Share a link from iCloud Drive
The file needs to be in iCloud Drive. Open a Finder window, click iCloud Drive in the sidebar, select the file or folder, then click the Share button. You can also Control-click it and choose Share.
Choose Collaborate from the pop-up menu. Click the line under it to set who can open it: under Who can access, choose Anyone with the link, and under Participants, choose Can view only if they shouldn’t change it. Then send the invitation with AirDrop, Mail or Messages, or copy a link to it.
To copy the link again later, Control-click the item in iCloud Drive and choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder, then click Copy Link.
Stop sharing it
Control-click the item, choose Manage Shared File or Manage Shared Folder, then click Stop Sharing. Moving it out of iCloud Drive or deleting it stops sharing too. Anyone who already saved a copy keeps that copy.
Send it with Mail Drop
Mail Drop uploads large attachments to iCloud, so the email carries a link instead of the file. Attach the file as usual and click Send. With an iCloud email account, Mail uses Mail Drop by itself; with another provider, Mail asks first.
Each attachment can be up to 5 GB, and a message with its attachments can’t be larger than that. A folder needs to be compressed first. The recipient has 30 days to download it, and it doesn’t count against your iCloud storage.
To turn it on or off, choose Mail › Settings, click Accounts, select the account, click Account Information, then select or deselect Send large attachments with Mail Drop.
Copy a 3-day link from the notch, with Tilora
With Tilora, drag the files to the top of the screen and let go on the Shelf. Choose them, click Share… and then Copy Link for 3 Days. Anyone can download from the link, with no account. It stops working after three days.
A link holds up to 25 files of 100 MB each, 1 GB in all. More about the file shelf. Tilora is $9.99 once, for three Macs, and free for 7 days. It needs macOS 14 or later.
Questions
Who can open an iCloud Drive link?
If you chose Anyone with the link, anyone who has it. If you chose Only invited people, only the people you invited.
How long does a Mail Drop link last?
30 days. After that the attachment expires.