The short answer
Neither side signs up. Upload the file once, get a link, and send the link instead of the attachment. Whoever opens it reads the file in their browser: no account, no app, no browser extension. The one step anywhere in the exchange is on the sender's side, once: a code emailed on the first upload, there to block spam, not to create an account.
Why this question gets asked
Most friction in sharing a file is not the file itself. It is what the other person has to do before they can see it: create a login for a shared drive, install a viewer, or download an app for one PDF. The honest version of "no signup" separates two people often lumped into one sentence: the one sending the file, and the one opening it. They do not face the same rule.
What the recipient actually has to do
Nothing. Once a file lives at an address, loading that address does not check for a signed-in session unless the owner turned on a password or an email gate for that specific link (both optional; the email gate is Pro-only, covered below). Clicking the link and reading the file is the entire interaction. No extension to install, no desktop client, no app gate.
What the sender actually has to do
One thing, and it is a spam check, not a signup. A browser uploading for the first time is asked for a one-time code, emailed to the address typed in, before the link goes live. That proves a real inbox sits behind the upload, which is the point: a link hosted by an untraceable stranger is exactly what spam and phishing need. It happens once per address, not once per file. A second upload from the same browser session publishes straight away, with nothing further asked.
No password gets set, no profile gets created, and nothing is remembered beyond the inbox the code arrived in. It is closer to the confirmation link a mailing list sends than to creating an account anywhere.
Two formats are handled differently. A web page (.html, .htm, a .zip of a site)
always asks for the same one-time code, with no exceptions, because an anonymous page host
is what phishing wants; the code is still the only step, not an account. Video uploads are
switched off entirely right now. This guide is about the everyday case of a document, a
PDF, an image or a spreadsheet.
Sender versus recipient, measured against the server
The two sides of a share are not held to the same rule, and conflating them is where most "no signup needed" claims go wrong. Read directly off what the server enforces, not a pricing page:
| Step | Sender (first upload) | Sender (later uploads, same session) | Recipient (opening the link) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account required | No | No | No |
| One-time code (spam check) | Yes | No, already cleared | No |
| Password to set | No | No | No |
| App or extension | No | No | No |
| Can be asked for an email anyway | N/A | N/A | Only if the owner turns on the Pro email gate for that link |
| File size allowed | Up to 150MB | Up to 150MB | Whatever was uploaded |
The row that surprises people is the email gate: an owner on a paid plan can ask each visitor for an email before the file opens. Still not a signup. Nothing is created, no password is chosen, and the visitor cannot log back in with it later. Closer to a guestbook than an account.
What is free for the owner, and what is not
None of this changes what the recipient has to do, but it shapes what the owner can turn on: a password, a link that expires on a fixed date, and a QR code are all free. The owner gets an email on the first open, counted with a country and a referrer, also free. A running list of every open, per-page reading time, and who opened it by name are paid.
What this will not do
It will not get around a password the owner set; the recipient still needs that password from whoever sent it, same as any locked door. It will not host a video; that is refused outright today, not held back behind a confirmation step. It will not publish a web page without the one-time email code, which is never skipped for pages. And it will not accept a file over 150MB; the upload is refused at that size rather than queued or compressed to fit.
Sharing a file, start to finish
- Drop the file into the box on the homepage, or go straight to turn a PDF into a link or turn an image into a link.
- On a first upload from this browser, type the code emailed to the address given, a spam check, not an account. It only happens once.
- Copy the link and send it anywhere: email, a chat, a text message, a QR code.
- The other person clicks it and reads the file. Nothing is asked of them.
Nobody creates an account to make this work.