Uploading files

Uploading requires files.upload, including drag-and-drop, screenshot tools, and chunked uploads. Role changes apply on the next request; an existing upload credential cannot bypass them. Revoking a named API token, or reaching its expiry, also stops an upload it is still sending: when the file has arrived, Flare refuses it and keeps none of it. Sharing changes use files.share. Without that permission, new uploads are private even if a profile or request selected public visibility; you can still upload when files.upload is granted. Existing public links stay public until explicitly changed. If Upload is unavailable, ask the instance administrator to review your roles.

Use Upload when you want to review settings before sending files. Its form uses the full dashboard content width, matching the file library. For quick uploads with your saved defaults, drop files onto another dashboard page or use a screenshot tool.

The upload page brings file selection and sharing choices into one flow.

The upload page brings file selection and sharing choices into one flow.

Upload from your browser

1. Open Upload.
2. Click the file-selection area or drag files into it. You can select several files and add more to the queue before starting.
3. Review filenames and sizes. Remove an individual file, or clear the queue if you want to start again.
4. If your role has uploadProfiles.manage, choose an Upload profile. The line under it shows the effective visibility, password protection, expiration action, and filename behavior for this batch. Without that permission, your saved defaults apply automatically.
5. If you have folders and your role can organize them (folders.manage), choose Save to. Unfiled leaves the upload outside a folder. Open Upload options for one-time visibility, password, or expiration overrides. You can leave it closed to use your saved defaults.
6. Start the upload. Wait for the completion links before closing the tab.

While files upload, each queued file shows the bytes sent, the current upload speed, and its percentage. The speed is measured over the last few seconds, appears about half a second after a file starts, and disappears once every byte has been sent, while the server stores the file. A progress card shows the same details for the file being sent, and drag-and-drop uploads use the same card. It appears in the notifications corner (bottom right, or the top on a phone-sized screen), just above the latest notification, so a notification such as Copied to clipboard doesn't replace it and the upload's result appears where its progress was. Close it with × if it's in the way; the upload continues, and the card returns for the next file. Earlier builds didn't show a speed and placed the card in the top left below the navigation bar, so on wider screens it jumped to the other corner when the upload finished.

The same selected options apply to the queued files. To give different files different passwords or destinations, upload them in separate batches. The open form keeps its chosen settings after a successful batch, including the password and visibility override. Review or reset them before uploading something different.

Uploading a ZIP, TAR, TAR.GZ/TGZ, or GZIP stores it as one file. It does not automatically extract or publish its members. Open Browse archive from its library menu to inspect it, or extract into a new folder. Archive browsing supports archives of any size, but an upload succeeding does not mean every entry can be previewed or the archive extracted; extraction has its own limits.

Anyone who can access a supported archive's share page can browse and download its entries under the file's visibility/password rules. This does not create separate library files. Review the archive's contents before making it public.

Review your queue before uploading. Each file displays its size, and its transfer progress and speed while it uploads.

Review your queue before uploading. Each file displays its size, and its transfer progress and speed while it uploads.

Upload options (or Expiration options when your role cannot share) starts closed so file selection and the upload action stay easy to reach. Its status changes to Customized after an override. Closing it keeps your choices; when profile selection is available, its effective summary stays visible and updates as you change them. Save to stays outside the disclosure so you can always review the destination. Password protection and expiration controls are still available to the same roles as before this layout change.

Choose your upload settings

Setting	What it does
Upload profile	Applies a saved collection of upload choices (uploadProfiles.manage). Use account settings directly to bypass the default profile.
Save to	Puts the file in one of your folders (folders.manage). A public file directly in a shared folder also appears on that folder's share page.
Visibility	Inherit from the selected/default profile, or explicitly choose public or private.
Password protection	Requires recipients of a public file to enter the password before opening it. Eligible owners and accounts with content.read retain access.
File expiration	Inherit the profile's expiration, choose a time and action, or explicitly select no expiration.

Without folders.manage, the upload page doesn't show Save to and uploads are unfiled, including when a link opens Upload with a folder selected. Earlier builds showed Save to to these roles anyway, and the server refused the upload with "Your role cannot organize uploads into folders."

Restricted roles can still upload privately. Saved defaults apply automatically, and the page offers only permitted choices.

Restricted roles can still upload privately. Saved defaults apply automatically, and the page offers only permitted choices.

Choosing From upload profile also includes the account defaults that the profile inherits. If you have not configured a default profile, account and instance settings supply the starting values. See upload profiles for the exact order.

Passwords are specific to these uploads. They are never saved in upload profiles or exported profile recipes. Flare accepts file passwords with at least 8 characters and at most 72 bytes; accented characters and emoji can use more than one byte each.

Set an expiration

An upload with a Delete file expiration requires files.delete; Set to private requires files.share. This also applies when expiration comes from a saved profile or account default. If the upload is rejected after a role change, choose no expiration (or a permitted action), update the profile/default, or ask the administrator for the required permission.

Open File expiration and choose what should happen:

• Delete file: remove the file and its stored contents.
• Set to private: keep the file in your account and stop public access. The file still uses storage.

Use the one-hour, one-day, one-week, or one-month shortcuts, or choose a custom date and time. Confirm the choice before starting the upload. No expiration explicitly turns an inherited expiration off for this upload; Use profile expiration returns to the saved behavior.

Choose an expiration date together with the action Flare should take.

Choose an expiration date together with the action Flare should take.

The server checks for due expirations every 5 seconds, so access changes a few seconds after the time you chose, not at that exact second. If an expiration can't be applied, for example while storage is unreachable, Flare tries again 1, 5 and 30 minutes later. If the last attempt also fails, the file stays as it is and Files stops showing its expiration; set it again from Files → file menu → Manage expiration, where you can also change or remove an existing schedule.

