You've shared a Dropbox link with a client, a student, or your YouTube audience. The problem: that link works forever. Anyone who finds it — a month from now, a year from now — can still download your file. If you're sharing a Lightroom preset pack, a drum kit, or a course worksheet, you probably want some control over that.

Does Dropbox have a link expiry feature?

Yes. Dropbox lets you set an expiration date on shared links. But it's locked behind paid plans. On dropbox.com, you need at minimum Dropbox Essentials ($11.99/month) or Professional ($19.99/month) to access it. On a free Dropbox account, the option simply isn't there.

If you don't need 2TB of extra cloud storage — you just want your links to stop working after a specific date — upgrading Dropbox is a poor trade.

How to set a link expiry on Dropbox (if you have a paid plan)

Already on a paid Dropbox plan? Here are the steps:

1. Go to dropbox.com and sign in
2. Hover over the file or folder you've shared
3. Click Share, then click the settings gear icon
4. Select the shared link you want to edit
5. Toggle Expiration on
6. Pick a date — the link expires at 11:59 PM in your time zone on that day
7. Click Save

The link deactivates automatically. Anyone who visits it after the expiry date gets a "link not found" error.

The problem: you need link expiry, not a full plan upgrade

Most creators sharing files via Dropbox are on a free or basic account. They use Dropbox for storage. What they actually need is a way to control who can access a link and for how long — not more cloud storage.

That's a different problem. And it has a cheaper solution.

How to add an expiry date to any Dropbox link with Passdropit

Passdropit wraps your existing Dropbox link in a protected gateway. Instead of sharing the raw Dropbox URL, you share a passdropit.com/yourslug link. That link can require a password to unlock, expire on a date you set, and stop working after a download count you choose.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Create a free account at passdropit.com
2. Click Create New Link and connect your Dropbox file
3. Under expiry settings, pick a date — or set a maximum download count
4. Copy your Passdropit link and share it as you normally would

When the date arrives, the link stops working automatically. No manual cleanup, no remembering to delete it.

Expiry by date vs. expiry by downloads

Dropbox's native expiry feature only supports calendar dates. Passdropit gives you two options:

• Date expiry: "This download is available until November 30." Good for limited-time offers, event materials, or course access windows.
• Download limit: "This preset pack is available to the first 100 people." Good for exclusive early-access drops or gated content.

For example: if you're a music producer dropping a free sample pack to your Discord, you can set a 500-download limit. Once 500 people grab it, the link closes. You don't have to monitor anything.

Add a password while you're at it

Since you're routing the link through Passdropit, you can add a password at the same time. Share the password only with your intended audience — say, in a YouTube members post or email newsletter. Anyone who stumbles across the link but doesn't have the password can't get in.

This solves a second problem that Dropbox doesn't address at all: your link getting reshared beyond your intended audience. A subscriber shares your "members only" preset download in a public Reddit thread. With a raw Dropbox link, there's nothing you can do. With a Passdropit link, only people with the password can access it — and you can revoke the link any time.

For more on tracking who actually opens your links, see our guide on getting notified when your Dropbox link is accessed.

What does it cost?

Link expiry on Passdropit requires a Pro account ($5/month). That's the same plan that also gives you download count limits, location-based analytics, and email notifications on each access.

Here's how that stacks up against Dropbox:

If you're already using Dropbox for storage and just want link control, Passdropit Pro gives you more than Dropbox's paid tiers do — at less than a third of the price.

A practical example

Say you're releasing a free LUT pack to celebrate hitting 10K subscribers. You want it available for two weeks, then you're putting it behind your Patreon.

With a raw Dropbox link: the link stays live indefinitely. You'd have to manually delete or disable it two weeks from now — and remember to do it.

With Passdropit Pro:

• Set expiry to 14 days from today
• Add a password you announce at the end of the video
• See how many downloads you got and where from
• The link turns off automatically

No admin work. The link just works until it doesn't.

If you want to protect your Dropbox links without dealing with any of this, start with our guide on how to share and protect a Dropbox link.

Get started

Create your first link free at passdropit.com. Link expiry, password protection, and download limits are available on Pro for $5/month.