Share a photo with a link

A share link opens one photo, or a whole album, for anyone who has the link. Only people you send it to should use it, so treat it like a key.

Editors and owners of a library can create and manage share links. Viewers and contributors don’t see the Share button. If a viewer opens Sharing in the sidebar, they are told that only editors and owners can manage links.

A photo that is still being processed, or that is waiting for review after a guest sent it, can’t be shared yet.

Create a link

Open the photo in the viewer.
Click Share.
Under Link ends, choose when the link stops working:
- In 1 day, In 7 days or In 30 days. 30 days is the default.
- Never.
- On a date…, then pick the End date. The link stops working at the end of that day, in UTC.
Optional: type a Password (optional), from 8 to 128 characters. Send the password to your recipient in a separate message from the link.
Optional: turn on Allow downloads so recipients can save the original file.
Click Create link.

Downloads and location

With Allow downloads on, recipients download the original file, exactly as it was uploaded. If the photo has a location, the original carries it. You will see the warning Downloads include the original file, with where it was taken. If you don’t want to share where a photo was taken, leave downloads off. Recipients can still look at the photo.

Copy the link

When the link is created, you see Your link is ready. Click Copy link and paste it into your message.

The link is shown only once, for your security. Magpie keeps no readable copy, so it can’t show it to you again. If you lose it, revoke that link and click Create another link.

See and change your links

Each photo’s links are listed in the Share window under Links to this photo. To see every link in the library, choose Sharing in the sidebar (or All share links in the window).

For each link you can see its status (Active, Ended or Revoked), when it ends, whether it has a password, whether downloads are on, how many times it was viewed, and who created it.

Edit changes when the link ends, the password and Allow downloads. Leave the password blank to keep it. Choose Remove the password to take it off. If you change the password, anyone who had entered the old one must enter the new one.
Revoke ends the link at once. Confirm with Revoke link. This can’t be undone. To share the photo again, make a new link.

You can move the end date of an Ended link into the future to turn it back on. A revoked link can’t be turned back on.

What the people you send it to see

Recipients open the link and see the photo on a simple page. They don’t need the app or an account, and they can’t see anything else in your library.

If the link has a password, they first see This link is protected, enter the password and click Open. After too many wrong tries they are asked to wait a few minutes.
If downloads are on, a Download button saves the original. If not, there is no button, and the original can’t be fetched.
A video shows its still image only. If downloads are on, recipients can download the video to watch it.
If the link was revoked, has ended, or its album was deleted, they see This link is no longer available and are told to ask you. The page doesn’t say which of these it was, or what the photo or album was.
If the link was mistyped or cut short, they see This link doesn’t exist.

If a photo goes to the trash

A link to a photo in the trash stops working: recipients see that the link doesn’t exist. If you restore the photo, the same link works again, as long as it hasn’t ended or been revoked. In your list the link shows a note that the photo is in the trash.

You can also share a whole album. Open the album, click Share, and set the link as you would for a photo: when it ends, an optional password, and Allow downloads. Editors and owners can do this, just as for photos. You will see Share this album, and the album’s links are listed under Links to this album. Smart albums can’t be shared yet.

Recipients see the album as it is when they open it: its title, how many items it has, and a grid of its photos (use Show more in a large album). Clicking a photo opens it larger in a viewer with Previous photo and Next photo. The album’s cover isn’t shown. If downloads are on, they can download the original files. If not, they can only look.

The link follows the album

An album link is live. It isn’t a copy, so photos you add or remove change what recipients see:

Photos you add to the album appear the next time the recipient opens or reloads the link.
Photos you remove from the album, or move to the trash, stop being available to the recipient. If you restore a trashed photo that is still in the album, it comes back.
Photos waiting for review after a guest sent them are not shown.
If you delete the album, the link stops working. Recipients see This link is no longer available. In your Sharing list the link shows Album deleted.

The location warning for an album, Downloads include the original files, with where they were taken: some photos in this album have a location, and photos you add later may too, describes the album as it is when you share it. Photos you add later may have a location too, and downloads include it. If that matters, leave downloads off.