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Forum Discussion
Shared link asks viewers to request access. Why does this happen?
Greetings. I have a shared file set to be viewable by anyone with the link, and I've sent the link to those I want to view the file (see screenshot). However, when they access the link, Dropbox states they "do not have access to this file" and offers the option to request access, which I must individually approve. I have other files configured with these same settings, and those with whom I've shared those links can access them without any separate approval. I don't know why this particular file is different. Am I missing something?
Hi skepticalthinker ,
Jumping in here as a Product Manager for Dropbox Sharing to help out Hannah. Reading through your thread, this is very strange indeed. You've done everything right and I appreciate your patience in working through what is no doubt a frustrating experience. The best I can suggest here is to contact support for help. They'll be able to go through your specific situation and troubleshoot your specific link. Sharing a View Link with access set to "Anyone" should allow anyone - signed in or not - to access a web based preview of your content, and then from there to take further collaborative action like downloading, asking to join the content, etc.
Jason
During the last month I have been experiencing recipients having difficulty accessing file links.
Dropbox is requiring them to ask for permission when sent by email. some but not all.
We are generating the link from MS Explorer.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
I've been having this same trouble off and on for months now with no improvement. We have trouble no matter if we go thru Windows Explorer or on the website.
My customers with whom I share a viewable link are also requesting to join, I only want them to see the link I sent not be a member of my team. Is it because I have a license available and Dropbox is trying to get the license used.
I also was given a dropbox link today for viewing and Dropbox asked me to join and said I was already login to my account and had to logout before access. I clicked the back button and I had access.
What's going on, this has been happening for months, I ready to move over to google or iCloud?
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey vrdesign, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.
Can you please check to see if the link you're creating is a "view-only" or a "can edit" one?
If it's a link that gives edit permissions, it would make sense, if you used a certain email address to invite the user, but they're signed in to a Dropbox account under a different address.
The "view-only" link should give access to anyone, without the need to request permission.
We have ours set to default to 'view-only' plus we double check it before each link is created and it still gives us the same trouble. It's been going on for months for my company.
- Yeah, this issue is tedious and just not workable. It makes us (the sender) look unprofessional and is just not workable to keep happening.
Time and time again.
Links are supposed to be viewable, as it says on the tin, without requiring the recipient to hassle and fuss over being forced to download an app. I personally cannot stand the web app. I don't want anyone else to have to suffer it either.
The webSITE should be glitch free. It's not. I'm fed up.
Moving to Frame.io! We are having the same problem in my office. It started a couple of weeks ago and I have contacted support but haven't had much luck in finding the problem. We share the 'can view' link out to many individuals, where the link is in a pdf document and when people select the link, we either get this problem or it tells them they have to sign up for dropbox or log into it if they have an account. We have tried sharing the folder at the team level and individual level.
- Megan
Hey Bm22782, thanks for the ticket number!
I located your communication with our Support, and raised the priority to High.
Since the case has been escalated to our Advanced agents, I'd suggest that you hold tight, and let them investigate this for you. I understand how crucial this is for you, and we appreciate your patience.
Thanks!
Absolutely. the ticket # is 23668995. We had some clients email us this morning that they are unable to open the links. Very frustrating. It's only been going on for the last 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure if some sort of update is causing issues or what.
I've shared a link to a PDF in Dropbox, access is set to anyone with link and downloads enabled. Why am I being asked to approve access. This functionality seems to be broken.
Absolutely sure, created share link for a file, and added to email. it has the RLKEY= in the query string. I have shared the way I have always shared. Access shows as everyone , and no one should need to have a Dropbox account and be logged in.
Would love to re-invigorate this thread as it seems that, at the heart of our issues, there has been a key change to viewing-link functionality that breaks certain expected behaviors, not just for us Dropbox users, but by clients we're sending external links to. Would be nice to know from staff if this is THE structural change moving forward, or if there is room to have this change revised in some way in the near future (or at least have a toggle-able option to re-introduce the old behavior?).
As I predicted earlier in the thread, this change IS causing friction in our delivery processes and communications with clients that other deliverable platform options just don't have. Some clients have even recently asked us to not send them deliverables over Dropbox anymore to avoid the headaches they've been dealing with while they attempt to distribute content amongst their team members and beyond.
If it's more helpful, I could make a separate thread pin-pointing the viewing link URL change directly as @skepticalthinker's issue seems to be a more specific issue.
I agree. Customers are getting upset and leery of buying templates that are shared by Dropbox. I haven't been able to figure out what to do and am looking at using Google Drive. Sure wish it would go back to the old way 😮
I have a few customers that continually get "request access" when trying to open my files via the dropbox link I provide them. Sometimes they can open one link and not another. This seems to be happening to just a handful of my customers. Does anyone know why that would happen and how I can fix it?
Thank you!!
AnnieCDigitals
- Mark
Super User II
My guess is that they are not logged in to the same email that you sent the link to OR they are using a different machine with a different Dropbox logged in and its picking that log in up instead.
That's what I thought too, but in an order of 8 with links they all worked except 2 asked for permission so I'm still confused. Any idea where I could find out for sure what the issue is?
Thanks,
Annette
- when i click on a link previously emailed to me, it tells me i don’t have access to the file, because i’m signed in under (my email address). this was the address that the link was sent to and the one that’s always worked so why is it now not letting me? if anyone knows ways around this that would be very helpful, thanks!
- Jay
Hi skepticalthinker, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
When you shared the link to the users, did you just copy and paste it exactly as the site generated the link?
If you view the link in an incognito/private browsing window in your browser, without logging into your account, are you able to view the file normally?
This will help me to assist further!
Thanks for your interest Jay. Yes, I copied the Dropbox-generated link and emailed it to those I wished to share the file with. After the first one or two requests to approve access, I opened a private browsing window in Firefox to test it, and it took me right to the file. That’s why I'm confused.
- Hannah
Hey skepticalthinker, sorry to jump in here, but did you initially create the link through our website or through your local Dropbox folder?
