Any share you own can be locked with a password, so the link alone is not enough to open it. Password protection is a registered-account feature — set it in the share dialog, either when creating the link or any time later.
How it works
- The password can be 4–128 characters. Choose it yourself and send it to the recipient through a different channel than the link.
- A visitor opening the link sees only a password prompt — no file names, no thumbnails, not even how many files are behind it.
- After entering the right password, the page unlocks for about half an hour in that browser tab; navigating around a shared folder does not re-ask.
- You can change or remove the password in the share dialog at any time.
What happens to the short link
Setting a password removes the automatic short link (filemv.com/s/…): if you already sent it to someone, it stops working. A protected share is reachable through the long filemv.com/share/… link, and through your custom slug if you set one — that one stays alongside the password. Changing the password afterwards does not touch the links. If you remove the password, the share gets a new short link; the old one does not come back.
Brute-force protection
Guessing is throttled: after 5 wrong attempts within 15 minutes, further tries from that network are blocked for a while. For file shares, you as the owner can also see a log of recent unlock attempts in the share dialog — including failed ones. Folder shares do not show this log.
Side effects worth knowing
- A password-protected file is also hidden from every public surface — listings, search, portals — for everyone but you. The password gates more than the link.
- Link previews in chat apps stay generic: a locked share never leaks its file name or a thumbnail into an embedded card.
- The password protects the share, not your account — anyone you give both the link and the password to can open it.
If the recipient forgets the password
Just tell them again — or set a new password in the share dialog and send them that. Changing the password leaves the link alone; only removing the password entirely gives the share a new short link (see above).