Someone sent you an iCloud link, or you sent one, and it won’t open. Maybe the page says the link is no longer available, maybe the item can’t be found, or maybe you land on a screen telling you that you don’t have access. It is frustrating because the link looks fine and was probably working yesterday.
Apple’s help pages don’t list these error messages word for word, but they are clear about what makes a shared link stop working. It comes down to four things: the owner stopped sharing or removed the item, the link was the kind that expires (iCloud Photos links and Mail Drop), access is set to invited people only, or the file was too big to be stored in iCloud in the first place. The fix depends on which one it is.
Tell which case you’re in
Start with what kind of link it is and how old it is.
- A link to an iCloud Drive file or folder that used to work → the owner stopped sharing, removed you, deleted the item or moved it out of iCloud Drive.
- An iCloud Photos link (photos or videos shared from icloud.com/photos) older than a month → it has expired. Apple says these links expire automatically after 30 days.
- A download link inside an email for a large attachment (Mail Drop) → attachments expire after 30 days, and Apple says recipients may also be unable to reach an attachment if the link has had an excessive number of downloads.
- The link opens but says you need access → sharing is set to People you choose (only people the owner invites), and you weren’t invited.
- You’re the owner and the file never shared properly, or shows Ineligible or Out of Space on your Mac → a size or storage problem, covered further down.
The owner stopped sharing, removed access, or deleted the item
Apple’s help states that “if you stop sharing or delete a shared folder, the files in the folder are no longer accessible to the participants.” The same happens to a single person when the owner removes them: on a Mac, the owner holds the pointer over a person’s name, clicks the More button and chooses Remove Access. Apple also says moving a file or folder out of iCloud Drive, or deleting it, stops others from having access to it. From the recipient’s side, all of these look the same: the link stops working.
If you are the owner and this was a mistake, check whether the item is still recoverable. Apple says files stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Go to icloud.com/iclouddrive, select Recently Deleted in the sidebar, select the files and click Recover. Once it is back, share it again and send the new link or invitation, because the people who had access lost it when the item was deleted.
Access is set to “People you choose”
When you share from iCloud Drive, Apple gives two choices for who can access the item. People you choose (“Allow only people you invite to access the file or folder”) and Anyone with the link (“Allow anyone who receives the link to access the file or folder”). If the owner chose the first and then pasted the link into a chat or a post, anyone who wasn’t invited will hit an access wall.
To change it on iCloud.com, the owner should:
- Go to icloud.com/iclouddrive and sign in with their Apple Account if asked.
- Click the More button next to the file or folder, then choose Share. On a computer, hover over the item until the button appears.
- Choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder, then select Sharing Options.
- Choose Anyone with the Link, or keep People You Choose and invite the person who can’t get in.
On a Mac, the owner can Control-click the item in iCloud Drive and choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder to see who has access, remove someone or stop sharing. Apple points out the trade-off: with Anyone with the link, the people you invite can pass the link to others who weren’t in your original invitation. If the file is confidential, keep it to invited people.
On iCloud.com there is also an Access Requests option when you share with people you choose. Apple says the first person to visit the link is given access, and anyone else with the link can then ask you for access.
Two folder rules catch people out. Apple says all items inside a shared folder have the same access and edit options as the parent folder, and you can’t change sharing settings for an individual document inside it. To add people, change the settings of the shared folder. To stop sharing just one file, move it to a folder you haven’t shared.
The link opens but you can’t edit
This is a permission setting, not a broken link. Apple’s options are Can edit (view and modify) and Can view or download (view and download, but not modify) on a Mac, shown as Edit and View and Download Only for new participants on iCloud.com. For someone already invited, the owner can click the More button next to their name on iCloud.com and choose Can Make Changes or Can View Only.
iCloud Photos links expire after 30 days
If the link was made from icloud.com/photos, it is an iCloud Link, and Apple says “iCloud Links automatically expire after 30 days, but you can stop sharing them sooner.” There is no way to revive an expired one; the sender needs to make a new link. Apple also notes that iCloud Links aren’t available in all countries or regions, and that on iCloud.com you can only share photos and videos from your personal library, not from an iCloud Shared Photo Library.
Mail Drop links expire after 30 days
Mail Drop is what Apple Mail uses for big attachments. According to Apple’s Mail Drop limits page, at the time of writing:
- You can send attachments up to 5 GB in size, and Mail Drop attachments don’t count against your iCloud storage.
- Each attachment expires after 30 days, and recipients have 30 days from sending to download it.
- There is a 1 TB Mail Drop storage limit; you can send new attachments after earlier ones expire.
- A message over 5 GB including attachments won’t send; split it across emails or compress the attachments. An uncompressed folder also won’t send, so compress the folder first.
- Recipients might not be able to access the attachment if the link has an excessive amount of downloads, and the recipient’s own email app might have a smaller message size limit.
File size and storage limits
If you’re the owner and the item never shared properly, check its status in Finder. Apple’s Mac help says an Ineligible status is usually because the size exceeds the 50 GB limit for an individual folder or file in iCloud Drive. Out of Space means the item can’t be stored in iCloud because there isn’t enough iCloud storage left.
Storage matters because Apple says all files you add to iCloud Drive count toward your iCloud storage, and you get 5 GB free when you set up iCloud. A shared file has to be stored in your iCloud Drive before anyone else can open it, so a full iCloud account can stop a share before it starts.
If you’re the person receiving the link
There is not much you can fix from your side when sharing has ended or a link has expired, but these steps cover what you can do.
- Ask the sender for a fresh link or a new invitation, and tell them which message you saw. Expired iCloud Photos and Mail Drop links can’t be reopened.
- If the item is shared with invited people only, ask the owner to invite you, or switch it to Anyone with the link.
- If you use iCloud, click the link, then click Open; Apple says this adds the item to your iCloud Drive wherever you are signed in to your Apple Account.
- Keep your own copy of anything important. Apple says participants can download shared items to any of their devices, and a copy you made stays yours even after the owner stops sharing.
- To leave a shared item yourself on iCloud.com, open Share, choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder, click the More button next to your name and choose Remove Yourself.
Sharing with people who don’t use Apple devices
iCloud links work best when everyone is in Apple’s world. If you mostly send files to clients or followers on other platforms, OneSol’s Send shares files by link up to 5 GB, and a free OneSol page gives you one link for all your profiles. It is simply another option when an iCloud link keeps getting in the way.