How to use ShareGuard

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ShareGuard in one minute

See the whole flow: create a PIN link, what your client sees, protected photo galleries, tracking every open, and inviting your team.

64 seconds · turn the sound on for narration (captions are included).

01· Basics

Getting started

You can share without an account. With a free account you also get tracking, catalogs, contacts, collaborators and more storage.

• Guest: create a share link from the home page with just your email. Guest links last up to 14 days.
• Account: sign up with the same email to see every share you made, who opened it and when. Accounts can also make links that never expire.
• Your email is your login. It identifies your shares and can't be changed later.
• Every account has a storage package (500 MB by default). See how much you've used in Settings → Storage.
• Two dashboard views: Classic (left sidebar) or Minimalist (everything in the menu under your avatar). Pick your view and avatar in Settings → Appearance.

02· Sharing

Share files & links

Put files or links behind a PIN. Only people with the PIN can open them.

1. 1

   Add what you want to share

   Open New share. Add one or more files (click or drag, up to 20 MB per file and 100 MB per share) or paste links. Give each item an optional label.

2. 2

   Name it

   Add a share name so you recognise it later, e.g. “Project files for Ali”.

3. 3

   Pick a PIN

   Let ShareGuard generate a 6-digit PIN, or choose your own (4–8 digits).

4. 4

   Set limits (optional)

   Under More options, choose when the link expires (1 hour up to 14 days, or Never with an account) and the maximum number of opens.

5. 5

   Email it (optional)

   Logged in? Turn on “Email the link when it's created”, pick people from your contacts, choose an email template and add a message. “Include PIN” is off by default.

6. 6

   Create and send

   Copy the link and the PIN, or show the QR code. Safest: send the link and the PIN separately — for example the link by email and the PIN by text.

The PIN is only put in an email if you tick “Include PIN”. Every email is recorded in the link's Emails log, including whether the PIN was included.

03· Sharing

What the receiver sees

Receivers don't need an account. They open the link and enter the PIN you gave them.

1. 1

   Open the link

   A private page shows the share name and what's inside, with a PIN box.

2. 2

   Enter the PIN

   After the correct PIN they can see the files and links, or browse the gallery.

3. 3

   Enter the PIN again to download

   Every Download and Download all asks for the PIN again. With the right PIN the download starts; a wrong PIN is refused as “not authorized”.

4. 4

   Clear messages when blocked

   After 5 wrong PINs, the link is blocked for 10 minutes. An old download link shows “Not authorized — enter the PIN”. Expired, turned-off or closed links show a plain explanation.

Galleries can also be set to open without a PIN while every download still asks for it (see Catalogs & galleries). Galleries shared with no PIN at all open and download directly. Every open, download and wrong PIN is logged for you, the owner.

04· Photos

Catalogs & galleries

Catalogs are image collections you can share as beautiful, PIN-protected galleries.

1. 1

   Create a catalog

   Go to Catalogs → New catalog. Give it a title and a type (e.g. weddings) to group similar catalogs.

2. 2

   Upload images

   In the Images tab, use the Upload button at the right of the tabs, or drag images anywhere onto the grid. Each image can be up to 20 MB (bigger ones are skipped). Each image shows its size; hover to download the original, reorder, set the cover or delete.

3. 3

   Protect previews

   In Settings, turn on watermarks and downscaled previews. Downloads still give the original files.

4. 4

   Share it

   Click Share on the catalog banner. You instantly get a 7-day PIN-protected link, the PIN and a QR code — and can email it right away. Adjust expiry, PIN or limits in Link settings.

5. 5

   Share several catalogs

   From Shares → Share gallery you can share one catalog, all catalogs of a type, everything, or hand-picked images — with or without a PIN.

6. 6

   Let clients view without the PIN (optional)

   Want clients to browse freely but protect the originals? Turn off “Ask for the PIN to view”: the gallery opens without a PIN and every download still asks for it. Set your default in Settings → Sharing defaults, per catalog in its Settings tab (Gallery links), or per link in Link settings or the Share gallery form.

