the link to outlive the week, these tools were never going to help. (More on the trade-offs in our WeTransfer alternative breakdown.)

Cloud drives break when the file moves

Google Drive links feel permanent, but they're tied to the exact file object and its sharing settings. Rename the file, move it into another folder, change the folder's access, or delete it while cleaning up — and the link either 404s or throws a permission wall. The URL points at a moving target, so anything you reorganize can quietly kill a link you shared months ago.

Access gets revoked (often by accident)

Shared-drive links depend on "anyone with the link can view" staying switched on. Someone tightens security, a workspace admin changes a default, or the file gets moved into a restricted team folder — and now every link you sent asks people to request access. You don't get told. You just start getting the resend requests.

The real cost of a dead link

"Just resend it" sounds cheap. It isn't, because the moment a link matters most is usually the moment you're not around to fix it.

• A resume link that dies before the recruiter clicks.You send it Monday, they open it Friday, and it's already gone. You never hear back, and you never know why. (This is exactly why a resume link needs to be permanent.)
• An invoice link that expires before it's paid.The client comes back to pay two weeks later, the link is dead, and now you're chasing your own money.
• A printed QR code that goes nowhere.A menu, flyer, or event handout points at a link that's since expired. You can't recall the paper — every scan is a dead end until you reprint.
• A portfolio link in your bio. It looked great on launch day. Six months later it silently broke, and every visitor since has bounced.

In every case the damage is invisible. Nobody emails to tell you your link is broken — they just move on. A link that expires isn't a minor inconvenience; it's a slow leak in everything you share.

The fix: links that never expire

Link in Seconds works the opposite way from a transfer service. You upload a file — PDF, image, video, ZIP, or HTML — and get a clean public link like linkinseconds.com/p/your-name that opens in any browser. And that link never expires. Not after 7 days, not after 7 months, not on any plan — including the free one.

So a link you share today still works when someone finally clicks it. A QR code you printed this quarter still resolves next quarter. Nothing is on a countdown, and nothing breaks because you tidied up a folder somewhere.

Swap the file, keep the link

Permanence gets even better with one feature that transfer tools can't offer: you can replace the file behind a link without changing the URL. That's the difference between a printed QR code being a liability and being an asset.

1. Print the QR code on your menu, flyer, or business card.
2. Update the menu next season by replacing the file behind the same link.
3. Every code already out in the world now points at the new version — no reprint.

Every link also comes with a view counter and its own QR code, so you can see it's being used and hand it out on paper without a URL shortener in the mix.

Pay once, or don't pay at all

The free plan already gives you permanent links with no card and no timer. If you want more room, there are two ways up:

• Pro — $9/mo or $59/yr. Unlimited links, 2 GB of total storage, up to 200 MB per file, plus password protection, optional expiry, custom link names, view analytics, hidden branding, and email-the-link.
• Lifetime — $79 once. Pay a single time and keep Pro forever. No subscription, no renewal date, nothing to cancel — unlimited links, 4 GB total, and up to 250 MB per file. If the whole point is not worrying about things expiring, a plan that itself never expires is a fitting match.

See the full comparison on the pricing page.

The honest limits

Permanent links are free, but the free tier is deliberately small. Know where the ceiling is before you rely on it:

• ⚠️ Free gives you 2 links and 30 MB total, with files up to 30 MB each. If you need many permanent links, or files bigger than 30 MB, that's Pro or Lifetime — the free plan won't stretch to a wall of links or a large video.

That's the only real catch. It's about how much you store, never how long — no plan puts a timer on your links.

Stop resending, start linking

Expiring links are a design choice other tools made for you. You don't have to accept it. Upload your file, get a link that opens in any browser, and share it knowing it'll still be there whenever someone clicks — this week, next quarter, or a year from now.

If your problem is size rather than lifespan, we also cover how to send large files via email with the same link-instead-of-attachment approach. Either way, the link outlives the send.