# How to update a page you’ve shared without sending a new link

What readers see when you change a page you’ve shared, and how to make a focused edit. It also covers who changed what, rolling back, and replacing PDFs and decks.

By artifact.guru team. Published 2026-10-04, updated 2026-10-05.

**Short answer:** Every change to an artifact is a new version at the same link, and the link always shows the live one. Ask your agent for exactly the change you want, or edit in the app. Anyone who opens the link afterward sees the update, and someone with the page already open sees it when they reload. The Versions list shows who published each one, and Roll back undoes a change at once without losing anything.

## What “update without a new link” involves

- **What readers see:** the new version, the next time they open the link.
- **How to change it:** a focused edit from your agent, or your own in the app.
- **Who changed what:** the **Versions** list, newest first.
- **How to undo it:** **Roll back**, at the same link.

Three people worked on the launch plan below, one version each. Switch between v1, v2 and v3.

## Three versions, one link

Sample shared document: [Tessel Q4 launch plan](https://artifact.guru/examples/tessel-launch-plan). Switch versions above it to see who changed what.

Dana Whitlock drafted Tessel’s Q4 launch plan with Claude. Sam Okafor then opened it in the browser editor, moved the launch and cut the announcement. Finally, Priya Raman used Codex to add a risk register and widen the rollout stages to 10% and 50%. The link stayed the same throughout.

|  | Version 1 | Version 2 | Version 3 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Made by | Dana, with Claude | Sam, in the editor | Priya, with Codex |
| Launch date | 4 November | 11 November | 11 November |
| Rollout | 5% on 21 Oct, 25% on 28 Oct | 5% on 28 Oct, 25% on 4 Nov | 10% on 28 Oct, 50% on 4 Nov |
| Announcement | First draft, 174 words | Cut to 93 words | Unchanged |
| Risks | None listed | None listed | Risk register added |
| Link | /q4-launch-plan | /q4-launch-plan | /q4-launch-plan |

Each version opens with a “What changed in this version” box. Readers aren’t told about updates, so a note like that, or a line in your message, shows them where to look.

## What readers see when you update

- **The next open shows the new version.** The link always shows whichever version is live.
- **An open tab keeps the old one until it’s reloaded.** Nothing is pushed to pages people already have open.
- **Access stays the same.** The mode, the secret code and the invitations don’t change when the content does.
- **Old chat previews stay.** On a public link, a card a chat app already drew keeps its old title; new messages show the new one.
- **Nobody is notified.** Tell people when a change matters to them.

## Make a focused change

Name what changes and what must not. The more precise the request, the smaller the edit:

- “Move the launch to 11 November and update every date that depends on it. Keep the rest.”
- “Replace the data with the attached CSV and update the date. Don’t change the layout.”

The agent reads the current source, sends only the changed lines and checks a picture of the result. Either the whole edit applies or none of it does. Ask it to sum up the change in a sentence, and that note appears in the Versions list.

To edit it yourself, open the artifact and choose **Edit**. HTML, Markdown, Mermaid and Excalidraw open as source beside a live preview. A React component previews when you save, and a PowerPoint deck opens in a slide editor for text and layout. Saving makes a new live version.

## When two people change it at once

There’s no live co-editing, so changes land one at a time. Agent edits are checked first. If a colleague saved a change after your agent read the file, the agent’s edit is refused instead of overwriting their work. The agent reads the file again, with their change in it, and retries. If Sam had saved while Priya’s agent was working, the risk register would have gone on top of Sam’s version. And every save is its own version, so nothing anyone published is lost.

## See who changed what

Open the artifact and look at **Versions**, beside the preview. Each row shows the version’s number and note, and who published it and when. It also says where the version came from, such as an upload or Claude Code. The live version is marked **LIVE**. Your agent can list the versions and their notes, but who made each one shows only in the app.

## Roll back

1. **Open the artifact** The **Versions** list sits beside the preview, newest first.
2. **Roll back** Choose **Roll back** on the version you want, then confirm.
3. **Done** It’s live at once, at the same link. The newer version is kept.

Or ask: “roll the launch plan back to version 2”. Nothing is deleted, so you can go forward again with **Make live** on the newer version.

## PDFs, decks and images

PDFs, Word files and images are replaced rather than edited. Open the artifact and choose **Upload new version** above the Versions list. Or ask an agent to publish the new file to the same artifact. It has to be one that can upload files, such as Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI or Grok Bot. Either way it becomes the next version, as long as it’s the same kind of file. Dropping it on your workspace instead makes a new artifact with a new link. PowerPoint decks can also be edited in the app. [How to share a PowerPoint, Word file or PDF as a link](https://artifact.guru/blog/share-powerpoint-word-pdf) has more.

## Old versions and storage

Older versions count toward your storage: 250 MB on Free, 10 GB on Individual, and no limit on Team. To delete them for one artifact, use **Delete older versions** in its Versions list. For the whole workspace, use **Settings → Storage**, which also shows what takes the most space. Only versions before the live one go, so after a rollback the newer ones stay. Once deleted, a version can’t be brought back.

## Rename the link

The link name is the last part of the address, such as `/q4-launch-plan`, and can be up to 32 characters. Change it in the artifact’s Share panel, or ask your agent: “give the launch plan the link name live-etas”. Links you already sent keep working and redirect to the new name.

## How this compares with unpublishing in Claude

On artifact.guru, switching to **Private** stops outside access at once. The link, its versions and its views all stay, so you can share it again later.

> **In Claude.** Legacy artifacts are the ones made in a chat before September 16, 2026. On Claude’s Free, Pro and Max plans, a legacy artifact that you publish and then unpublish can’t be published again, and unpublishing deletes its stored data. Claude’s sharing help page doesn’t describe version history. Checked on October 5, 2026.

## When to use something else

- **Writing together.** If several people draft at the same time, a document editor with live co-editing and comments suits that stage. Publish here when it’s ready to share.
- **A frozen record.** Signed terms or a board pack as approved belong in a file nobody can change, kept with your records.
- **Readers who must be told.** If every change needs an alert, send the update yourself, by email or chat, with the link.
- **A line-by-line comparison.** The Versions list shows each version’s note, not a side-by-side view of what changed.

## Limits

- No live co-editing and no comments: changes land one version at a time.
- No refresh pushed to open pages, and no notice to readers.
- Word files, PDFs, images and sites with several files aren’t edited in the app.
- **Upload new version** replaces a single file. A site with several files is replaced from an agent, or uploaded again as a new artifact.
- Deleted older versions can’t be restored.

## Questions

### Do people need to refresh?

Someone who already has the page open sees the new version when they reload. Everyone else gets it the next time they open the link.

### Do people with a secret code need a new one after an update?

No. Updating the content leaves the code alone. Only **New code** replaces it.

### Does rolling back delete the newer version?

No. It stays in the **Versions** list, and **Make live** brings it back.

## Checked

What this article says about other products was checked against their own documentation on 2026-10-05.

- [Claude Help Center: Share artifacts](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9547008-publish-and-share-artifacts)
- [Claude Help Center: What are artifacts and how do I use them?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9487310-what-are-artifacts-and-how-do-i-use-them)

Source: https://artifact.guru/blog/update-without-new-link