Sharing to People without Access to M-Files

Important information

Your visitor link is usable when these requirements are met:

  • Your user account is enabled.
  • You have at least read permissions to the document.

For security reasons, the link is no longer usable if either requirement is not met. To share documents with a large number of people without access to M-Files, you can use these alternative sharing methods:

  • M-Files Hubshare offers more control and security.
  • Anonymous vault access lets users access a vault without credentials.

You can use visitor links to share M-Files objects for people without access to M-Files. With passcode-protected visitor links, you can specify the people who can open the link. With visitor links for anyone, anyone with the link can open it. In addition to visitor links, you can share content with the Send as PDF by E-mail option.

If you do not see the Create Visitor Link option in the context menu of an object, ask your M-Files admin to make sure that these operations are done:

Sharing passcode-protected visitor links

With passcode-protected visitor links, you can specify the people who can open the link.

To copy a passcode-protected visitor link in M-Files:

  1. In the listing area, right-click an object and select Create Visitor Link.
    Result:The Create Visitor Link dialog opens.
  2. In the Create a passcode-protected visitor link section of the dialog, enter the email address of the link receiver and click Add.
    Result:The email address is added to the list of people's addresses that can open the link.
  3. Click Copy link.
    Result:The link is copied.

You can now paste the link, for example, to emails and chats. Only people whose email addresses are on the list can open the link with the passcode that was sent to them. If no receivers get passcodes to visitor links that you have created, ask your administrator to make sure that notifications are enabled in the vault.

Note: A passcode-protected visitor link expires after three months. Every time the list of email addresses is edited, the expiration date is set again to three months. You can see the expiration date in the Shared by Me dialog.

Sharing visitor links for anyone

With visitor links for anyone, anyone with the link can open it.

To create a visitor link for anyone:

  1. In M-Files, find the object to share.
  2. Right-click the object or the object version and select Create Visitor Link.
    Result:The Create Visitor Link dialog opens.
  3. In the Create a visitor link for anyone section, click Create.
    Result:The Create Visitor Link for Anyone dialog opens.
  4. Select the target version.
  5. Use Expiration date (local time) to select the date and time after which the visitor link for anyone will no longer be active.
  6. Optional: In Description, enter a description.
    The description is shown in the Shared by Me dialog.
  7. Click Create Visitor Link for Anyone.
    Result:The link is added to the Visitor link for anyone field.
  8. Click Copy to copy the link.
  9. Click Close.
You can now paste the link, for example, to emails and chats.

Managing visitor links

In the Shared by Me dialog, you can manage the visitor links that you have shared. For example, you can stop sharing a link. Users with the Full control of vault or See and read all vault content administrative rights can see and manage the visitor links shared by all vault users.

To manage shared visitor links:

  1. In the classic M-Files Desktop, click your initials in the top-right corner and select Shared by Me.
    If you have the Full control of vault or See and read all vault content rights, you can also select Shared Files (All Users).
    Result:All the visitor links shared by you are shown in the Shared by Me dialog.
  2. Do the necessary operations.
    Link type Option Description
    Visitor (Passcode-protected) Copy Link Copies a shared passcode-protected visitor link to the clipboard.
    Visitor (Passcode-protected) Edit Opens the Copy visitor link dialog. Click Remove all to stop sharing the passcode-protected visitor link.
    Public (For anyone) Copy Link Copies a shared visitor link for anyone to the clipboard.
    Public (For anyone) Stop Sharing Removes a shared visitor link for anyone.
  3. Click Close.

Send as PDF by E-mail

With this option, M-Files converts the selected file to PDF format and creates an email message with the PDF file attached. The file in M-Files stays in its original format. To use the option, right-click a file in the listing area and select Save as PDF > Send as PDF by E-mail.