Last updated: April 15, 2019
Principle 4 of Mozilla’s manifesto states, “Individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional.” In keeping committed to that principle, today Mozilla graduated one of its popular Test Pilot experiments called Firefox Send. First and foremost, Send lets users share files with end-to-end encryption. But there is more to it than that when you use Firefox Send. Lots more.
Mozilla earns its trust through an ongoing commitment to building a healthy open internet. The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization best known for supporting the development of Firefox and Thunderbird. Since its establishment in 2003, the belief that “the internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible to all” has guided Mozilla and its work. Mozilla develops Firefox Send and makes the service available through its firefox.com top-level domain.
Firefox Send is free and easy
Some trusted third parties who offer file-sharing services, like Dropbox, may require both sharing parties to have an account. Additionally, access to premium features offered by such services may require a fee. Firefox Send is available to all users for free, and without any need for registration to share files up to 1GB in size. To send up to 2.5GB for free, Mozilla requires you to create a Firefox account. A Firefox account also lets users share files with more people, manage files from any of your devices, and keep file sharing links active for longer time periods.
Firefox Send is not a browser extension, and not made just for Firefox users. Access the Send website to share files from a web browser of your choice. No matter whether your preferred browser is Vivaldi, Brave, Opera, or Safari, access to the Send website is still free. When you share files, Send generates a unique self-destructing link and presents it to you. Copy the link and provide it to your intended recipient by text or email. The recipient clicks the link and downloads the shared files using any browser. See the steps below for details.
How to use Firefox Send
Step 1. Visit the Firefox Send website.
Step 2. Add files to share by drag-and-dropping them into the box, or clicking the Select files to upload button.
Step 3. Set an expiration limit (from 1 to 100 downloads) and time (from 5 minutes to 7 days) for access to the shared files.
Step 4. Check the box to set a password for access to the shared files (optional)
Step 5. Click the Upload button.
Step 6. Copy the file sharing link, and share it with your intended recipient.
Step 7. The recipient visits the link and clicks the Download button to download the files to their device.
Once the file-sharing link reaches the download limit or time limit, a user will see a message that This link has expired.
Thank you for visiting Tech Help Knowledgebase to learn how to use Firefox Send for free encrypted file sharing.
Henry Irvine, Contributing Technology Writer, translates more than a decade of internet technology experience in product and customer relationship management into practical help and how-to content. Look for him on Bay Area trails, music venues, or sausage shacks when he’s not writing. Don’t call him Hank if you see him. Seriously. Hank on Twitter