Quick drag-and-drop

When you drop files onto a dashboard page outside Upload, the overlay starts uploading with your default profile and account settings. It does not pause for the full upload form.

If you are viewing a folder in Files and your role can organize folders (folders.manage), the dropped files go into that folder. Otherwise, and in All files, Unfiled, or other dashboard pages, they are unfiled. An active tag filter does not automatically tag new uploads: use a profile's tag selection or an automatic tag rule for that.

Each drop is its own batch, sent one file at a time. If a file fails, the files after it aren't sent, and the failure message offers Retry, which sends the files that weren't uploaded to the same destination. The next drop sends only its own files. Files dropped while an earlier drop is still uploading aren't added: the drop overlay doesn't appear, and Flare shows An upload is already in progress. Drop them again when it finishes. Earlier builds kept failed files and sent them again before the next drop's files, so a file that kept failing, for example because of your storage quota, stopped every later drop with its own error until the page was reloaded.

Drop files onto the workspace for a quick upload using your saved defaults.

Drop files onto the workspace for a quick upload using your saved defaults.

Use the finished links

The completion section gives each successful upload an open action and Copy link. With multiple results, Copy all links copies one share-page URL per line. You can also find every completed file in Files.

These controls always copy the plain share-page URL. They do not include a password or grant access to a private file. If the browser refuses clipboard access, select the displayed link and copy it manually.

The link ends in a URL-friendly version of the filename: My Report.PDF is shared as my-report.pdf, and the file keeps its original name everywhere else in Flare. Uploading another file with a name you've already used gives the new file its own link with a short random suffix, such as my-report-3f9c2a71-b04.pdf; the earlier link doesn't change. A filename with no A to Z letters or digits, such as 日本語.png, gets a short random link name instead. Choose random names in an upload profile if you'd rather not show filenames in links at all. The file API guide lists the exact rules.

Successful upload results stay available so you can open or copy each link.

Successful upload results stay available so you can open or copy each link.

Size limits and larger files

The selection area shows the maximum allowed file size. Your account may also have a total storage quota, visible under Profile → Your data. A file can fit the per-file limit and still exceed your remaining quota. A file over either limit is refused as a whole: Flare shows A file exceeds the upload size limit. or This would exceed your storage quota., and none of the file is saved or counted against your quota. Uploads that finish at the same time are checked one after another against your remaining quota, so together they can't go over it. Extracting or creating an archive applies the same limits with the same messages. Earlier versions worded these refusals six ways, for example You have reached your storage quota. or The output files would exceed your storage quota.

The browser automatically uses chunked transfers for files larger than 10 MiB. You do not need to split files yourself. Keep the tab open: this uploader does not offer a resume-after-browser-restart interface.

File types may be restricted by the administrator, and the server checks file contents as well as the reported type. Renaming a blocked file's extension does not make it an allowed file.

Fix an upload problem

What you see	What to do
File rejected before upload	Compare its size with the displayed maximum. Remove the oversized file and upload the others.
This would exceed your storage quota	Check Profile → Your data, delete files you no longer need, or ask your administrator about the quota. Making files private does not free space.
A batch stops partway through	Keep the successful links. On Upload, completed files leave the queue; start the upload again for the files still waiting. After a drag-and-drop, choose Retry in the failure message or drop the remaining files again.
Folder unavailable	Choose another destination. Flare will not silently move the upload somewhere else if its destination was deleted.
Storage changed during this upload (409)	Start the affected file again. A backend change or an upgrade from older chunk-session metadata prevents reusing that upload session; completed files remain available. Earlier builds showed "Upload failed: Conflict" for files over 10 MiB instead.
Network error	Check your connection and sign-in session, then retry the remaining files. If the outcome is uncertain, check Files before submitting again.
Progress reaches 100% but no link appears	File transfer has finished, but finalization may still be running. Wait for the completion result.
The upload is larger than the server's request size limit	A reverse proxy or CDN in front of Flare refused the request, even though the file fits the maximum file size. Ask your administrator to raise its limit; see align all upload limits. Earlier builds called this a storage quota problem.
Small files work, large files fail	Give your administrator the approximate size and error message so they can check storage, proxy limits, and chunked uploads.
A name with accents or other scripts looks garbled, such as café.png	Earlier builds misread non-English characters in names of files up to 10 MB uploaded from the browser or with curl. New uploads keep their names, for example café.png. Files uploaded earlier keep the garbled name, but their links and contents are unaffected; upload the file again if you need the correct name.
An uploaded file is smaller than the original, and you were near your storage quota	Earlier builds could save only the part of a file that fit in your remaining quota, or under the maximum file size, and still report success. Delete the short copy and upload the file again; Flare now refuses it with a quota or size message instead.

An administrator with audit.read can investigate Audit log using the filename, account, time, and available request context. Upload/finalization records retain the file ID and name when the server can identify them, including useful context for some failures; they do not contain file bytes or submitted passwords. An early proxy rejection or interrupted request may not reach Flare at all, so provide the visible error and approximate time rather than assuming every failed transfer has an audit event. OCR and later background work have separate outcomes after upload acceptance. An image OCR can't read is marked as read with no text, and an ocr.failed event records it. Earlier versions also left a text-recognition worker running for each such image until Flare restarted, so many unreadable images could slowly use up the server's memory.

For repeatable upload choices, continue with upload profiles. For what recipients can see, read sharing and privacy.

If a password is invalid, one explanation appears beside its field while Upload options is open. Closing the options moves that explanation beside Review password. Choose Review password to reopen the options and focus the field. Correct or remove the password to enable creation.