Documents you upload to Practice Better are private by default. Sharing is how you grant clients access to view and download files in their Client Portal. You can share files during upload or at any time after, with a single client, a group, or your entire client base.
In this article:
- Before You Share
- Sharing Files During Upload
- Sharing Files or Folders After Upload
- Sharing Multiple Files at Once
- Sharing Files or Folders with All Clients
- Understanding Folder vs. File Sharing Settings
- Managing Sharing Settings
- Understanding Sharing Status
Before You Share
Before sharing documents with a client, confirm the following:
-
You have at least one document uploaded. Files need to exist in Practice Better before they can be shared. Learn more about Uploading, Managing, and Organizing Documents →
- Your client has an active Client Portal. Clients access shared documents through their Client Portal. If your client hasn't activated their portal yet, send them an invitation from their client record. They'll follow the steps in the invitation email to activate their account. Learn more about Inviting Clients to the Client Portal →
📍 Note: Sharing always grants both view and download access. Practice Better does not offer view-only permissions.
Sharing During Upload
You can share files with clients as part of the upload process. The sharing options available depend on where you start your upload.
Learn more about Uploading, Managing, and Organizing Documents →
Sharing from My Documents or a Custom Folder
When uploading from My Documents or any custom folder you've created, you'll see a File Sharing section on the upload page with the following options in a dropdown:
- Private (not shared): The file is visible only to you. This is the default selection.
- Share files with all clients: All clients with access to the Client Portal will have access to the selected file(s).
- Share files with specific clients: Displays a scrollable client list with checkboxes. Select individual clients or tag groups to share with.
📍 Note: Sharing with a client tag is a static selection. It targets clients assigned to that tag at the time of sharing. If a new client is added to that tag later, they won't automatically receive access. You'll need to update the sharing settings manually to include them.
Sharing from a Client's Folder
When uploading from within a specific client's folder, the File Sharing dropdown is scoped to that client only:
- Private (not shared): The file is visible only to you.
- Share files with client: The file is shared with this client.
✅ All set: If you don't share during upload, you can always share the file later using the Manage Sharing Settings option.
Sharing Files or Folders After Upload
You can share any uploaded file or folder with clients at any time using the Manage Sharing Settings option.
- Click once to select the file or folder you want to share.
- Click the Manage Sharing Settings icon (the people icon) in the action toolbar.
- In the popup, select an option from the Share with... dropdown:
- Private (not shared): File remains visible only to you.
- Share files with all clients: All clients with Client Portal access can view and download this file.
-
Share files with specific clients: Select individual clients or tag groups from the scrollable list.
- Click the Update button in the pop-up.
Your client will receive a notification that files have been shared with them, based on their notification preferences →
📍 Note: Sharing with a client tag is a static selection. Clients added to that tag after sharing will not automatically receive access. Update the sharing settings manually to include them.
Sharing Multiple Files at Once
You can share several files with one or more clients simultaneously.
Using Select Multiple:
- Click the Select multiple button in the top-right corner.
- Check the boxes next to the files you want to share.
- Click the Manage Sharing Settings icon in the toolbar.
- Select your sharing option from the Share with... dropdown.
- Click Update.
Using keyboard shortcuts:
- Click once on a file to select it.
- Hold Shift and click a second file. You can release Shift once at least two files are selected, and click the checkboxes beside files to select more.
- Click the Manage Sharing Settings icon.
- Select your sharing option and click Update.
⚠️ Important: If the files you select have different existing sharing settings, all current settings will be reset and overwritten when you click Update. The new settings you choose will apply to all selected files.
Sharing Files or Folders with All Clients
Sharing a file with all clients makes it available to every client who has access to the Client Portal, including clients you add in the future.
- Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want to share.
- Click the Manage Sharing Settings icon.
- Select Share files with all clients from the Share with... dropdown.
- Click Update.
📍 Note: All clients with access to the Client Portal will have access to the selected file(s).
Understanding Folder vs. File Sharing Settings
Folder-level and file-level sharing settings work independently, giving you precise control over what each client can see.
- Sharing a folder makes it visible to the selected clients and shares the files it already contains.
- Each file within a folder can have its own sharing settings that differ from the folder's settings.
- Changing a folder's sharing settings after the fact will affect the individual files already inside it.
This means you can share a "Client Handouts" folder with all clients while keeping specific files within it private or limited to select individuals.
💡 Tip: Think of folder sharing as controlling the visibility of the folder structure, and file sharing as controlling access to the content inside. Managing both gives you the most flexibility.
Managing Sharing Settings
You have full control over shared files and can update access at any time.
Unsharing a Document
- Select the file using the Select multiple button or by clicking once.
- Click the Manage Sharing Settings icon.
- Select Private (not shared) from the Share with... dropdown, or uncheck individual clients you want to remove.
- Click Update.
⚠️ Important: If you delete a shared document from your Documents section, it will also be deleted from your client's view. Clients will lose access to that file immediately.
Sharing with Additional Clients
To extend access to more clients after initial sharing:
- Select the files using the Select multiple button.
- Click Share with more clients in the top-right corner.
- Select the additional clients or tag groups and click Update.
Understanding Sharing Status
Practice Better makes it easy to see the sharing status of any file at a glance.
Shared icon: Files currently shared with one or more clients display a people icon next to their name in the documents list.
Details panel: Click once on any file to open the Details panel on the right side of your screen.
The panel shows:
- Clickable action items: View, Download, Edit, Manage Sharing, Move, Fax to, and Delete.
- File name, type, size, creation date, and last modified date
- Sharing status, including:
- "Shared with [all clients] on [date]"
- Individual client names and when the file was first shared with them
💡 Tip: Clients can also see creation and modification dates for files shared with them. When they click on a document in their portal, a similar Details panel displays the file information on their end.
If you're on a Team Plan, document sharing includes additional collaboration features. Learn more about Viewing Shared Documents on the Team Plan →