Where your files are stored

Your files, photos and encrypted vault files are kept either on our own servers or with a storage provider we use. You do not choose this and it makes no difference to how you use the site. Everything you upload is kept where the site's administrators have set it up, and moving it later does not change any address you have shared.

Your allowance

Your storage allowance is made of your plan plus any storage packs you have bought. The File Host page and the Billing page show how much you use and how much you have. See the guide on storage packs for how to add more.

Downloads

Downloads of private files always go through the site's checks first: who you are, whether the file is available, and the download wait and speed of your plan. For a file held with a storage provider the site may then pass your browser a link that works for a few minutes, or send the file itself. Either way the link is made for that one download and expires quickly. Files are never given a permanent public address. A file that is under review is not available at all.

Public photos can have a normal address that anyone can use. Private photos and photos marked not safe for work do not.

If storage is unavailable

If the provider that holds a new upload cannot be reached, the upload fails with a message and nothing is saved there. For a large file sent in pieces, the pieces you already sent are kept, so you can press finish again later. If the provider that holds an existing file cannot be reached, its download shows a message and you can try again in a few minutes.

Deleting

When you delete a file or a photo it is removed from wherever it is kept. If the provider is unreachable at that moment, the removal is retried automatically until it works.