---
title: Share a file or folder by link
type: how-to
section: drive
summary: Copy link hands out an Evolve link that opens only for the access list. Anyone with the link mints a public link for a file, and expires after 30 days.
sources:
  - evolve-front-end/components/powerflow/share-resource-dialog.tsx
  - evolve-front-end/components/content-platform/use-share-link-actions.ts
  - evolve-front-end/lib/content-platform/public-content-links.ts
  - evolve-front-end/lib/content-platform/public-minisite-links.ts
verified:
  at: 2026-09-04
  env: code
  by: content-lane-drive
ttl_days: 45
related: [drive/invite-people-to-a-managed-folder, drive/permission-levels, drive/cannot-share]
---

Open **Share**, leave **Link Access** on **Restricted**, and choose **Copy link**. The link goes to your clipboard and opens in Evolve for the people, workgroups and collaborations in the access list, and for nobody else.

## Copy a link for the access list

1. Open the item and choose **Share**, or **Invite** on a managed folder.
2. Check **Link Access**. **Restricted** means, in the dialog's own words, **Only invited parties can open this in Evolve.**
3. Choose **Copy link**.

**Copy link** saves whatever is staged in the dialog before it copies, so a person you added in the same visit already has access by the time the link leaves your hands. A failed save cancels the copy rather than handing out a link that skips the change. The button also waits while the access list is still loading.

## Make a link that works without an Evolve sign-in

This is available for a file, not for a managed folder.

1. Open **Share** on the file.
2. Open **Link Access** and choose **Anyone with the link**. The caption becomes **Anyone on the Internet with the link can view.**
3. Read the note underneath: **Press Copy link to create the public link and copy it.** Selecting the option stages an intention. No link exists yet.
4. Choose **Copy link**. The confirmation reads **Public link copied.** If the browser refuses the clipboard write, the message shows the URL so you can copy it by hand.

A public link grants read access only, expires 30 days after it is minted, and covers the contents when the item is a folder or a site. On a site, scripts are switched off for public visitors.

**Anyone with the link** is absent when the item cannot carry one: on every managed folder, and on a file you hold read-only. The item's own actions menu offers **Copy public link** for the same purpose.

## Links on a managed folder

A managed folder has one link audience, **Restricted**, and no public option, no expiry and no password. **Copy link** copies the folder's address in Evolve, which opens for the access list only. To widen access, add a recipient: see [Invite people to a managed folder](/help/drive/invite-people-to-a-managed-folder).

## Find or withdraw a public link you already made

**Link Access** cannot list a public link that already exists and cannot revoke one. The dialog says so: **Existing public links are managed from the item's own menu, and are not listed here.** **Restricted** in this control is therefore not proof that no public link is circulating. Use the item's own actions menu to inspect and remove its public link.

Reopening the dialog clears the cached URL, so the next **Copy link** mints a fresh link rather than handing out one you have since revoked.

## If it did not work

- **Copy link** stays disabled while the dialog saves and while access is still loading. Wait for the list to settle, then choose it again.
- A failed mint reports **Failed to create public link.** Choose **Copy link** again; the failed attempt left no link behind.
- A copy failure reports **Couldn't copy that link.** or **Could not copy the public link.** Browsers block clipboard writes that do not follow your own click, so press the button directly.
- A recipient who lands on **You do not have access to view this content** is not in the access list. Add them, then send the link again.