Share a Data Room Link
Share a Peony data room securely with counterparties. Why one link per viewer beats one link for everyone.
Last updated September 27, 2026
Open the Permissions tab in your data room, copy a group's access link, and send it via email, Slack, or LinkedIn. Recipients open it in any browser — no Peony account required.
The most important decision: one link per investor, not one link for everyone.
Sharing a data room is covered in three pages. Share your data room is the whole flow, start to finish. Invite visitors covers email invitations: adding people, the invitation email, resending and removing someone. Set email, password or link access covers the two access modes and every security control.
- Create a group
- Choose who gets in
- Set what they can do
- Send it
1. Create a Group
Click Permissions in the data room sidebar. There is no default group: the empty state reads Create a new group to share your data room, with a Create new group button. Each group is one audience with its own link, its own security and its own visitors, so create one per counterparty (see Why one link per investor below).
2. Choose Who Gets In
Step 1 of the wizard, Visitors, asks for a Group name and an Access mode:
- Email access — you list each person (or a whole domain) and Peony emails each of them an invitation. Everyone else is blocked. Best for deals with named counterparties. Step by step: Invite visitors.
- Link access — Peony makes one link and you send it yourself. Anyone with the link can try it, so add email gating to know who opened. Details: Link access.
Not sure which? See Email access vs Link access.
3. Set What They Can Do
Step 2, Document permissions, sets No access / View / Download / Upload per folder and file for this group. Then open the group's Security tab for the controls: email-gated access, password, expiry, dynamic watermark, one-click NDA, screenshot protection, access questions, AI document Q&A and appearance.
- Every control, and which plan it needs: Set email, password or link access.
- The permission table in depth: Set view, download and upload permissions.
Click Save at the bottom right when you're done. Nothing applies until you save.
4. Send It
- Email access: the invitations go out when you save. Nothing else to send. To send them again, see Resend an invite.
- Link access: click Copy access link next to the group and paste it into your email, Slack or LinkedIn.
Recipients open it in any browser. They never need a Peony account.
Why One Link Per Investor
Share one link with two investors and you lose the ability to tell them apart in analytics. Both show up with whatever email they entered.
One link per investor gets you:
- Per-investor watermarks (carries their email, not a generic one)
- Per-investor analytics — pages read, dwell time, click order
- Per-investor revocation without affecting others
- Per-investor settings — NDA gate for one, not another
Name each group after the counterparty. If a group still shows a template name, open it, edit the Group name under Visitors, and Save (bottom right) — the visitor-facing name is edited under Visitors, not in the room's Settings tab.
Sharing one room with several bidders? See how many groups to create.
New Room vs New Link?
Create a new room when the deal or audience is different:
| Situation | Do this |
|---|---|
| New fundraising round | New room (keeps analytics clean) |
| Different buyer for the same sell-side deal | Same room, new link |
| Different sector investors, same pitch deck | Same room, new link |
| Different client, different engagement | New room |
Rule of thumb: one room per deal, one link per counterparty.
When a Link Breaks
If a recipient reports "link not found," it was regenerated or deleted after you sent it. Generate a fresh link and resend.
If the invite email never arrived on an Email access group, resend it or send the link yourself — see Resend an invite and When the invite doesn't arrive.
Common Mistakes
- One link to a group email alias. Zero per-person analytics. Create individual groups instead.
- Leaving downloads on for sensitive content. By default a group can download. Turn downloads off before sharing. Download prevention is a Business feature — on Free the Allow downloads toggle shows a "Requires Business plan" badge.
- Relying only on the watermark. Combine with downloads off, screenshot protection, and an NDA gate. Dynamic watermark and Screenshield are Data Room tier. See Access Control Layers.
- Regenerating the link after sending. The old URL stops working. Decide settings before you send.
- Switching a group's access mode after adding people. Toggling a group between Email access and Link access can drop the emails you already entered. Pick the access mode first, then add visitors.
Common Questions
How long do free-tier links last?
Free includes a demo data room that is shareable for 3 days only, and its analytics expire with it. A real, persistent data room needs Business or above.
Can I extend or change a live room's link expiry?
Yes, on any plan. Open the group, adjust the expiry under Security, and Save. If that shows an upgrade prompt, a higher-tier control is on in the same group: see the security controls.