Troubleshooting shared links

If your shared link isn’t working or if it’s showing a 404 error, check the following:

Did you delete the file or folder?

Your shared link won’t work if the file or folder was deleted. If you restore the deleted file or folder, the shared link will work again.

Did you delete the link?

If you don't see the link in your list, you may have deleted it. You can create a new link to the file or folder you want to share.

Has the link expired?

If you have a Dropbox Professional or Dropbox Business account and you set an expiration for your shared link, it may have expired. In that case, you need to create a new link to the file or folder.

Is the file in a shared folder? 

If you’re on a Dropbox Business team and the file you’re trying to share is within a shared folder, the owner of that folder may have changed the settings so that links can only be shared with other team members. The team admin can also turn off the ability to share links with people outside the team.

Did the link creator leave the folder?

Shared links are tied to the person who originally created the link. This is true for all shared folders, regardless of if they are in a team or individual Dropbox account. If the link creator leaves the shared folder, the link will be broken. To get the shared links working again, the person who created the shared links will need to be added back to the shared folder.

Was your link banned?

Dropbox bans shared links when they're responsible for unusually large amounts of traffic, or when they violate the Acceptable Use Policy (for example, by hosting spam or malware). Learn more about banned links

Did you rewind your Dropbox account?

If you recently rewound your Dropbox account, your shared link might not work as expected. We recommend you:

  1. Visit your Shared page.
  2. Click All files in the left sidebar.
  3. Hover over the name of the file or folder you’re having issues with and click the share icon (rectangle with up arrow).
  4. Click Settings or the gear icon in the top right.
  5. Click either Link for editing or Link for viewing depending on which link you’d like to remove.
  6. Click Delete link.
  7. Create a new shared link to the file.

Does the shared link open in your browser?

If you click a shared link and it won’t open, you may be encountering a browser issue. To correct this, sign out of Dropbox and click the shared link again.

Is the link still not working?

If you’re still having an issue with a shared link, we recommend you contact the person who created the shared link, or contact support if you’re the one who created the link. 

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox makes managing file permissions easy.

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