Sharing files through the cloud is very common today. There are many services for this, among which we can highlight Google Drive and Dropbox . Sometimes it can be interesting to follow up on what we are sharing. A way to know if the person to whom we have sent it has downloaded it. There are methods for this and in this article we are going to explain them.
How to know if someone has downloaded the shared files
Let’s say we have shared a folder of photos through Google Drive with someone. We are interested in knowing if you have really downloaded it already so that we can delete it. Or we may simply be curious to know if you have opened the link that we have sent you or have overlooked it. We are going to see a couple of options that we can use in Drive or Dropbox.
URL shortener
One of the options we have available is to use a URL shortener or URL shortener . Basically what this type of service does is shorten an address that we give it. They are very useful to pass a very long URL on WhatsApp, for example. In this way we only have to send a short address that redirects to the real one.
We can use this to shorten the URL of those Drive or Dropbox files that we are sharing. But the interesting thing here is that many of these services will indicate to the user if that link has been opened or not. In this way we will know that the person to whom we have shared that folder has opened it and, therefore, downloaded the content.
We can use the Bitly option. It is a free service that allows us to shorten any link we want. It will allow us to know when that link has been opened. It is information that we would not get if we directly shared a Drive or Dropbox link.
Use third party services
Keep in mind that there are different third-party services that we can use to share content on the Internet. Sometimes it is not the most advisable, since we must be sure that it is reliable and our data will not be in danger. We can name the Orangedox option.
Orangedox allows us to create a user account and link it to Drive or Dropbox. This will allow us to track the links we upload and know if someone else has downloaded them or not. Its operation is simple and it will notify us of each download. In addition, we can register for free.
To use it we have to enter its website and there create an account for Dropbox or Drive, depending on the platform that interests us to upload files to the cloud.
In short, with these two options that we have shown we can share files from Drive and Dropbox and know at all times when they have been downloaded. The first is simpler, since we simply send a shortened link and we know when it has been opened. The second, instead, will require linking the account and registering for the service.
