Temporary link, cloud storage or attachment: which to use

The three most common ways to deliver a file solve different problems. Choosing by situation rather than habit avoids rework and unnecessary exposure.

Temporary link

This is the option for one-off deliveries: sending a quote as a PDF, showing a screen recording to support, passing along photos from an event. Nobody needs an account, the recipient opens it in a browser and the file disappears on its own after the deadline.

Automatic expiry is a practical advantage: you do not accumulate forgotten files or need to remember to revoke access. On fstmp the period is 30 days and the limit is 100 MB per file.

Cloud storage

Account-based services make sense when the file stays alive: documents edited by several people, project folders, version history and different permissions for each participant.

They are also the choice for files of several gigabytes and for anything that must remain available for months or years. The cost is administration: folders need organizing, access needs reviewing and the storage plan needs managing.

Email attachment

An attachment is still the best way to send small files that must be kept on record alongside the conversation, such as signed contracts and receipts. Message and file stay together in the inbox on both sides.

Its limits are size, usually between 20 and 25 MB per message, and the fact that each reply with the attachment multiplies copies.

How to decide

First ask how long the recipient needs the file. If the answer is a few days, a temporary link is enough. If it is indefinitely, use cloud storage or email.

Then ask who may see it. A link works for anyone who receives it; when access must be restricted to specific people, use a service with sign-in.

Finally, consider whether anyone will edit it. Collaborative editing calls for the cloud; delivering a finished file does not.

Common mistakes

Treating a temporary link as a backup is the most frequent one: the file expires and the original must stay with you. The opposite also happens, when cloud folders remain open to anyone with the link long after the work is finished.