Hi ​@jamcc, 

Welcome to Box Community, and happy to help with your shared link access. 

Creating your own Box account alone does not grant access to a password-protected or restricted shared link. You will need the password or proper permissions from the sender. For uploading without an account, request a File Request link from the agency.

To explain further, here is what likely happened and how to resolve it:

1. The link you received from the outside agency was probably a shared link with password protection enabled. To access such a link, you need the password set by the sender; you cannot create your own password for that link. 

2. Creating your own Box account does not automatically grant access to the shared link if the link requires a password or specific permissions. Also, some shared links require you to log in with the account the file was shared with, especially if the link access level is restricted to “People in my Company” or collaborators only. 

3. If you are unable to access the link after creating your own Box account, it may be because:

   • You are logged into a different Box account than the one the link was shared with.
   • The link requires a password set by the sender, which you do not have.
   • The link’s access permissions restrict access to certain users or domains.

4. Since you do not want a personal Box account but just need to upload documents via the link, consider these steps:

   • Contact the agency who sent you the link and ask them for the correct password for the shared link.
   • Confirm with them whether you need to use a specific Box account email to access the link.
   • If the link requires login, ensure you log in with the exact Box account email address the link was shared with.
   • If you do not have a Box account associated with that email, ask if they can enable anonymous uploads or provide a File Request link instead, which allows uploading without a Box account. 
   • If you created a Box account but it’s causing confusion, try logging out and accessing the link without signing in, or clear browser cookies/cache before trying again.

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