---
source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/sdks/rest-api/file-sharing-introduction
title: File sharing introduction
---

# File sharing introduction

> For AI agents: documentation index at https://www.pubnub.com/llms-full.txt

Allows users to upload and share files. You can upload any file of up to 5 MB in size. This feature is commonly used in social apps to share images, or in medical apps to share medical records for patients.

When a file is uploaded on a channel, it's stored and managed using a storage service, and associated with your key. Subscribers to that channel receive a file event which contains a file ID, filename, and optional description.

### Sending files

Sending a file is a two-step operation:

1. Generate an upload request
2. Upload the file using that URL and request body

### Retrieving files

Retrieving a file is also a two-step operation:

1. Request a download URL with a file name and its associated ID
2. Download the file using the returned 307 redirect to a time-limited download URL For more information, refer to [File Sharing](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/data-storage/files/overview.md).