How to share files with clients without Google Drive
Send clients one link with a password and expiry date, on your own domain, with no Google sign-in needed.
To share files with clients without Google Drive, send one link, add a password or an expiry date when the files need it, and put your own domain on the link. A Tarkle transfer does that job: you pick the files, set the access options and copy the link. Drive still suits documents you edit together with a client, so this guide covers delivering finished work, not replacing everything you keep in Drive.
Why sharing from Drive slows client deliveries
A client outside your company often needs one more step before the files open: a request for access, a sign-in with the right account, or a reply from you. Each step is a delay on a deadline day, and a final delivery that opens on someone else's interface does less to show the agency the client hired.
Four problems come up again and again:
Access requests. Each request means an email, an approval and a delay.
Wrong account. If the client signs in with a different address than the one you shared with, the files may not open for them.
An unbranded look. The page the client sees is not yours.
No clear signal. You are left asking whether the files arrived.
If one of these sounds familiar, the problem is the sharing model, not your folder structure.
When Drive is fine and when it is not
Use this as a quick decision guide.
Drive is fine when:
You and the client co-edit a document, spreadsheet or deck at the same time.
Everyone involved already has a Google account and uses it daily.
The folder is internal working space, not a delivery.
Move to a transfer link when:
The client is outside your organization and may use any email address.
You want the page to carry your logo, colours and domain.
The files are final and should open or expire on your terms.
You need to know whether the client viewed or downloaded the files.
You want to pause access the day the project ends.
For the wider difference between the two kinds of tool, read file sharing vs cloud storage.
What to look for in an alternative
Whichever tool you pick, check six things before you send real client files.
No account for the recipient. On a public link, the client should open and download from the link alone.
A password. For contracts, unreleased work or anything sensitive, ask for a password before the files show.
An expiry date. The link should expire on a date you choose.
A way to pause. You should be able to pause a link in one step when a project ends.
A sign of what happened. At minimum, whether the files were viewed or downloaded.
Your own domain and branding. The link and page should read as yours.
Test any tool by sending a link to a second email address you own, in a private browser window. If you hit a sign-in screen or an access request, your client will too.
Steps to share files with clients without Google Drive in one link
In Tarkle you create a transfer: one link that holds the files and folders you choose. There is no separate folder-sharing screen, and the steps are short.
Start a new transfer and add your files. To send a folder, drop it in from your computer and wait for "Folder is uploaded and ready".
Click Continue, then give the transfer a title. A summary is optional.
Choose the access options: a password, an expiration date, View only, Burn after read, or a request for the recipient's email.
Create the transfer and copy the link.
Burn after read is not available on paid transfers. Paid transfers cannot burn after read, because a paid buyer keeps permanent access to what they bought.
A public transfer opens for the client without a Tarkle account, and the client downloads the files from that page. This is share files by link in practice, and file sharing covers the wider set of controls.
Send the password in a separate message from the link. A link and its password in the same email protect very little.
See what the client did, and pause the link
After you send a transfer, the transfers list shows badges on it:
Viewed appears after the first view. A number follows once there is more than one view, such as Viewed ×2.
Downloaded works the same way for downloads.
Delivered means the email you sent from Tarkle was delivered.
Expired shows once the expiry date you set has passed, and Disabled shows when a transfer is paused.
These badges describe each transfer, not each person who opened it. Transfer status covers them in more detail.
When the project ends, open the menu on the transfer in the transfers list and choose Pause transfer. The transfer then shows as Disabled, and Enable transfer turns it back on. An expiry date set when you create the transfer makes it show as Expired once that date passes, as explained in link expiration.
Put your name on the link
Custom domains are available on every plan, and Free includes a custom domain. Free also includes custom branding. On Agency, the Powered by Tarkle backlink becomes Powered by your agency. The branded link is covered in branded file sharing links.
Bring your Drive files over, or keep them where they are
You do not have to move everything at once. Connect your Google account on your account page, in the Google Drive section, and you can import files from Google Drive into Tarkle. Each member connects their own Google Drive. The Free plan includes importing from Dropbox or Google Drive.
The import brings in files, not folders, so select the files inside a folder. Google exports are limited to 10 MB, so a Google Docs, Sheets or Slides file larger than that cannot be imported. Try a small batch first. See import from Google Drive and Dropbox.
If a file must stay in Drive, add its link to Tarkle instead. Click Add external in the external links list, paste the Drive link, add a title and save. Both the link and the title are required.
A checklist before you send
Is the work final? If the client needs to edit with you, keep it in Drive.
Can the client open the link without an account? A public link should open that way.
Do the password, expiry date, domain and branding match this project?
Did you open the link in a private window with another address?
Do you know the day you will pause it?
To try this on your next delivery, send one test transfer to yourself on the Free plan, which includes 5 GB of storage and uploads up to 1 GB each. Pro and Agency support files up to 200 GB, and the plans page lists the rest.
What to remember about Tarkle
Tarkle gives you one link to the files and folders you send, with a password, an expiry date, a way to pause it and your own domain. Free includes 5 GB of storage, uploads up to 1 GB each and a custom domain, and Pro and Agency support files up to 200 GB. Start for free.
