Reed College
Reed College

Help Desk

Information Technology

File Robot at Reed

File Robot allows users at Reed to share or receive very large files (up to 2GB) with others, including those outside of the college. Generally, this is useful for files too large to send via email, for group collaboration, research, etc. File Robot is designed for short-term sharing as files are automatically deleted after 14 days. There are several sharing options with File Robot:

  1. Share with a specific Reed community member (submit the file to that user's File Robot).
  2. Share with anyone at Reed (requires a Reed login to download the file).
  3. Share with anyone who knows the passphrase (this passphrase is automatically generated by File Robot and must be entered by the user in order to download it).

Once a file has been submitted to your File Robot, you will receive an email notification and the file will be available to download for 14 days. Every Reed community member's File Robot is unlocked by default, allowing others to submit files to it. At any time, you can lock or relock your File Robot. 

Note: Uploading to File Robot seems to work best with Safari and Chrome browsers. Firefox may experience trouble trying to upload files larger than 100MB.

Sharing Files Using File Robot

  1. Log into https://filerobot.reed.edu with your Reed credentials.
  2. Click on the link that says Share Files.
    share a file
  3. Upload the file you want to share under Share Files > Upload.
  4. Choose who you want to share it with by selecting one of the listed options: Anyone (including users outside of Reed), Anyone at Reed (requires a Reed login), or Anyone who knows the passphrase (users will need to enter the randomly generated passphrase in order to download the file).

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  5. Click Begin Upload. A confirmation page will appear when it has finished. Click Continue.
  6. A link to the file you shared will be on the next page. That link can be given to anyone (Reed users and users outside Reed, depending on the sharing option) so they can access the files. If a passphrase is required, you will need to distribute that information to the recipient. For best security practice, do not share the URL and the passphrase in the same communication.

Uploading Files to a Reed User's File Robot

  1. Log into https://filerobot.reed.edu with your Reed credentials.
  2. Click on the search bar located near the bottom left.
    FileRobotSharing.png
  3. Enter the name of the Reedie's File Robot you want to find in the search bar and then select the user. Note that this will only show Reed Community Members.
  4. On the next page follow the instructions to upload a file and hit Start Upload to send!
    The upload page

  5. The user will receive an email alerting them that a file has been submitted to their File Robot, which will include a link allowing them to download the submitted file(s).

Receiving Files from Non-Community Members

In order for people outside of the Reed community to send you files, they need the direct link to your File Robot. 

  1. Log into https://filerobot.reed.edu with your Reed credentials.
  2. You will see a link in the main box with options to copy or turn off.File Robot page for personal URL
  3. To allow someone to send you a file, give them this link. As long as your File Robot is turned on, they will be able to visit your page and drop off files for you. 
  4. To download files sent to you by either community members or people with your URL, log into your file robot and click the download icon next to the file name.

Download button

Turn Off Your File Robot to Prevent Uploads

You can turn off your File Robot to prevent others from uploading files.
  1. Login into https://filerobot.reed.edu with your Reed credentials.
  2. Click on the link that says Turn Off.      Turning off Sharing
  3. Your File Robot is now be locked and users will be unable to submit files.