Recover an expired transfer for your organisation
When a transfer link stops working, that does not always mean the files are gone. WeTransfer keeps recoverable transfers in a restorable state after link expiry, and WeTransfer Ultimate gives both senders and recipients a concrete path back to those files without needing to re-upload.
Get your expired files back
Government agencies and NGOs handle sensitive documentation that is hard or impossible to recreate, so a dead transfer link demands a careful response before any conclusions are drawn. On WeTransfer, link expiry and permanent file deletion are separate events: when a recoverable transfer expires, the download link stops working but the underlying files remain on WeTransfer's servers for an extended window. WeTransfer Ultimate subscribers can restore expired transfers from their Transfers panel, and that recovery path applies even to transfers originally sent from a Free or Starter account, as long as the retention window is still open. If your organisation is on the receiving end and still holds the original expired link, a recovery may also be triggered from the expired download page when signed in with an eligible plan. Free and Starter users cannot self-restore, but an expired link alone is not confirmation that files have been permanently removed from WeTransfer's servers.
What makes WeTransfer different
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.
30M+ Transfers sent every month
4.8 App Store / Play Store average rating
12M+ Monthly active users
43K+ Enterprises using WeTransfer daily
Everything you need
Give people simple tools, and they'll do extraordinary things. Ultra-fast file transfers, built-in customization, easier team collaboration. That's the magic of WeTransfer.
Move your ideas forward
Share content with a unique link, give anyone a free pass to send you 200 GB files, and stay in control of transfers — even after you hit send.
Collaboration tools for teams of all sizes
With tools designed to enhance collaboration, get everyone in your team talking and moving as one, without disrupting their workflow.
Share with confidence and security
From password protection to file encryption, WeTransfer has all the built-in security features you need to safeguard your work.
FAQs
All your questions answered.
Yes, in some cases. If you still have the original expired link and you are signed in with a WeTransfer Ultimate, Teams, or Enterprise plan, you may be able to trigger a recovery directly from the expired download page, extending access again without the sender needing to re-upload anything. The recovery option appears in the expired download experience when your account is eligible, so the first step is logging in with an eligible plan and opening that original link.
Not necessarily. When a transfer is marked recoverable, which is the default unless the sender turns it off, an expired link means the download stops working but the files may still be sitting on WeTransfer's servers. Smaller files stay in a recoverable state for up to around a year after expiry, while larger files have a shorter window of around 90 days. Upgrading to WeTransfer Ultimate during that window gives senders the ability to restore from their Transfers panel, including transfers originally sent under a Free or Starter account.
Log in to your WeTransfer account and go to your Transfers panel. If the expired transfer is still within its recovery window and was marked recoverable when sent, you will see a restore option next to it. WeTransfer Ultimate, Teams, and Enterprise subscribers can complete the restore from there, and this works even for transfers sent before you upgraded your plan. Once restored, the download link becomes active again for recipients.
WeTransfer supports any file type without re-encoding or compression, so documents like PDFs, Word files, and spreadsheets transfer at their original quality, alongside large formats such as 3D and CAD files, high-resolution images, video footage, and ZIP archives. If those files were sent in a recoverable transfer and the retention window is still open, the restore path through WeTransfer Ultimate applies to all of them regardless of format.
WeTransfer Ultimate lets you set a custom expiry or keep a transfer active indefinitely so the download link never stops working in the first place. Transfers are also marked recoverable by default, which means even if a link does expire, the restoration path remains available within the applicable window. For teams across a government body or NGO, the Teams plan extends these capabilities to up to 50 members with shared storage and centralised billing.