Sharing

Sharing lets you collect feedback on any document via a unique link. Reviewers don’t need a Sidenote account to comment.

Creating a share link

1. Open a document.
2. Click the Share button in the toolbar.
3. Copy the generated URL and send it via email, Slack, or any other channel.

Links follow this format:

https://sidenote.ink/share/{token}

Each token is unique to that specific document.

Permissions

When you create a share link, choose what reviewers can do:

• Can comment (default)
  • Reviewers can view the document
  • Leave annotations
  • Reply to threads
  • Use labels
  • Best for most review workflows
• View only
  • Reviewers can view the document
  • Read existing annotations
  • Cannot add new comments or annotations
  • Useful for stakeholder sign-off or read-only distribution

Password protection (Pro & Team)

On Pro and Team plans, you can require a password for access:

1. Open the share dialog.
2. Enable Require password.
3. Set a password.

Reviewers will see a password prompt before the document loads.

Expiry dates (Pro & Team)

On Pro and Team plans you can set a date after which the link stops working.

1. Open the share dialog.
2. Enable Set expiry date.
3. Choose a date. The earliest you can pick is tomorrow.

The link works until the end of the day you choose, in your own time zone. After that, anyone who opens it gets a short message saying the link has expired instead of the document.

The date is fixed when you create the link and cannot be changed afterwards. If you need a different one, create a new link and send that instead. The original keeps working until its own expiry date.

What reviewers see

Reviewers do not need a Sidenote account. The link is the access, so send it only to people who should see the document.

What they meet when they open it depends on how you set the link up:

• If you set a password, they are asked for it before anything loads.
• On a Can comment link, they enter their name, or sign in with Google if they already have an account, then land on the document in Browse mode with a Comment toggle in the top right.
• On a View only link there is no name prompt. The document opens straight away and the commenting tools are not there.

A badge at the top of the page reads Shared (comment) or Shared (view only), so nobody has to guess what they are allowed to do. Any comment a reviewer leaves pins to the exact element they clicked, and it shows in the same place on your side.

If your reviewer has not used Sidenote before, send them Reviewing a document shared with you for a full walkthrough of their side.