How to let others upload files to your own bucket

You need files from someone else. Maybe it's a client with final photos, a family member with scanned recipes, or a friend with a pile of trip videos.

Big files are a pain over email, and asking people to sign up for yet another app is a lot. A transfer link skips both. It gives them a simple upload page, and everything they send lands in a folder in the bucket you own.

Here's how to set one up.

1. What a transfer link is

A transfer link is a link you make in file.rocks that opens an upload page. Anyone with the link can send you files, and they don't need an account or a login.

Every upload goes straight into one folder you pick, in the bucket you connected. The sender never sees your bucket, your other folders, or anything already sitting in that folder.

It works the opposite way from sharing. Sharing a file or sharing a folder sends your files out. A transfer link brings their files in.

Creating transfer links is part of the Pro plan.

2. Before you start

Make a folder just for drop-offs

Create a fresh folder in Files first, something like "Client uploads" or "Mom's photos." When you set up the link, you'll pick from folders that already exist, so it helps to have one ready. How to create a folder in your own bucket walks through it.

A clean folder keeps drop-offs apart from your own stuff. That matters, because a new file with the same name as one already in the folder replaces the older one.

Pick the right bucket

Each transfer link belongs to one bucket. If you have more than one bucket, use the bucket picker at the top right of the Transfers page to switch to the one you want before you start.

3. Set up a transfer link

1. Open Transfers

Sign in at file.rocks and click Transfers in the sidebar. The page is called Transfer Links, and any links you've made show up in a list there.

2. Start a new link

Click + New Transfer Link. If you haven't made one yet, you'll see Create your first transfer link in the middle of the page instead. Either one gets you to the form.

3. Name it and add a note

Transfer link name is the only required field. It's the title your sender sees at the top of the upload page, so make it friendly, like "Client Uploads."

Description is optional and shows right under the title. It's handy for a quick instruction such as "Please upload your project files here."

4. Choose the destination folder

Under Select a destination folder, click into the folder you made. Whatever folder you're in gets selected automatically, and the Selected line shows its path.

Changed your mind? Select root instead puts uploads at the top level of the bucket.

5. Add your branding if you like

Branding (Optional) has two settings. Logo URL puts your logo in the top left of the upload page, and the form suggests 200x50px as the best size. Primary Color sets the color of the Transfer buttons your sender clicks.

Both are optional, so skip them if a plain page is all you need.

6. Create it

Click Create Transfer Link. You'll land back on your list with the new link on it.

7. Copy the link and send it

Open the menu on the link's row and click Copy link. You'll see Link copied to clipboard.

The link looks like file.rocks/t/ followed by a short code. Text it, email it, or drop it in a chat.

4. What the sender sees

Your sender opens the link in a browser. There's nothing to sign up for and nothing to log in to.

The page shows your link name as the title, your description under it, and your logo if you added one. From there, sending files takes three steps.

1. Click Add files or Add folders, or drag files anywhere onto the page.
2. Look over the list of picks, which shows each file's size, and remove anything that shouldn't go.
3. Click Transfer. The button shows an upload percentage while it works.

When it's done, they see Transfer Complete! and a Transfer More Files button in case they have another batch.

5. Where the files land

Open Files and go to the folder you picked. The uploads are right there, sitting in your own bucket.

Everything goes into that one folder. When someone uses Add folders, the files come through but the subfolders inside them don't, so a nested folder arrives as one flat list of files.

6. Tips for smooth drop-offs

Give each person or project its own folder

Two files with the same name can't share a folder, so the newer one replaces the older one. Camera names like IMG_0001.jpg repeat a lot. A separate folder and link for each client or project keeps batches from running into each other.

Plan for one flat folder

Since subfolders flatten on the way in, ask senders to name files clearly. If you need things grouped, make a separate link for each group.

This also matters for files that share a name but sit in different subfolders. If they go out together in one Add folders batch, they replace each other, and only one of them survives. Ask your sender to rename those files first, or to send each subfolder as its own batch through a separate link that points to a separate folder.

Tell senders to wait for Transfer Complete!

The percentage on the Transfer button follows individual files, not the whole batch, so it can bounce around. The sign that everything's done is the Transfer Complete! screen.

Take a quick look afterward

After a big batch, peek at the folder in Files to make sure everything made it. If something's missing, the sender can open the link again and send just those files.

Turn it off when the job's done

Once you have what you need, switch the link off. That way it isn't left open for anyone who comes across it later.

7. Turning the link off

The fastest way is the row menu. Click Disable, and that same spot says Enable when you want it back on.

You can also click the link to open its settings, switch Enable transfer link off, and click Save Changes.

Once it's off, the link no longer opens the upload page. Files that were already uploaded stay right where they are.

Done with it for good? Pick Delete from the row menu and confirm. Deleting the link doesn't touch the files it brought in.

You can use Edit in that same menu anytime to rename the link, change the description, move the destination folder, or update your branding. For share links that send your files out, see how to turn off a public link from your own bucket.

8. Then stop

Make a folder, make a link, and send it. The files land in the bucket you own, file.rocks gives your sender a simple page to upload from, and you switch the link off when you're done.

Got files on your own computer instead? That's how to upload files to your own bucket, or how to upload a folder to your own bucket for a whole folder.