Password-Protect Your Shared Document Links

A Link Is Not Access Control

Sharing a document through a link is convenient. It is also risky. Links get forwarded, bookmarked, pasted into group chats, and saved in email threads that circulate beyond the intended audience. The person who receives your link today may not be the only person who has it tomorrow.

Password protection solves this. When you add a password to a shared link, anyone who opens the URL sees a password prompt before the document loads. No password, no access - regardless of how they obtained the link.

Optional, Not Mandatory

PaperLink treats password protection as a per-link option, not a global setting. When you create a sharing link, you see a password field. Type a password to protect the link. Leave it empty if the document does not need that level of security.

Not every document warrants a password. A marketing brochure shared on LinkedIn does not need one. A financial forecast sent to a potential acquirer does.

The decision is yours, made at the moment you create the link - and changeable any time after.

How It Works

The experience is straightforward for both sender and recipient:

For the sender:

1. Upload a document or open an existing one
2. Create a sharing link
3. Enter a password in the protection field (or leave it blank)
4. Share the link and communicate the password through a separate channel

For the recipient:

1. Click the link
2. Enter the password on the prompt screen
3. View the document in the browser

The password prompt appears before any content loads. The recipient cannot see the document title, page count, or any preview until they authenticate. This prevents information leakage even at the access gate.

When to Use Password Protection

Four scenarios where a password makes the difference between controlled sharing and uncontrolled distribution:

Confidential proposals. You send a pricing proposal to a prospective client. The link travels through their procurement team, gets forwarded to stakeholders, and eventually sits in an email thread with fifteen people copied. A password ensures that only the people you briefed separately can open it.

Board materials. Quarterly financials, strategic plans, and compensation data shared with board members. Even within a trusted group, password protection prevents accidental exposure if a board member's email is compromised or their device is shared.

Legal documents. Contracts, term sheets, and settlement agreements during negotiation. A password adds a layer of protection beyond the NDA gate - useful when the document is sensitive enough to warrant both.

External audits. Sharing financial records with auditors who access documents from shared workstations or corporate networks. The password ensures that only the assigned auditor - not anyone who walks past the screen - can open the file.

Combined with Other Controls

Password protection is one layer in PaperLink's sharing controls. It stacks with everything else:

Control	How it combines with password
Email verification	Viewer enters password and verifies email - double authentication
NDA gate	Password first, then agreement signature, then document access
Expiration date	Password-protected link stops working after the deadline
Download permission	Password required before viewing; download toggle controls saving
Custom URL slugs	Professional URL with password protection behind it
Page analytics	Full tracking runs after password authentication

A single link can combine all of these. Password protection does not disable or conflict with any other sharing feature.

Separate Channel, Stronger Security

One important practice: share the password through a different channel than the link. If the link goes by email, send the password by text message, Slack, or a phone call. This way, even if the email is intercepted or forwarded, the password remains unknown to unauthorized viewers.

PaperLink does not send passwords automatically - you control how the password reaches the recipient. This keeps the security boundary clear: the link is the address, the password is the key, and they travel separately.

Simple to Set, Powerful to Enforce

Password protection in PaperLink is a single field during link creation. No complex configuration, no separate security settings page, no plan upgrade required. Type a password, share the link, communicate the password separately.

Your most sensitive documents deserve more than a naked URL.

Create a password-protected link.