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View only sharing

September 26, 2025
Contributed by: 
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View-Only Sharing is a secure way to designate shared and stored files as view-only, preventing unauthorized download or printing of files.

This feature allows you to:

  • Remove the download option when sharing files
  • Disable the Download, Print and Copy operations within the browser’s Document Viewer
  • Prevent users from downloading or sharing files stored in a folder

Plan Requirements

  • This feature can be enabled for Advanced and Premium plans

The following information provides the steps necessary to share a view only link.

Enable View-Only

View-Only Sharing must be enabled for your account. Contact ShareFile Support to have this feature enabled and include your account subdomain.

Note:

Must have user permission “Access company account permissions” to request this change.

Enterprise Accounts with on-premise storage

Supported Files

  • Microsoft Office Files
  • PDF; files over 100 MB may not render in the content viewer pane
  • Image files (requires SZC v3.4.1 or later)
    • BMP
    • GIF
    • JPG
    • JPEG
    • PNG
    • TIF and TIFF (only first page available for preview); files over 100 MB are not supported

View-Only and Audio / Video Files

Audio and Video files may be viewed with the view-only permission, but only if the audio and video files are stored on a public (ShareFile) StorageZone. Only supported file types can be previewed.

Due to the above, you cannot share audio and video files as a view-only message if they are stored on a private zone.

Share a File with View-Only Permissions

Once View-Only Sharing has been enabled for your account, a new setting will appear in Message Options when sharing files. Use the Allow Recipients To dropdown menu to select View.

View Only Sharing 1

When your recipient accesses the download link, the Download button will not be present and the recipient will be prevented from printing or saving the file.

Notes:

  • Sharing audio and video files as a view-only message is only supported for audio / video files stored on a public StorageZone. See info on those file types earlier in this article.
  • Sharing Folders as a view-only message is not supported.

Grant a User the View Permission

Grant users the View permission if you want to control access to files stored in certain folders. When adding new users to folder access, select the View checkbox to grant them the permission. When viewing the folder contents with this permission, your user will not be able to download or share files. They must use the magnifying glass icon to preview the files.

View Only Sharing 2

Note regarding Restricted Zones and DLP

The following files cannot be previewed or shared with the View-Only permission:

  • Files stored on a Restricted StorageZone.
  • Files restricted from downloading due to DLP policy settings Do Views trigger download notifications? Yes, if you select to be notified when a file has been accessed.

Troubleshooting

Files cannot be previewed

  • During setup, the URL of your Microsoft Office Web Apps server must be entered into the StorageZones Controller console. The URL used must be accessible by ender users to support View-Only Sharing.
  • During setup, it is recommended that users synchronize the clock of their StorageZones Controller server with time.windows.com or another NTP server. Click here for information on Windows Time Service Tools.

View-only message cannot be sent

  • You cannot share a view-only message containing audio and video files if those files are stored on a private zone.

Note:

Restricting Print works only with few files as ShareFile has no control over Browser or Operating System. Microsoft Office files which redact data when printing and restrict from printing is due to Microsoft Office Online Servers restriction and not due to ShareFile.

View only sharing
September 26, 2025
Contributed by: 
P
September 26, 2025
Contributed by: 
P

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