How to password protect and set an expiry on a file transfer
Add a password and an expiry date to a file transfer, then pause or enable it from the transfer menu.
Tarkle lets you set a password and an expiry date when you create a file transfer. You can also pause a transfer from its menu at any time and enable it again. This article shows where each setting is and what your recipient sees.
Add a password and an expiry date
Start a new file transfer and add your files or a folder. The full steps are in How to create a file transfer.
Fill in the details. Enter a Title for the transfer. A Summary is optional.
Go to the last step. This is where you choose who can open the transfer.
Turn on the password. Type the password in the box for it.
Set the expiration date. Click the date field and pick a day.
Create the transfer. Then copy its link with Copy URL from the three-dot menu on the transfer. Send the link, and give the password to your recipient separately.
You can set the password, the expiry date, both or neither. The earliest date you can pick is tomorrow, and the latest is three years from today.
Paid transfers, which charge for access, do not keep a password or an expiry date. To sell access instead, read How to charge for access to a transfer.
Change a password or expiry date later
A password and an expiry date are set when you create a transfer. To use a different password or date, create a new transfer with the settings you want, send its new link, and pause the old transfer as described below.
Pause a transfer
To pause a transfer, open the three-dot menu on the transfer, either on its page or on its row in the Transfers list, and choose Pause transfer. The transfer then shows a Disabled badge. To turn it back on, open the same menu and choose Enable Transfer. The full steps are in How to pause or disable a transfer in Tarkle.
What recipients see
A recipient who opens a password-protected transfer sees a page titled Protected Transfer, with the line "Please enter the password to access this transfer." They type the password in the box and click Access files. A wrong password shows the message "Incorrect password".
After a correct password, the recipient's browser remembers it for that transfer for 30 days. Each attempt counts, right or wrong. After 20 attempts from one internet address within an hour, the page shows "Too many attempts. Try again later." instead.
Note: workspace owners and team members open a password-protected transfer without entering the password.
What happens at expiry
When the expiry date passes, the link stops opening the transfer. A recipient who opens it sees a page-not-found screen, and the transfer shows an Expired badge. Tarkle's Terms of Service say that transfers and links expire on the schedule you set. More on the date itself is in File transfer expiration dates in Tarkle.
What happens next
If you set a password, recipients who open the link see the password page first, then the files. They keep access until the expiry date passes.