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Donald T.'s avatar
Donald T.
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago

Does a shared link change if the file is edited?

I have a shared file in my dropbox, and created a tinyurl for it.  Is there a way to replace and rename that file with an update and not break either the dropbox or tinyurl link?  
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Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
8 years ago
Hi Donald, a shared link to a file in your Dropbox is special in that it will ‘follow’ the file.
 
If you move the file to another location in your account, overwrite it with another file or the name name, edit it, and rename the file, the shared link will stay active. 
 
This is because each file has its own unique ID, so regardless of what you do to the file, the link is attached to the ID, not the file (if that makes sense).
 
Of course, deleting the file, or deleting the link to the file, will break the connection. Recreating the file after the deletion, or recreating the shared link if the link was removed will create a new shared link. It isn’t possible to get the same link as before.
 
TinyURL as you mentioned makes a shortened URL of an existing link. Since it is literally a redirect request to that shared link, the above explanation also applies to the TinyURL. Any changes to the file will reflect when a user opens the TinyURL.
 
Hope this helps to clarify matters!
Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
8 years ago

I have to agree with Mark. Renaming or moving a file that has a share link is unreliable. While it's supposed to keep the same link, my experience has been inconsistent in that the link has changed many times when it shouldn't have. It's not a feature that I would rely on.

  • Donald T.'s avatar
    Donald T.
    Explorer | Level 4
    5 years ago
    Does the above process also work on folders?

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