Sharing projects

Share a Vesta Online project with a colleague by email, choose whether they can only view it or also save a copy, and remove access when you are done.

Online4 min readUpdated Nov 2026

Sharing gives other people read-only access to a project you own, one address at a time. You identify them by email address. An address with a Vesta account gets access you can set to Can view or Can duplicate; an address without one gets a read-only link. Every step below was run on Vesta Online; the screenshots come from that run, with account email addresses covered.

Create a projectOnly the owner of a project can share it. To try this with a new project, open the Projects page, choose New Project, type a name in the Project name box and choose Create. The new project appears in the list, selected.
Open ShareOn the project's row, open the More actions menu and choose Share…. The Share project dialog opens with an Invite by email field, an access level and a People with access list that shows you as the Owner. The owner row shows your name, or the word You when Vesta has no name for you; it never shows your email address.
Enter an address and pick accessType one email address. The access level starts on Can duplicate; the other choice is Can view. When the address belongs to a Vesta account, a line under the field says so: valid Vesta account, will get access.
Choose ShareChoose Share. The person appears under People with access with their own access picker, and a line below the list confirms what you shared and at which level (Can duplicate, unless you changed it).
Change a person's accessUse the access picker on their row to switch between Can view and Can duplicate. The change is saved at once; close and reopen the dialog to see it kept. In the walk the row was switched from Can duplicate to Can view.
Remove accessChoose the x on their row (its tooltip is Remove access). The row disappears. Choose Done to close the dialog.

What you should see

The project list

The Projects page with the new project W6 docs sharing walk selected in the list — The new project is selected in the list. The foot of the left panel shows how much storage is used.

The More actions menu on the project row, listing Open, Rename, Move to folder, Share, Duplicate, Download and Delete — Share… is in the row's More actions menu. The row also has a share icon beside the history icon.

The Share project dialog with an empty Invite by email field, Can duplicate selected, a read-only note and the owner row covered — The dialog before anyone is invited. Your own row is the only one under People with access; the email address on it is covered here.

An address with no account

The Share project dialog with an address entered that has no Vesta account: the line reads No Vesta account for that email, the access level is locked and a note explains the read-only link — The address is covered. The line under the field says there is no account, the access level is locked, and the note explains what Share sends. The walk typed a made-up address and did not choose Share.

An address that has an account

The Share project dialog with an address entered, the access level on Can duplicate and a line saying valid Vesta account, will get access — The line under the field confirms the address belongs to a Vesta account. The address itself is covered here.

The Share project dialog with a second person under People with access, set to Can duplicate — The person is listed with an access picker and a remove button. Names, addresses and the confirmation line are covered here.

Changing the level

The Share project dialog reopened, with the person's access picker showing Can view — The level change is kept when the dialog is reopened.

After removing access

The Share project dialog with only the owner row under People with access — Only you remain under People with access.

What each access level allows

For an address with no Vesta account, the dialog reads “No Vesta account for that email.” and locks the access level. Share then sends a read-only link instead of a grant: anyone with the link can view the project’s maps, charts and summaries without signing in, but cannot edit, export or use the Advisor. The dialog also gives you a Copy link button, and the link’s row has a button to revoke it. This walk did not choose Share for such an address, so it did not show the link being sent or opened; those details come from the dialog’s own text.

Access	What the person can do
Can view	Open the project. Account holders find it under Shared with me in their cloud projects.
Can duplicate	Everything Can view allows, and save their own copy of the project.
Owner (you)	Share the project, change a person's level and remove access.

Sharing is read-only at both levels. The dialog’s own note says so, and nobody you share with can change your project.

Limits

You share with one address at a time. Sharing again with someone who already has access is refused with “Already shared with that user.”; change their level from their row instead.
An address with no Vesta account is not an error: it gets a read-only link, always at view level. Only an older client that does not ask for a link gets the answer “User not found.” for such an address.
An address that is not shaped like an email gets “Enter a valid email address.” under the field, and Share stays off.
This walk did not show Vesta Online sending the person a message, so tell them the project is there.
A copy someone saves is their own project: it counts against their storage, not yours. Removing their access later removes only the share, so a copy they already made stays with them.
This page shows the owner’s side only. It does not show what the person you shared with sees on their Projects page.

Storage

The foot of the Projects page’s left panel shows your storage, for example “… of 5 GB used”. Five gigabytes is the default allowance, and it can differ by account. A project shared with you counts against its owner, not you.

Where next

Start a project: Quickstart.
Bring in data to share: Importing data.

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