Two different things have a lifetime here, and telling them apart is the whole answer: the link expires, the files don't.

When your expiry time passes, the link stops working for everyone holding that address, permanently. Your files stay exactly where they were - in your account, listed in your file manager under Stored, inside your 20 GB of free storage. Whenever you want to share them again, one tap puts a fresh link on them. Nothing to re-upload.

What "expired" really means

Expiry is about access, not deletion. When a share reaches its expiry:

  • The link goes dead, showing a "no longer available" page to anyone who clicks it.
  • Your files move to Stored in your file manager, still yours, still counted against your storage.

That dead link stays dead. Re-sharing gives you a new address rather than reviving the old one, so a link you handed out months ago can never quietly start working again - which is the point of putting an expiry on it in the first place.

An expiring link keeps your sharing footprint small: the window in which a forwarded address, a screenshot in a group chat or an old email can be used to reach your files is exactly as long as you chose. What changed is that missing that window no longer costs you the files. Read more in why expiring links are safer.

So how do files get deleted?

You delete them. That is the only routine way files leave our storage.

Question Answer
Do my files survive the link expiring? Yes, in your account
Can I re-share them without uploading again? Yes, one tap in your file manager
Does the old link start working again? No, re-sharing makes a new one
What frees up my storage? Deleting files yourself
Can support restore something I deleted? No, deletion is final
Do search engines cache share pages? No, pages are noindex

Because storage no longer clears itself, the meter in your file manager only falls when you delete something. If you are close to full, that is where to look first - sorted by size, the culprit is usually obvious.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. A one-time link still removes access after the first download, and an upload made when no account could be created for your browser at all - for instance, one that refuses cookies - is deleted automatically when its link expires, because there is no file manager for it to live in.

Keeping files available longer

Since your files stay put, "how do I keep this available?" is now a question about the link:

  • Re-share from your file manager whenever someone needs the files again.
  • Choose a longer expiry up front - up to 7 days, or 30 days signed in.
  • Let the keep-alive work. Each download extends a live link by 24 hours, so a share people are actively using stays up.
  • Connect Google if you uploaded without signing in, so your files are reachable from your other devices and survive clearing your cookies.

If you want the opposite - files gone quickly - use delete after first download, or delete the share yourself the moment it has served its purpose.

An honest note on how it's stored

While your files are with us they sit on our servers so we can deliver them, protected in transit by HTTPS. To be straight with you: ShareIt.onl is not zero-knowledge end-to-end encrypted, and our team can access files when reviewing an abuse or copyright report.

That matters more now that files are kept rather than swept away on a timer. If something is sensitive enough that you want it off our servers at a specific moment, delete it at that moment rather than relying on the link expiring - expiry closes the door, deletion empties the room.

Tip: Keep your own copy of anything irreplaceable. Your files staying here is a convenience, not a backup - one deletion, by you, and they are gone for good.

For the full picture, see our secure file sharing guide and the security, retention and deletion page.

Want to know how private a live share is? Read are my shared files private, or start a new share from the home page.