Share Link only gives Invited People Only and requires recipient to have Box account

Hi ​@MikeT, 

Welcome to Box Community, and we’d love to help you create an open shared link!

Here are the settings you could check to ensure that people with the link access will be available for your Box file/folder: 

✅Let’s begin with your folder settings, if you see that Only collaborators can access this folder via shared links check box is checked, please un-check it. 

To change folder shared link settings:

1. Right-click (or click the ellipsis (...) on a folder to open the More Options menu.
2. Click Settings to open the Folder Settings page.
3. In the Shared Link Access section, select the Only collaborators can access this folder via shared links check box, and then choose what item types you’d like to restrict access for:
   • Files and Folders (default)
   • Folders Only
   • Files Only
4. Click Save Changes.

✅Next, if it’s disabled and yet you can’t still create a publicly available shared link. Please head over to your Account Settings. To get there, login to the Box website then click your profile at the top right and in the drop down menu select Account Settings> Sharing tab. 

From here, you can control who can access your content through shared links, what the default access for newly created shared links will be, and what permissions link viewers (not invited collaborators) will have for the content they access:
 

To enable open shared link, in the shared links section please make sure that the following are enabled: 

• Allow shared links for ☑ Folders and files
• People who can access shared links ☑ People with the link, people in your company, and people in this folder. 
• Default access for new links ☑ People with the link

✅​​​​​​​Once you have successfully created an open shared link, that’s when you can modify a password-protected shared link.

To apply a password to a shared link:

1. Hover on the file or folder you want to share, then click Share. Box displays the Share window.
2. At the bottom of the Share window, confirm the scope is People with the link.  If the scope is any other value, you cannot add a password to the link.
3. Click Link Settings. Box displays the Shared Link Settings window.
4. In the Shared Link Settings window, check Require Password.
5. In the Enter a password field, type the password.
6. In the bottom of the Shared Link Settings window, click Save.

Notes

• Password protection is a premium feature, unavailable on free personal accounts. Only owners, co-owners, and editors can set this password.
• If you create a password-protected shared link to a folder, Box Notes in that folder may be inaccessible.

In reference to the details above, please feel free to visit these articles: 

• Folder and Account Sharing Settings
• Configuring Individual Shared Link Settings

Hope it helps, and please let us know if you have questions.