A secure link stops working for one of three reasons: its time ran out, its views were used up, or the link itself arrived damaged.

None of the three can be repaired. Every one of them is fixed the same way, by creating a new link.

Working out which it was still matters, because two of the three tell you something about how the last one was handled.

Symptom

The recipient opens the link and gets nothing, or a message that it is no longer available.

Or they say the address looks wrong or incomplete.

Cause

Time is the commonest. A link created with a short lifetime and sent at the end of a day is often opened after it has expired.

Views are the second. A view is only spent when somebody clicks to reveal the secret, so a link that arrived and was opened is not necessarily spent, and a spent one means somebody revealed it.

Damage in transit is the third. A long address broken across two lines, or shortened by a chat client, no longer resolves.

Fix

1. Ask the recipient what they saw, and whether the address wrapped onto two lines.
2. Create a new link with the secret.
3. Give it a longer lifetime, or more than one view, if the last one was consumed before it arrived.
4. Send it and tell the recipient it is coming, so it is opened promptly.

Sending the link in a way that does not break long addresses is worth the small effort.

If something doesn’t look right

If a link is spent before the recipient says they used it, somebody else revealed the secret. Treat it as disclosed and change it rather than sending another.

If the recipient opened it once and needs it again, that is what the view count is for. A spent link cannot be reopened by anybody.

If the address looks truncated, send it in a way that keeps it intact rather than pasting it into a message that wraps.

To report a problem, open a support conversation from the Help drawer with the client, roughly when you created the link, and what the recipient saw.

FAQ

Q: Can I extend or reset a link?

A: No. Create a new one.

Q: Can I see whether it was opened?

A: The view count is what governs it. A spent link has been opened.

Q: Why did it stop working before they opened it?

A: If it expired, give the next one longer. If the views were spent, somebody revealed it.