How to Switch to a Client Portal

Switching your client files from WeTransfer, Dropbox Business, or ShareFile to a branded portal takes about one day of actual work. The steps: export your existing files, set up your portal account, recreate your folder structure for active clients, and send a short email telling people where to go next. No automatic migration tool exists for these services -- but most firms finish in a weekend.

What These Tools Were Not Built For

WeTransfer was built for one-time transfers, not persistent client relationships. Dropbox Business gives every client a Dropbox-branded experience, not yours. ShareFile charges per staff seat -- a 5-person firm managing 50 active clients pays for those 5 seats regardless of how busy any given client is that month.

• Links expire after 7 or 30 days, locking clients out of documents they need to reference later
• No reliable audit trail: you cannot see who downloaded what, or when
• The client experience carries the branding of the file tool, not your firm
• Per-seat pricing penalizes firm growth: each new staff member costs more regardless of how many client files they touch
• No per-client access controls: giving one client access to only their own folder requires workarounds that break down at scale

For a side-by-side comparison by vertical, see WeTransfer alternatives for agencies and ShareFile alternatives for accountants -- both in the Alternatives collection.

What You Need Before You Start

Before you migrate, gather these five things. Having them ready turns a two-day project into a single focused session.

You can do all these tasks with our MCP using Claude, ChatGPT or any other AI.

• A list of active clients: name, email, and which files or folders they need access to right now
• Your existing files exported or downloaded from the current service (the checklist below covers how for each tool)
• A ProjectSend Cloud account -- Free starts in 30 seconds; Pro unlocks client accounts and your logo
• A note of your current folder structure so you can replicate it (one folder per client is the cleanest setup)
• A short handoff email for clients on switch day (template in the next section)

Migration Checklist: 7 Steps

Work through these in order. Steps 1 through 3 happen before your clients know anything has changed.

1. Export and back up your files -- WeTransfer: redownload each file before its link expires. Dropbox Business: use the desktop app or download folders from your account on the web. ShareFile: go to Account Admin, select Data Export, and download a ZIP of your entire file library. Do this before you cancel or deprovision anything.
2. Create your portal account -- Sign up at projectsend.cloud. On Free you get a shared space with 2 GB and one private link per file. On Pro you get your own portal with your logo, 25 included active client accounts, and 100 GB. The how-it-works section on the home page walks you through the first login.
3. Build your folder structure -- Create one folder or client account per active client, named the same way you do today. Matching the existing naming makes the transition feel natural for your team.
4. Upload client files -- Start with files active clients need right now. You can upload in bulk by ZIP or folder by folder. Leave completed-project archives for a second pass after the main migration.
5. Invite clients (Pro and Business) -- On Pro and Business, each client gets a named account on your portal and receives an email invitation to set their password. They see only their own folder. Clients never pay.
6. Send the handoff email -- Let clients know where to go and that old links will stay live for 30 days. See the template in the next section.
7. Keep the old service live for 30 days -- Do not cancel WeTransfer, Dropbox, or ShareFile on switch day. Clients may have bookmarked old links or have downloads in progress. After 30 days, archive or cancel.

If You Already Run Self-Hosted ProjectSend

This guide covers migrations from third-party services. If your files live on a self-hosted ProjectSend instance, the process is different and faster: the team migrates you for free in under 48 hours because the database format is the same. There is a dedicated guide for that case: Migrate ProjectSend to Cloud.

How to Tell Your Clients

The handoff email does not need to be long. Most clients will not care why you changed tools -- they just need to know where to go. A good handoff message has three parts:

1. What changed and why: "We have moved our file-sharing to a dedicated portal. This gives you a permanent space to access all the documents we share -- no more expiring links."
2. Where to go: "Your portal is at [link]. Your username is [email]. Click the link in your invitation email to set your password."
3. The overlap window: "Your old [WeTransfer / Dropbox / ShareFile] links will keep working for the next 30 days while we finish the transition."

If you email clients regularly, add a one-line note to your signature for the first 30 days: "New file portal: [your portal link]." Most clients check their portal within a few days of the invitation.

Data Security During the Switch

Moving client data is a good time to review your data-handling practices. The FTC Safeguards Rule -- extended to non-banking financial institutions including accounting firms and tax preparers as of June 2023 -- requires covered businesses to implement a written information security program covering how customer data is stored, handled, and transmitted. If you are subject to the rule, a tool migration is a named event your security plan should address.

For tax preparers specifically, IRS Publication 4557, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, asks every preparer to have a Written Information Security Plan (WISP) that addresses how client documents are shared. Switching to a portal that logs every download by client name and date is a concrete step toward meeting that requirement -- and one you can point to in a review.

Your First Month: Running Both Systems

Running both the old service and your new portal in parallel for 30 days is the single thing that makes migrations go smoothly. The overlap absorbs the clients who ignore the first email.

• Keep the old service active for 30 days after the handoff email
• Route all new file requests through the portal only -- do not go back to WeTransfer for convenience, or clients will stop checking the portal
• At day 30, check for clients who have not yet logged in and send one final nudge before you cancel the old service
• Cancel the old service once all active-project files have been accessed through the portal at least once