Recover your expired CAD file transfer
An expired link on a CAD transfer does not mean your drawings, models, or assemblies are gone. WeTransfer separates link expiry from permanent deletion, so there is often still a path back to your files through the Transfers panel or the expired download page itself.
Get your expired files back
CAD files take serious time to produce, and losing access to a transfer of them mid-project is worth more than a resigned shrug. When a transfer has been sent with recoverability on (the default for most transfers), the moment the download link stops working is not the same moment the files leave WeTransfer's servers. WeTransfer Ultimate subscribers can restore expired CAD transfers directly from their Transfers panel, including transfers that were originally sent while on a Free or Starter account, and anyone who still holds the original expired link may also be able to kick off a recovery from the expired download experience when logged in with an eligible plan. Free and Starter users cannot self-restore after expiry, but files are not necessarily wiped the instant a link goes dark, which means upgrading to Ultimate before the retention window closes may still bring those assemblies, drawings, and models back.
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Our features are designed to minimize how much of your data we — or anyone else — can access, so you can keep what's yours, yours.
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FAQs
All your questions answered.
Not necessarily gone. When a transfer is marked recoverable (the default unless you turned it off), expiry closes the download link but does not immediately wipe the files from WeTransfer's servers. A retention window stays open after that point, and upgrading to Ultimate within that window can make those transfers restorable from your Transfers panel. The retention window length depends on the total size of the files involved, so the sooner you act the better.
Go to your Transfers panel, find the expired transfer, and if it is within the recovery window you will see an option to restore it. Once restored, the download link becomes active again without any re-uploading. If you no longer have the sender view but still have the original expired link, opening it while logged in with an Ultimate account may also give you the option to extend the download window from the expired download experience itself.
Possibly, yes. If the person who received the files opens the expired link while logged in with an account on a plan that includes recovery (Ultimate or above), they may be able to trigger a restore from the expired download page, extending the download window again. They do not need to be the original sender for this path to work, though the sender can also restore independently from the Transfers panel.
WeTransfer places no restrictions on file type, so CAD formats including DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES, STL, OBJ, and proprietary formats from software like AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Rhino, and Revit all transfer without modification. Files are sent and stored in their original format with no compression or conversion applied, so what you recover is exactly what you sent.
No. Deleting a transfer from your Transfers panel is a deliberate action that immediately revokes the download link and removes the files. That is different from a transfer expiring on its own, where a retention window may still apply. Once you have manually deleted a transfer, it cannot be recovered through any plan or upgrade path.