Sharing

Once you've unified access to your storage under odrive, you can then share your files and folders conveniently through odrive. You'll have one place to manage your sharing relationships.

Both options are available for free users without an active premium subscription.

SHARING OPTIONS

There are two ways for you to share files in odrive:

Weblinks are used to transfer a file or folder to anyone. The recipient does not have to be an odrive user to be able to access the file. You can additionally secure the weblink with a password or an expiration date.
Spaces can be created to share a specific folder in a linked storage account with someone in a more collaborative manner. The people you invite to your space do not need to be odrive users to receive your invitation, but they will need to sign up to odrive before accepting the space invite. Once accepted, the user sees your new Space in their own odrive folder and can sync with it just like any other of their own linked storage accounts.

CHOOSING WHICH OPTION TO USE

Method	Considerations
Weblink	Advantages 1. Convenience for the sender. You can create a weblink very quickly (and even add a password or expiration date for some added security). You can then send the link over email, chat, or text to anyone you want to receive your files. 2. Convenience for the recipient. The recipient does not need to be an odrive user and will not need to sign up for an account. They can simply open the link, browse for the files they want, and download them using a simplified web interface. 3. The link is "live" so that if you update the file in your storage, the version that the recipient downloads when they click on the download link will be the latest version. Disadvantages 1. If you and your recipient are working over the same set of files back and forth, it can be inefficient to keep using the weblink to download new versions of the file. You'll also need to juggle multiple versions of the file as you're receiving updates back from your counterpart. 2. The recipient may want to send a file back to you but will need to use their own method of returning the file which may be less secure.
Space	Advantages 1. Use a space if you've ever wanted to give someone access to a particular subfolder of your storage without giving access to the entire account. 2. Can be used to share storage from a storage provider without having to give the recipients your credentials. The storage is effectively abstracted, so space members don't even know the details of the underlying storage (what provider, any folder paths outside of what was shared, etc.). 3. Work closely on files together. Space members will be able to sync the folder you share with them so everyone always has the latest version. No need to spend time or energy on the overhead of sending files. 4. Spaces can be also used to share end-to-end zero knowledge encryption folders with other odrive premium users (needed for the zero-knowledge encryption feature). Disadvantages 1. There is some initial setup involved in creating the space and inviting members, so it is more heavyweight than a weblink. 2. The people you invite don't need to be members yet, but they will need to sign up for odrive before they can join the space and sync the storage.

Method

Considerations

Weblink

Advantages
1. Convenience for the sender. You can create a weblink very quickly (and even add a password or expiration date for some added security). You can then send the link over email, chat, or text to anyone you want to receive your files.
2. Convenience for the recipient. The recipient does not need to be an odrive user and will not need to sign up for an account. They can simply open the link, browse for the files they want, and download them using a simplified web interface.
3. The link is "live" so that if you update the file in your storage, the version that the recipient downloads when they click on the download link will be the latest version.

Disadvantages
1. If you and your recipient are working over the same set of files back and forth, it can be inefficient to keep using the weblink to download new versions of the file. You'll also need to juggle multiple versions of the file as you're receiving updates back from your counterpart.
2. The recipient may want to send a file back to you but will need to use their own method of returning the file which may be less secure.

Space

Advantages
1. Use a space if you've ever wanted to give someone access to a particular subfolder of your storage without giving access to the entire account.
2. Can be used to share storage from a storage provider without having to give the recipients your credentials. The storage is effectively abstracted, so space members don't even know the details of the underlying storage (what provider, any folder paths outside of what was shared, etc.).
3. Work closely on files together. Space members will be able to sync the folder you share with them so everyone always has the latest version. No need to spend time or energy on the overhead of sending files.
4. Spaces can be also used to share end-to-end zero knowledge encryption folders with other odrive premium users (needed for the zero-knowledge encryption feature).

Disadvantages
1. There is some initial setup involved in creating the space and inviting members, so it is more heavyweight than a weblink.
2. The people you invite don't need to be members yet, but they will need to sign up for odrive before they can join the space and sync the storage.