help/_articles/send/send-lifespan.md

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article	Send Lifespan	send	true	false	bitwarden send send ephemeral sharing deletion expiration access count	04

Unlike traditional Bitwarden Vault items and File Attachments, Sends are ephemeral and have a default lifespan of 7 days. The lifespan of a Send is entirely configurable using the Deletion Date option, each having a maximum allowed lifespan of 30 days. When a Send has reached its Deletion Date, it will be purged from Bitwarden systems and inaccessible to both its Sender and recipients.

Optionally, you can configure additional limitations on recipient access using the Expiration Date and/or Maximum Access Count options.

You can also manually disable or delete a Send at any time.

Deletion Date

By default, a Send will have a Deletion Date set to 7 days from creation. Using the Deletion Date option, you may change this to a range of pre-specified options (e.g. 1 hour, 1 day, 30 days) or specify a Custom timestamp using the date picker (or in the text input in the format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM AM/PM).

Deletion Date has a maximum allowed value of 30 days from creation.

Deletion Behavior

When a Send reaches its configured Deletion Date:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-trash %} Pending Deletion icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will pend deletion for a few minutes, after which it will be permanently deleted from Bitwarden systems and from the Sender's Send view.

  {% callout note %}There is no "soft delete" or Trash Can for Sends, meaning that once the pending deletion window has closed you will not be able to access the contents of a Send.{% endcallout %}

Expiration Date

By default, Expiration Date will be set to Never. Using the Expiration Date option, you may change this to a range of pre-specified options (e.g. 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days) or specify a Custom timestamp using the date picker (or in the text input in the format MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM AM/PM).

Expiration Behavior

When a Send reaches its specified Expiration Date:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, an {% icon fa-clock-o %} Expired icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

Maximum Access Count

For all Sends, a Current Access Count ticker will track the number of times the Send link has been accessed:

{% image /send/send-access-ticker.png Current Access Count ticker %}

For any Send, you may specify a Maximum Access Count that is a positive integer.

Maximum Access Count Behavior

When a Send reaches its specified Maximum Access Count:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-ban %} Max access count reached icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

{% callout success %} The Current Access Count ticker counts:

• For text Sends, the number of times the link has been accessed.
• For file Sends, the number of times the contents are downloaded. {% endcallout %}

Manually Disable or Delete

Manually disable or delete a Send from any Bitwarden application:

• Web Vault
• Browser Extension
• Desktop
• Mobile
• CLI

{% capture web_vault %}

Disable from the Web Vault

To disable a Send from the Web Vault, open the Edit Send view and check the Disable this Send so that no one can access it checkbox. You can uncheck this box at any time to re-enable access to the Send.

{% image /send/send-disable-wv.png Disable from the Web Vault %}

When a Send is disabled:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-warning %} Disabled icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

Delete from the Web Vault

To delete a Send from the Web Vault, use the hover-over {% icon fa-cog %} gear dropdown to select the {% icon fa-trash %} Delete button:

{% image /send/send-delete.png Delete from the Web Vault %}

{% endcapture %} {{ web_vault | markdownify}}

{% capture browser_extension %}

Disable from Browser Extensions

To disable a Send from a Browser Extension, open the Edit Send view and check the Disable this Send so that no one can access it checkbox. You can uncheck this box at any time to re-enable access to the Send.

{% image /send/send-disable-be.png Disable from a Browser Extension %}

When a Send is disabled:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-warning %} Disabled icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

Delete from Browser Extensions

To delete a Send from a Browser Extension, select the {% icon fa-trash %} Trash icon next to the Send you want to delete:

{% image /send/send-delete-be.png Delete from a Browser Extension %}

{% endcapture %} {{ browser_extension | markdownify}}

{% capture desktop_info %}

Disable from Desktop Apps

To disable a Send from a Desktop App, open the Edit Send view and check the Disable this Send so that no one can access it checkbox. You can uncheck this box at any time to re-enable access to the Send.

{% image /send/send-desktop-disable.png Disable from a Desktop App%}

When a Send is disabled:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-warning %} Disabled icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

Delete from Desktop Apps

To delete a Send from a Desktop App, open the Edit Send view and select the {% icon fa-trash %} Delete button:

{% image /send/send-desktop-delete.png Delete from a Desktop App %}

{% endcapture %} {{ desktop_info | markdownify}}

{% capture mobile_info %}

Disable from Mobile Apps

To disable a Send from a Mobile App, open the Edit Send view and toggle the Disable this Send so that no one can access it option. You can toggle this option off at any time to re-enable access to the Send.

{% image /send/send-disable-mobile.png Disable from a Mobile App %}

When a Send is disabled:

• For recipients of the Send (i.e. anyone with the generated link), navigating to the Send link will show a screen reporting that the Send does not exist or is no longer available.

• For the Sender, a {% icon fa-warning %} Disabled icon will appear next to the Send. The Send will remain accessible to its Sender in the Send view until the specified Deletion Date is reached.

Delete from Mobile Apps

To delete a Send from a Mobile App, tap the menu icon ( {% icon fa-ellipsis-v %} or {% icon fa-ellipsis-h %} ) and tap the Delete option:

{% image /send/send-delete-mob.png Delete from a Mobile App %}

{% endcapture %} {{ mobile_info | markdownify}}

{% capture cli_info %}

Disable from the CLI

To disable a Send from the CLI, you'll need to use the edit command to change the "disabled":false key-value pair to "disabled":true, for example:

bw send get <id> | jq '.disabled=false' | bw encode | bw send edit

We recommend reading the [Send from CLI]({% link _articles/send/send-cli.md %}) article for complete information on using Send from the CLI.

Delete from the CLI

To delete a Send from the CLI, use the delete command with the Send's exact unique id as an argument:

bw send delete <id>

We recommend reading the [Send from CLI]({% link _articles/send/send-cli.md %}) article for complete information on using Send from the CLI.

{% endcapture %} {{ cli_info | markdownify}}