Let guests download, with a password
Guest downloads are switched off by default. Turn them on and anyone with the album link can take the whole album as a ZIP; add a password and they need that as well.
A guest ZIP is not the same as yours. It contains only what is visible in the album, and voice notes only if you have left both voice switches on.
Off until you say otherwise
A new album lets guests look but not take. That is deliberate: viewing a picture and holding a copy of the original file are different things, and the second one is a decision the host should make on purpose rather than by omission.
Switching it on takes 1 toggle and applies to everyone holding the link, immediately.
- Switch guest downloads on. It sits with the event, next to the album settings. Off is the default.
- Set a password if you want one. It gates downloading only. Viewing the album is a separate password.
- Tell guests it exists. Nobody looks for a download they were not told about.
What a guest actually gets
Only what the album shows them: contributions that are approved, prepared and not hidden. Anything you took out of the shared album stays out of the guest ZIP too, which is the point — otherwise the download would hand back exactly what you had just removed.
Your own export is untouched by all of this. You always keep everything.
| Contains | Your export | Guest ZIP |
|---|---|---|
| Approved contributions | Yes | Yes |
| Items you hid | Yes | No |
| Items awaiting review | No | No |
| Voice notes | Yes | Only if both voice switches are on |
The guest ZIP is a subset of yours, never the other way round.
Voice notes are a separate decision
There are 2 switches for voice: whether they appear in the album at all, and whether guests may download them. Either one being off keeps them out of the guest ZIP. A recorded message is more personal than a photograph, and it is reasonable to show it without handing out copies.
Both are on by default, so if you want them out you have to say so.
What the password does
It sits in front of downloading, and only that. Guests can still open the album and look; the password is what they need to take the files. It is separate from any password you may have put in front of viewing.
That combination is the useful middle ground: an open album for everyone, and the originals only for the people you gave the word to.
It needs a paid plan
Original-quality downloads belong to the paid tiers, and the guest download is one of them. On the free tier the switch has nothing to give: the server refuses rather than handing over reduced copies.
So this is a decision to make alongside the plan, not after the party.
Say that it exists
A download nobody knows about is not used. Put it in the message you send the next morning: the album is open, and you can take the pictures. That 1 line is what turns the switch into something people actually use.
If you set a password, send it in the same message rather than separately. A second message is 1 too many.
Common questions
Are guest downloads on by default?
No. They are off until you switch them on for the event.
Do guests get the items I hid?
No. The guest ZIP contains only what the album shows.
Are voice notes included?
Only if both the album-visibility and the guest-download switch for voice are on.
Is the download password the same as the album password?
No. One gates viewing, the other gates downloading, and you can use either or both.
Does this work on the free tier?
No. Original-quality downloads are part of the paid plans.
Still open? Contact
Download everything
Your own export, and how it differs.
Publish or hide the album
The other password, the one for looking.
Hide or delete uploads
Why hidden items stay out of the guest ZIP.
A guest album for a wedding
Let everyone take the day home with them.
A guest cannot download
Send us the album name and your plan. The switch, the password and the plan cover it between them.