• Shares & activity lists every link of the catalog with one combined access log.
• Settings → Link PINs shows the PIN of each active link (Show PIN).
• Receivers see a full-screen cover, then the gallery grid and a full-screen viewer (← → keys, Esc to close).
• They can download single originals or everything as one .zip — each download asks for the PIN.

05· Teamwork

People & collaborators

Give people in-app access to a catalog or a link by email, with a role. They don't need the PIN inside ShareGuard.

1. 1

   Open People

   Open a catalog or a link → People. Type an email (your contacts are suggested). If that person already has an account, you'll see their name.

2. 2

   Pick a role

   Viewer: open and download. Editor: + upload, reorder and delete images, edit details. Manager: + create and manage links, see PINs, send emails, see the access log and manage people.

3. 3

   Notify or not

   You're asked “Notify by email?”. Notify sends an invitation that links to ShareGuard; or add them quietly.

4. 4

   They open it

   It appears under Shared with me with their role. If they don't have an account yet, they get access as soon as they sign up with that email.

• Change someone's role or remove them any time from the People list.
• Collaborators on a catalog get the same role on that catalog's links.
• Only the owner can delete a catalog or a link.

The public /s/ link still needs the PIN for everyone else — collaborators just skip it inside the app.

06· Tracking

Track activity

See exactly who opened your links, when, and from where.

• Shares lists every link with its status: Active, Expired, Revoked, Limit reached, or Closed · Validity over. Filter by type or search.
• Closed · Validity over means the admin turned the link off because its date or open limit ran out. Delete it, or set a new expiry to reopen it.
• Open a share for its Overview: successful opens, failed PIN attempts, last opened, size or expiry.
• Access log: time, location, device, browser and IP of every attempt, including wrong PINs on downloads. Export it as CSV.
• Emails: every email sent about the link — to whom, which template, whether the PIN was included, and its status. Emails go out in the background: you can keep working, a message tells you when it's sent, and the status moves from Queued → Sending → Sent (or Failed with the reason; brief mail-server hiccups are retried automatically).
• For a catalog, Shares & activity combines all of its links and their access log in one place.

07· Tracking

Manage a link

Change or stop a link any time — receivers see the change immediately.

• Link settings: rename, change expiry (from now), set or clear the maximum opens.
• Show PIN: see the current PIN (owners and Managers). It hides after 30 seconds and every view is recorded.
• Change PIN: type a new one or press Random for a secure 6-digit PIN, then Update PIN. The old PIN stops working at once — remember to send the new one.
• Gallery links: “PIN to view the gallery” lets the link follow its catalog / your default, always ask for the PIN, or open without it (downloads still need the PIN).
• Links created before PINs could be viewed show a note: change the PIN once to be able to view it later.
• Turn link off to block access temporarily; turn it back on later. Setting a new expiry also reopens a closed link.
• Delete removes the link and its access log for good.
• For bundles, add or remove items and rename their labels in the Items tab.

08· Account

Contacts, storage & settings

Keep your people, space and preferences in one place.

• Contacts: save name, email, phone and address. Pick them when emailing links or adding people. Any typed recipient has a “Save” button to add them.
• Storage: your package, space used and space left. Uploads that would go over the limit are blocked — delete files or contact support to upgrade.
• Email templates: use the built-in ones (Simple, Event / Wedding, Business) or write your own with {name} {title} {link} {pin} {expires} {sender} {message}. Preview before saving; copy a built-in to start.
• Profile: edit your name and an optional phone number (for your profile only).
• Appearance: choose an avatar and the Classic or Minimalist dashboard view.
• Claim earlier shares: add links you created as a guest to your account by entering that email.
• Messages: talk to support; replies appear in the app.
• Delete account: your links stop working and data is archived; support can restore it later.

09 · Questions

Frequently asked

Still stuck? Contact support.