---
url: https://docs.revis.io/sharing/choose-guest-access-and-permissions.md
description: >-
  Set a share link's Guest Access and Permissions, including the all-or-nothing
  Download permission.
---

# Choose how guests sign in and what they can do

A review's share link has two sets of choices: **Guest Access** decides whether guests confirm their email or sign in to a Revis account, and **Permissions** decides what they can do. **Download** is all or nothing: without it, guests get no download options at all, and revis.io holds back the original files.

::: info Before you start

* **Who:** project members who can edit the review (Owner, Admin, Member, Project Admin, or Contributor). Reviewers and Viewers don't see **Share**.
* **Where:** the web app or the desktop app, in the player.
* **You need:** a review, and an organization that allows external link sharing. If your role can edit and there's no **Share** button, an admin has turned off **External Link Sharing**.
  :::

## Set guest access and permissions

1. Open the review in the player and select **Share** (the share icon at the top right).
2. Under **Access**, choose **Guests**.
3. Choose a **Guest Access** option.
4. Under **Permissions**, select what guests can do.
5. Select **Create Link**, or **Update Link** if the review already has one. revis.io copies the link to your clipboard.

If the review's link was turned off earlier, choosing **Guests** creates a new link. Send the new one: the old link doesn't work anymore.

## Guest Access options

| Option | To view the review | To comment, draw, react, chat, or change a status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Open access** (default) | Nothing to confirm | Nothing to confirm. Their comments show the author as **Unknown**. |
| **Verified email to interact** | Nothing to confirm | Name, email, and a 6-digit code first |
| **Revis account to interact** | Nothing to confirm | Sign in to a Revis account first; the link's permissions still apply |
| **Verified email to view** | Name, email, and a 6-digit code first | Already confirmed |

With **Open access**, the dialog reminds you: "Anyone with the link can open the review without signing in. The permissions below decide what they can do."

For either verified-email option, the code arrives by email, works for 15 minutes, and allows three tries. revis.io remembers a confirmed guest in that browser for 90 days.

## Permissions

| Permission | Starts | Lets guests |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Annotate** | On | Comment, reply, and draw |
| **Download** | Off | Download, within your organization's download settings (see below) |
| **Set Status** | On | Change an item's approval status |
| **Edit & reorder items** | Off | Reorder the review's items and make other changes to its item list |

You can't give guests a permission you don't have yourself.

## How guest downloads work

* **Download off:** guests see no download options anywhere: no **Download Original**, **Download PDF**, or **Download with Comments**, and no **Download** on comment attachments. The player plays processed copies of the items instead of the original files. An image or audio file that hasn't finished processing still plays from its original.
* **Download on:** each kind of download also needs its own setting in **Downloads** (organization or project settings): **Original Item File**, **PDF Reports**, **Video with comments**, and **Comment Attachment Files**. Selecting **Download** never turns on a download that a setting turns off.
* **Download** isn't in the dialog when all four download settings are off, or when **Hide Download Option** is on in **Link Sharing**.
* The organization's sharing and download restrictions are a floor. A project can tighten them but never loosen them; project settings show these options locked, with **Set by your organization**.

::: warning
In the web app, **Copy Review Link** on a review that has no link yet creates a view-only link: **Verified email to interact**, with **Annotate**, **Set Status**, and **Download** off. **Copy link** in the review's menu on the Reviews page does the same. To let guests comment, create the link in the dialog instead.
:::

Guests can watch everything in the review. Share a link only with people you trust with the media.