One time download link: when to use one and when not
Choose a one-time link, an expiry date, view-only or a password by recipient, and see where one-time links fail.
A one time download link suits a file that one person should download once. In Tarkle, the setting is called Burn after read, and a download uses up the link. Opening the page does not. When a file goes to a team, to a public list or to a client who may need it again, an expiry date, view-only or a password fits the job better. This guide gives you a rule for each case.
The rule in one table
You need | Pick | Read more |
|---|---|---|
One person gets the file once | One-time link | |
Access ends on a date you choose | Expiry date | |
People should see the work, not take it | View-only | |
The link may travel but the files must stay private | Password |
Read the table by the recipient, not by the file. The same PDF needs a one-time link when it goes to one named person, and an expiry date when it goes to a team of six.
What a one-time link does
On a file transfer, the setting is called Burn after read. A download uses up the link. Opening the transfer page or previewing a file does not. On a transfer page, the link is used up when Tarkle records the download. After the link is used up, a later download attempt is refused. On a direct download link the refusal reads Transfer already downloaded. On a transfer page it reads Transfer no longer available. Using up the link does not delete anything: the transfer, its files and its record stay in your workspace, and only the link stops working. Each download is written to the transfer's activity, with the recipient's email when they gave one.
If a transfer holds several files, a direct download link sends them as one ZIP of all of them.
Good fits are a signed contract, a set of credentials, a licence file or an invoice for one client: one person, one moment, and no reason for the file to stay reachable afterwards.
Paid transfers cannot use a password, a one-time link, view-only or an expiry date, because payment is the access gate. Audio transfers do not use this setting either. To sell access instead, use paid transfers.
Tell the recipient the link works once, and that opening the page to look does not use it. Only the download does.
Where a one time download link causes trouble
SendGB's post describes the same problem for services that count downloads: "some file transfer services count every download. When the count reaches a limit, the link stops working." Its table names forwarded links, failed downloads and more than one device as cases where a counter hurts. A one-time link is the strictest version of that idea, so these three cases matter most.
A recipient on a second device. A client downloads the files on a laptop, then wants them on a phone. Once the laptop has downloaded, the phone is refused. If the client only opened the page on the laptop, the phone can still download. An expiry date or a password fits a client who switches devices.
A link forwarded to a team. Whoever downloads first uses the link, and everyone after is refused. When you know a file is going to a team, choose an expiry date, and add a password if it must stay private.
A download that fails. On a direct download link, the link is marked as used before the file is sent, so a download that fails after that point has already used it. To give the recipient another go, issue a fresh link. A one-time link lets you issue a fresh link if someone needs a second go, and a regenerated transfer keeps the same settings, so one-time access stays on.
A one-time link gives one download. For a large file going to someone on a slow connection, an expiry date gives them time to come back to it.
When an expiry date is the better rule
Set the date when you create the transfer. The calendar only allows days from one day after today, up to three years from today. When the date has passed, the transfer link no longer opens the transfer, and Tarkle checks the date each time someone opens the link. The expiration setting appears on file transfers, not on the audio and video transfer options.
Pick a date a day or two after the last person who needs the files, not the day you expect them to download.
When view-only is the better rule
View only lets a recipient look at the files in a transfer in the browser, without a download. The Download button at the top of the transfer page is not shown, and the Copy Link button stays on the page. Use it for a design preview, a music track or a contract the client reads on screen.
The files still open in the browser, so use view-only for review rounds, not for files that must stay secret. Do not pair it with one-time access. A download uses up a one-time link, and a view-only transfer offers no download button. A view-only transfer also cannot be used as a direct download link.
When a password is the better rule
A password is the rule when you cannot control where the link goes. Recipients enter the password on a Protected Transfer page before the files open. Send the link, and give the password to your recipient separately, so a forwarded link alone does not open the files.
A password is set when you create the transfer. To use a different password, create a new transfer with the settings you want, send its new link, and pause the old transfer.
Passwords are on the Free plan too: Tarkle's pricing page says you can protect shared files with passwords, and recipients open or download shared files without creating a Tarkle account.
Choose in three questions
How many people will download it? One person: a one-time link. More than one: an expiry date.
Do they need to keep a copy? If they only need to look, make the transfer view-only. If they need the files, leave the download on.
Could the link reach someone you did not choose? If yes, add a password and send it by a different route.
If you pick the wrong rule, pause the transfer. A paused transfer shows a Disabled badge, and Enable Transfer in the same menu turns it back on. For more on layering these controls, see Secure file sharing without account and Branded file sharing links: four layers to set up.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle gives a file transfer a one-time link (burn after read), an expiry date, view-only and a password. Each one fits a different recipient, and a paid transfer uses payment as its gate instead. The Free plan includes passwords for shared files, and recipients need no account. Start for free and send your next file with the rule that fits it.