Sharing Documents Externally with Expiring Links

Sometimes you need to share a document with somebody who isn't a user of your Papyrus tenant — a supplier, a regulator, a counterparty. External sharing is a deliberate, controlled action in Papyrus.

Creating an external share

1. Open the document
2. Click Share → External share
3. Configure:
   • Expiry — when the link stops working (default: 7 days)
   • Password — require a password (recipient gets this separately)
   • Download limit — max number of downloads (default: 5)
   • Watermark — overlay the recipient's email / IP on every viewed page
   • Allow download — or view-only
4. Click Generate link
5. Send the link to the recipient (you control the channel — email, WhatsApp, SMS)

What the recipient sees

The recipient gets a clean web page with:

• The document preview
• Download button (if enabled)
• Their email captured before first view
• A footer noting the link expires on [date]

If watermarking is enabled, every page they view (or download) has their email + IP printed faintly across it.

What you can audit

For every external share:

• Who you shared with
• When the link was created and by whom
• Every view (time, IP, device fingerprint)
• Every download (time, IP)
• Link expiry / revocation

This is what auditors look at when there's a question about a leak.

Revoking a share

If you need to revoke a share before its expiry:

1. Open the document
2. Click Shares in the right sidebar
3. Find the active share
4. Click Revoke

The link immediately stops working. The audit log captures the revocation.

Restrictions

You cannot externally share:

• Documents classified Restricted
• Documents under a litigation hold
• Documents in a tenant that disallows external sharing in its policies

The share button is disabled for these cases, with a tooltip explaining why.

Related reading

• Sharing Documents Internally
• Requesting an eSignature