What is burn after read?
Burn after read lets a transfer link be used once: the first download uses it up and later attempts are refused.
Burn after read is a setting on a file transfer. The first download uses up the transfer link, and later download attempts are refused. This page explains when the link is used up, what the recipient and you see, and which transfers cannot use the setting.
Turn on burn after read
You set burn after read when you create a file transfer. Open Transfers in the workspace you share from, and follow How to create a file transfer for the steps. Audio transfers do not use this setting.
When the link is used up
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. On a direct download link, the link is marked as used before the file is sent.
If a transfer holds several files, a direct download link sends them as one zip. A file that cannot be read is left out of the zip, and the link is still used up.
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.
What the recipient sees
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.
What you see
Each download is written to the transfer's activity, with the recipient's email when they gave one. You can find it in the Activity section of the transfer, as described in How to see if a recipient opened your transfer. The same downloads are listed across the workspace in the Activity log. If the workspace's Slack connection is set to post download alerts, the download also appears in Slack, as set up in the Slack integration.
Transfers that cannot use burn after read
Paid transfers cannot use burn after read. Tarkle refuses a paid transfer that has the setting on, with the message "Paid transfers cannot burn after read. Users paid for permanent access." To charge for access instead, see Paid transfers. To end access on a date rather than after a download, read File transfer expiration dates in Tarkle.