Share a File

Share a File

QUICK ANSWER

Drop a file up to 2 GB and get a public download link. No signup, no watermark, no install. Anyone with the link can download; files self-destruct after 48 hours — that part is non-negotiable, this is not a hosting service.

  • Free forever
  • No signup
  • Up to 2 GB per file
  • Auto-deleted in 48 hours
  • Direct-to-storage upload
  • Short public link
Limits: files up to 2 GB, auto-deleted after 48 hours. Free, no signup. The share link is public.

Free, no signup. Files are public to anyone with the link, deleted in 48 hours, no exceptions.

Trusted by creators at startups, agencies, and Fortune 500 teams.
Free forever — no signup, no watermark, no length cap.

How it works

  1. 1

    Drop the file into the uploader

    Click the dropzone or drag any file up to 2 GB onto it — videos, design exports, datasets, zips, PDFs, whatever. The 2 GB cap is enforced both client-side (so you see the error instantly) and server-side. Browser stays on the page during the upload; you can watch the progress bar.

  2. 2

    Wait for the direct-to-storage upload

    Your browser uploads straight to Backblaze B2 over a presigned URL — the bytes never round-trip through our app server, which is the only reason a 2 GB cap is practical on a free tool. Upload speed is whatever your upstream connection can sustain to the storage edge.

  3. 3

    Copy the short link and share it

    When the upload finishes we hand back a short share URL at clipy.online/f/… — paste it into Slack, email, Notion, a DM, wherever. Anyone with the link can download; you don't need to add recipients or set permissions. The link works for exactly 48 hours, then the file is purged and the URL returns a 404.

Don't use this for

Sensitive files. Anything subject to compliance (HIPAA, SOC2, GDPR-flavored personal data). The link is public — anyone who has it can download. We don't scan files, but the URL slug is short and unguessable; treat the link like a password and you're fine. Also don't use this for long-term hosting, hotlinking from a website, or anything you'd be sad to lose in 48 hours. For sensitive transfers, use an end-to-end-encrypted tool; for permanent hosting, use real cloud storage.

Recording, not sharing?

If what you actually want is to record your screen and send a link, that's the main Clipy product. Same idea (record → link), but the link points at a real video player with playback controls and the file actually sticks around. This share-file tool is for everything else — when you already have the bytes and just need a quick handoff. If you have a video that's too big to share as-is, the video compressor shrinks it in-browser before you upload here.

Why this exists

Most of Clipy is about screen recording, but plenty of times you already have a file — a video someone sent you, a PDF, a zip, a design export — and you just need to give someone a link without messing around with Google Drive permissions, Dropbox signups, or 25 MB email attachment limits. This tool covers that one case. Drop the file, copy the link, paste it. Done. The differentiator vs other free file hosts is the size cap (2 GB instead of the typical 100–500 MB) paired with hard 48-hour deletion, so you don't have to remember to clean up after the handoff and the host doesn't accidentally become a piracy mirror.

The limits, plainly

2 GB max per file — big enough for most video exports, design archives, and dataset dumps; small enough that we don't accidentally become someone's backup target. 48 hours of retention, then it's gone — purged from storage, link returns 404. No extension, no "keep alive", no paid tier to bump the timer. If you need permanence, use real cloud storage. This tool is for the cases where ephemeral is the feature — one-time sends to a client, too-big-for-email handoffs, share-this-now-then-forget-it traffic.

How it works under the hood

Your browser uploads directly to Backblaze B2 over a presigned URL. The bytes never pass through our Next.js app server, which is the reason the 2 GB cap works without timing out — a serverful proxy would die on uploads that long. Once the upload finishes we mark the file ready and hand back a short share link at clipy.online/f/… backed by a short, random, unguessable slug. A background job runs hourly and deletes files whose 48 hours are up. If something fails mid-upload, the share link is never published — you'll just see an error and can retry. Treat the link itself like a password: anyone who has it can download, but the slug is short enough random that it's not enumerable.

Common questions

What's the file size limit?

2 GB per file. The cap is enforced both client-side (so you see an error before the upload even starts) and server-side (so the presigned URL refuses oversized uploads). If your file is bigger, compress it — for video, try our video compressor tool; for everything else, split it into 2 GB chunks or use real cloud storage.

How long do files last?

Exactly 48 hours from when the upload finishes. After that the file is deleted from storage and the share link returns a "no longer available" page. There are no extensions, no paid tier to keep the file alive, no "renew" button — by design. If you need permanence, this isn't the tool.

Is the link private?

No — anyone with the link can download. The share slug is short and random, so it's effectively unguessable, but treat the link itself like a password. Don't paste it into a public channel you wouldn't share the file in. The tool doesn't add password protection or recipient gating; that's a deliberate "keep it simple" choice.

Do I need an account?

No. Drop a file, get a link. The tool doesn't track individual uploads against a user identity because there's no user identity to track against. No email, no signup, no "verify your address" step.

Can I delete my file before the 48 hours are up?

Not yet via the UI. If you uploaded something by mistake, email us and we'll delete it manually — but the simpler answer is: don't share the link with anyone and it'll expire on its own in 48 hours. The slug is random enough that nobody is going to stumble onto an unshared link.

What happens if my upload fails halfway?

Nothing visible to the recipient. The share link is only minted after the upload finishes successfully, so a half-uploaded file never produces a usable URL. The partial bytes get cleaned up by Backblaze's multipart-upload TTL. Just retry the upload.

Is this safer than just emailing the file?

Different trade-offs. Email attachments live in someone's inbox forever, get backed up to whatever cloud their employer uses, and are capped at 25 MB. This tool is the opposite: zero retention past 48 hours, no inbox copy, 2 GB cap. For sensitive files use neither — use real end-to-end-encrypted file transfer. This tool doesn't scan file contents or claim to.

Why 2 GB and 48 hours and not more generous?

Storage and bandwidth cost real money, and "free file host" failure modes are predictable: piracy mirrors, malware distribution, backup parasites. These limits are the smallest pair that still cover the actual use case (one-off file handoffs) without turning the tool into something we have to police. If your use case needs more, real cloud storage is the right tool, not this.

More free tools