MaiPDF · Online Sharing
Attach rules to a PDF link or QR code instead of sending an uncontrolled attachment. Verify readers, limit opens, set an expiration, and choose how the document can be viewed.
What it controls
You set the rules when you upload. The reader just opens the link or scans its QR code — every rule is checked before the document is displayed.
A controlled share is not a loose PDF attachment. It is a browser link with rules that are enforced on our side before the file is rendered, which is why they still apply after you have sent the link.
You list the exact email addresses that are allowed to open the document — up to 50 addresses, separated by commas. The reader types their address, receives a 6-digit code by email, and only after entering it does the PDF load. The code is valid for 5 minutes.
Matching is on the full address, so a whole domain cannot be allowed with one entry — every address has to be listed. Anyone who forwards the link to an address that is not on the list is stopped at this gate.
A total count of opens shared across all readers — not per person. The default is 10. Once the count is used up the link stops opening the document.
Setting a limit above 10,000 switches the link into unlimited mode. In that mode no access records are logged, and dynamic watermark and read alerts are unavailable.
Two different clocks, and they are easy to confuse:
Each session is how long a single reading sitting may last. The presets are 5 minutes, 15 minutes (the default), 30 minutes, 1 hour, or a custom value in minutes. When the session runs out the reader has to open the link again, which consumes another open.
Expiration is when the whole share closes, regardless of how many opens are left. The presets are 1 hour, 3 hours, 24 hours (the default), 5 days, a custom number of days, or Never. After it expires the link no longer opens the document for anyone.
SecureView (recommended) — view-only in the browser, with no direct download, copy or print path. Unrestricted — anyone with the link reads freely.
A third option, Anti-Screenshot, requires the MaiPDF app: the app asks the operating system to protect its window so screenshots and recordings come back black. A browser cannot do this.
Stamps the viewer’s own identity across every page as the document opens, so a screenshot can be matched back to whoever opened it. It does not stop a capture — it makes one traceable.
Sends you a Telegram notification the moment someone opens the document, so you know it landed without having to ask.
Like the dynamic watermark, read alerts are unavailable in unlimited mode (an access limit above 10,000).
Simple workflow
Upload the PDF and choose Online Sharing.
Configure limits, expiry, verification, and view mode.
Send the link or QR. The reader follows any enabled gate.
Inspect, update, replace or revoke — in Control Center if you were signed in, or with the modification code if you uploaded as a guest.
Practical examples
Keep the offer time-limited and know when the recipient opens it.
Allow approved colleagues to read without sending a clean attachment.
Correct or replace the PDF after sending without issuing a new URL.
Cap reading sessions and close the link automatically on a deadline.
What each side sees
Readers never receive the management controls for the share.
Before you upload
These are enforced by the uploader itself, so it is quicker to know them up front.
MaiPDF.pdf files..PDF is refused — rename it to .pdf first.# in the file nameRemove it before uploading, or the file will not be accepted.Managing a share afterwards
MaiPDF has two management paths because it supports sharing with or without an account. Which one you use was decided at upload time.
MaiPDF began without any login system: every upload was anonymous, and that guest route was never removed. Sharing a PDF without creating an account is still fully supported, so the product has to answer one question for anonymous uploads — if there is no account, how does the system know that you are the person who uploaded this file?
The answer is the modification code. It is issued once, at upload, and it is the proof of ownership for a guest share. A signed-in account proves ownership on its own, so it does not need one. That single difference is what produces the two paths below.
Entry point: maipdf.com/pdf/replace-file.html
When you upload as a guest you receive two codes, and they do different jobs:
To replace the file, that page asks for four values: the current link or reading code, its modification code, the new PDF's link or reading code, and the new PDF's modification code. In other words, you upload the replacement PDF first to obtain its pair of codes, then point the original share at it. The original share URL stays the same, so recipients do not need a new link.
Keep the modification code. There is no account and no password reset behind a guest share. If the modification code is lost, the share can no longer be changed or replaced.
The reverse is also worth knowing: a closed link is not a dead end, a lost code is. Replacement does not require the link to still be working, so a share whose opens ran out, whose deadline passed, or that was set to zero can still be repointed at a new PDF — keeping the same URL and QR code — as long as you hold both codes.
Entry point: maipdf.com/6/control-center.html
Your account is the proof of ownership, so no modification code is involved. Every share you have created is listed in one place. Select a reading code, then:
Replacing the file is also done from here, without needing to track codes yourself.
Both paths change the same share, and in both cases the original link and QR code keep working — recipients never need to be sent a new URL. Guides: managing a share without an account · replacing or deleting a shared PDF.
Choose the right protection
Best for fast sharing by link or QR. Readers need no account or app. You can add limits, verification, expiry, records, and browser view restrictions.
Explore Online Sharing →Best for more sensitive files that need an encrypted container, device authorization, revocation, and a controlled application reader.
Compare App DRM →Win + Shift + S or PrtScn are handled before the page is ever aware of them. Nor can any tool stop a camera pointed at the screen. Use a dynamic watermark to make a leak traceable, or App DRM if the capture itself has to be blocked.FAQ
Yes, and the same link keeps working with the new settings. How you do it depends on how you uploaded: if you were signed in, open Control Center, and select the reading code. Session length is the one rule you can edit directly there; the open limit, expiry, allowlist, view mode and watermark are fixed at upload and change only by replacing the share. If you uploaded as a guest, use the modification code you received at upload, at maipdf.com/pdf/replace-file.html.
Because MaiPDF supports sharing without an account. For a signed-in user, the account itself proves the share belongs to you. For an anonymous guest upload there is no account, so something else has to prove ownership — that is the modification code, issued once at upload. Both paths change the same share; only the proof of ownership differs.
For a guest share, the modification code is the only proof of ownership: there is no account and no password reset behind it, so the share can no longer be changed, replaced or deleted. Save it when you upload. Signed-in users do not have this risk, because everything is listed in Control Center.
Upload the replacement PDF first, so that it gets its own reading code and modification code. Then go to maipdf.com/pdf/replace-file.html and enter four values: the current link or reading code, its modification code, the new PDF's link or reading code, and the new PDF's modification code. The original share URL does not change, so your recipients keep using the link they already have.
No. They open the link directly, or verify an approved email if you enabled that gate.
Yes. The QR code points to the same controlled URL.
Use App DRM for an encrypted file, device authorization, and a controlled app reader.
Upload once, share by link or QR, and keep control after sending.