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# Accessing your Files Using the ownCloud Web Interface

You can access your ownCloud files with the ownCloud Web interface and create, preview, edit, delete, share, and re-share files. Your ownCloud administrator has the option to disable these features, so if any of them are missing on your system ask your server administrator.

## Folder Permalinks

Click the share icon on any folder to open the details window on the right. At the top next to the file or folder name click the little chain link icon to expose a permalink. You can give this permalink to any users on your ownCloud server that you have shared the file or folder with. The link remains valid even if the file is renamed.

## Tagging Files

You can assign tags to files. To create tags, open a file to the Details view. Then type your tag name. To enter more than one tag press the return key after creating each tag. All tags are system tags, and are shared by all users on your ownCloud server.

Then use the Tags filter on the left sidebar of your Files page to filter files by tags. There are three types of tags:

Visible means that all users may see, rename, and apply these tags to files and folders.

Restricted means tags are assignable and editable only to the user groups have permission to use them. Other users can filter files by restricted tags, but cannot tag files with them or rename them. The tags are marked (restricted).

Invisible means visible only to ownCloud admins.

When you use the Tag filter on your Files page you’ll see something like the following image. If you do not have Admin rights then you will not see any invisible tags.

## Comments

Use the Details view to add and read comments on any file or folder. Comments are visible to everyone who has access to the file.

## Video Player

You can play videos in ownCloud with the Video Player app by simply clicking on the file. Video streaming by the native ownCloud video player depends on your Web browser and the video format. If your ownCloud administrator has enabled video streaming, and it doesn’t work in your Web browser, it may be a browser issue. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Supported_media_formats#Browser_compatibility for supported multimedia formats in Web browsers.

## File Controls

ownCloud can display thumbnail previews for image files, MP3 covers, and text files, if this enabled by your server administrator. Hover your cursor over a file or folder to expose the controls for the following operations:

Favorites
  Click the star to the left of the file icon to mark it as a favorite, and quickly find all of your favorites with the Favorites filter on the left sidebar.

Share
  Share the file or folder with a group or other users, and create public shares with hyperlinks. You can also see who you have shared with already, and revoke shares by clicking the trash can icon.

Note

New in 9.0, you can see all re-shares of your original file shares.

If username auto-completion is enabled, when you start typing the user or group name ownCloud will automatically complete it for you. If your administrator has enabled email notifications, you can send an email notification of the new share from the sharing screen.

You have five share permissions:

- Can share; allows the users you share with to re-share.
- Can edit; allows the users you share with to edit your shared files, and to collaborate using the Documents app.
- Create; allows the users you share with to create new files and add them to the share.
- Change; allows uploading a new version of a shared file and replacing it.
- Delete; allows the users you share with to delete shared files.

Overflow Menu
  The Overflow menu (three dots) displays file details, and allows you to rename, download, or delete files.

The Details view shows Activities, Sharing, and Versions information.

The Settings gear icon at the lower left allows you to show or hide hidden files in your ownCloud Web interface. These are also called dotfiles, because they are prefixed with a dot, e.g. `.mailfile`. The dot tells your operating system to hide these files in your file browsers, unless you choose to display them. Usually these are configuration files, so having the option to hide them reduces clutter.

## Previewing Files

You can display uncompressed text files, OpenDocument files, videos, and image files in the ownCloud embedded viewers by clicking on the file name. There may be other file types you can preview if your ownCloud administrator has enabled them. If ownCloud cannot display a file, it starts a download process and downloads the file to your computer.

## Navigating Inside Your ownCloud

Navigating through folders in ownCloud is as simple as clicking on a folder to open it and using the back button on your browser to move to a previous level. ownCloud also provides a navigation bar at the top of the Files field for quick navigation.

## Sharing Status Icons

Any folder that has been shared is marked with the `Shared` overlay icon. Public link shares are marked with a chain link. Un-shared folders are blank.

If your ownCloud server is the Enterprise edition, you may also have access to Sharepoint and Windows Network Drive file shares. These have special status icons. An icon with a red plugin and background means you have to enter a login to get access to the share.

## Creating or Uploading Files and Directories

Upload or create new files or folders directly in an ownCloud folder by clicking on the New button in the Files app.

The New button provides the following options:

Up arrow
  Upload files from your computer into ownCloud. You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them from your file manager.
Text file
  Creates a new text file and adds the file to your current folder.
Folder
  Creates a new folder in the current folder.

## Selecting Files or Folders

You can select one or more files or folders by clicking on their checkboxes. To select all files in the current directory, click on the checkbox located at the top of the files listing.

When you select multiple files, you can delete all of them, or download them as a ZIP file by using the `Delete` or `Download` buttons that appear at the top.

Note

If the `Download` button is not visible, the administrator has disabled this feature.

## Filtering the Files View

The right sidebar on the Files page contains several filters for quickly sorting and managing your files.

All files
  The default view; displays all files that you have access to.
Favorites
  Files or folders marked with the yellow star.
Shared with you
  Displays all files shared with you by another user or group.
Shared with others
  Displays all files that you have shared with other users or groups.
Shared by link
  Displays all files that are shared by you via public link.
External Storage
  Files that you have access to on external storage devices and services such as Dropbox, Google, and Amazon S3.

## Moving Files

You can move files and folders by dragging and dropping them into any directory.

## Change in Share Expiration Date

In older versions of ownCloud, you could set an expiration date on both local and public shares. Now you can set an expiration date only on public shares, and local shares do not expire when public shares expire. The only way to “expire” a local share is to click the trash can icon to un-share your files.

## Creating or Connecting to a Federation Share Link

Federated Cloud Sharing allows you to mount file shares from remote ownCloud servers, and manage them just like a local share. In ownCloud 8 the process for creating a new sharing link is easier and more streamlined. See Using Federation Shares to learn to how to create and connect to new Federated Cloud shares.

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