Create a share link

A share link lets someone see a document without an attachment, an app or an account. Paperwise encrypts the document on your iPhone; the link carries the key, opens in any browser, and stops working on its own.

What it is

A share link is a web address you send to someone. When they open it, their browser downloads the encrypted document and unlocks it with the key that’s inside the link itself.

Every link has:

An expiry you must choose: 1 hour, 24 hours, 3 days or 7 days. Seven days is the most, and the default. There are no permanent links.
An optional open limit: Off, 1, 3, 5, 10, or Other… for any number from 1 to 100. When the limit is reached, the link stops working.
An optional password: the link alone isn’t enough; the person also has to type the password you gave them.

What’s shared depends on the item: a scan is shared as a PDF (with its signatures and annotations), a note as a PDF, a file as the original file, and a card as an image of its code. A link holds up to 100 MB.

When to use it

Show a landlord your ID, or a mechanic an insurance paper, without it sitting in their inbox forever.
Send something too large for email.
Share with someone who doesn’t use Paperwise, or doesn’t have an iPhone.
Hand over a document once: set the open limit to 1.

Step by step

Make a link

Open the document and tap Share.
At the bottom, under Or share a link, tap Share link. For a note, a card or a file: tap Share, then Share link.
Under Expires after, choose 1 hour, 24 hours, 3 days or 7 days.
Under Open limit, leave Off or choose how many opens to allow.
To add a password, turn on Require a password (“The link alone won’t open it.”). Type a password of at least 8 characters, then type it again. Paperwise tells you how strong it is; a few words make a good one.
Tap Create link. A progress bar shows the document being encrypted and uploaded.

Send it

When it’s done you see “Your share link is ready”, with:

Copy: copies the link. You see “Link copied. The clipboard clears in 60 seconds.”
Share: opens the iOS share sheet, to send it straight to Messages, Mail or another app.
A summary: when it expires, how many opens it allows, and whether it needs a password.

Tap Done when you’ve sent it.

If you set a password, send it separately, for example by phone. It’s never part of the link.

You can make a link to an item in Hidden too. Paperwise asks for Face ID (and your Hidden passcode, if you set one) before it creates the link. The link screen shows “Hidden item” instead of the title, with no thumbnail, but the person who opens the link still sees the item’s real title. Its links are listed only inside that Hidden space; see Turn off and manage links.

Free and Pro

Share links are part of Pro. On Free, Share link shows a Pro label and explains what Pro includes. You can always send a copy the usual way with Share → Send a copy.

You don’t need to be signed in to make a link. A link made while signed out belongs to this iPhone: it can’t be listed or turned off in the app until you sign in on this iPhone, when it joins your account. See the Privacy section below.

Privacy

Encrypted on your iPhone. The document is encrypted with a new random key before it’s uploaded. Our server stores only the encrypted file.
The key is in the link. It sits in the part of the address after #, which browsers never send to any server. So we can’t open what you share. But anyone who has the whole link can, until it expires, reaches its open limit or is turned off.
The password adds a second lock. It’s stretched on the recipient’s device and combined with the link’s key; neither the link nor the password is enough on its own. Our server never receives the password. Ten wrong tries lock the link for good.
Copies stay local, for a while. Copy puts the link on a clipboard that stays on this iPhone (no Universal Clipboard) and clears after 60 seconds. The screen that shows the link blocks screenshots. Wherever you paste or send the link (a chat, an email) keeps it.
Signed in or not. While you’re signed in, you can turn a link off at any time. A link made while signed out belongs to this iPhone. Until you sign in here, it can’t be listed or turned off in the app and simply runs until it expires (7 days at most) or reaches its open limit. When you sign in on this iPhone, it joins your account, and you can see and turn it off in Shared links.
The title travels with the link. The person who opens it sees the document’s title and its file name (encrypted with the document, so our server doesn’t). Rename the document first if its title says more than you want to share.

What the person you send it to, and our server, can see: What recipients and our server see.

Tips

Use the shortest expiry that works. A link that lasts 1 hour can’t be found in an old chat next month.
For an ID or a bank paper, combine a password, an open limit of 1, and a short expiry.
Send the link and the password through two different apps.
Remember that whoever opens the link can save a copy. Expiry and turning off stop future opens, not copies already made.

What if…

What if Create link stays greyed out?

With Require a password on, the password needs at least 8 characters and both fields must match (“The passwords don’t match.”).

What if I see an error while the link is being made?

Check your connection and tap Create link again. A link isn’t usable until “Your share link is ready” appears.

What if the document is too large?

A link holds up to 100 MB. A scan is shared as a PDF made with your default page size and quality, so setting Account → Scanning → PDF quality to Small makes it lighter. You can also split the document; see Split and merge.

What if it says I can have 50 active links?

Each iPhone can have up to 50 active links at a time. Revoke one you no longer need in Vault → Shared links, then try again. See Turn off and manage links.

What if I forgot to copy the link?

While you’re signed in, open Vault → Shared links and tap the copy button next to it. That works on the iPhone that made the link. Otherwise, make a new link.