Content Delivery
A Content Delivery in Salesforce is a trackable URL generated for a document stored in Salesforce CRM Content (the older document management system) so the document can be shared with an external recipient who does not have a Salesforce login.
Definition
A Content Delivery in Salesforce is a trackable URL generated for a document stored in Salesforce CRM Content (the older document management system) so the document can be shared with an external recipient who does not have a Salesforce login. Each delivery records views, downloads, and the date the recipient last opened the link, giving the sender visibility into how the content is consumed.
Salesforce introduced Content Delivery alongside Salesforce CRM Content in 2008 as a structured way to share sales collateral with prospects while tracking engagement. The delivery URL can be password-protected, set to expire on a specific date, restricted to download-only or view-only, and re-issued if the recipient loses the link. The feature still works in modern orgs, but newer document-tracking tools like DocSend, PathFactory, Highspot, Seismic, and Salesforce Files (with its own sharing model) have eclipsed it for most sales-enablement use cases.
How Content Delivery works in Salesforce CRM Content
The ContentDelivery object and its fields
Each delivery is a record on the ContentDelivery standard object. Fields include Name, ContentDocumentId or ContentVersionId (the document being shared), Delivery URL, Expires, Password Required, View Count, Download Count, Last Viewed Date, and a few permission-related fields. The object is queryable through SOQL and reportable like any other object, so sales operations can build delivery-engagement dashboards.
Creating a Content Delivery
From a Content Document in Salesforce CRM Content, the user clicks Deliver Content (or a similar action depending on the UI). A dialog asks for the recipient name, delivery name, expiration date, password requirements, and view vs download permission. Saving generates a unique delivery URL that the sender can email to the recipient.
What the recipient sees
The recipient clicks the URL and lands on a Salesforce-hosted page with the document. They never see the Salesforce UI; the page is a branded delivery wrapper. If a password is required, they enter it before viewing. They can view in browser or download depending on the delivery permissions. Salesforce records each view and download event with timestamp.
Tracking and reporting on deliveries
Sales reps see view and download counts on the delivery record. Sales operations can build reports on the ContentDelivery object grouped by user (which reps share the most), by document (which content is most-shared), or by recipient domain (which prospect organizations engage). This was the original Salesforce sales-enablement analytics layer.
Password protection and expiration
Delivery URLs can be password-protected with a per-delivery password, set to expire on a specific date, and restricted to a specific number of views. Sensitive material (pricing, NDA-bound documents) typically uses all three settings. Expired or password-failed deliveries log the attempt without serving the document.
Limitations vs modern alternatives
Content Delivery has hard limits: 25 MB per file, 1000 deliveries per user per 24 hours, no in-document analytics (page-level or section-level engagement), no annotation or comment threads, and a Salesforce-hosted wrapper that cannot be customized beyond minimal branding. Modern alternatives like DocSend, PathFactory, and Highspot offer page-level analytics, in-document chat, AI-driven content recommendations, and richer brand customization. The gap is significant for sales-enablement-mature orgs.
Where Content Delivery still fits in 2026
For orgs that already use Salesforce CRM Content and have not invested in a separate sales-enablement tool, Content Delivery is the path-of-least-resistance way to share documents with external prospects. It is free in Sales Cloud Professional and above, requires no extra package installation, and works in both Classic and Lightning Experience. For any org that has DocSend, Highspot, Seismic, or PathFactory deployed, those tools cover the use case better.
How to create and track a Content Delivery
Creating a delivery takes three clicks from a Content Document. The configuration choices (expiration, password, permissions) matter most for sensitive material.
- Enable Content Deliveries in Setup
Setup, Salesforce CRM Content, Settings. Check Enable Content Deliveries. The default is off in many orgs even when CRM Content itself is on.
- Open a Content Document and click Deliver Content
From a document in Salesforce CRM Content, click the Deliver Content action. A dialog appears with delivery configuration options.
- Configure the delivery
Set the Name, Expiration Date, Password Required (yes or no), View vs Download permission, and any notification preferences (notify me on first view).
- Send the delivery URL
Save the delivery to generate the URL. Email the URL to the recipient through Outlook, the Salesforce mail merge, or a Sales Engagement sequence. The URL is unique to this delivery; do not paste it on an external site or in social media.
- Monitor view and download events
From the delivery record, see the View Count, Download Count, and Last Viewed Date. Build a custom report grouped by Content Delivery to see engagement across recipients.
- Re-issue if needed
If a recipient loses the URL, edit the delivery to extend the expiration or reset the password, then re-send. Do not create a new delivery for the same recipient; the tracking is per-delivery.
- Content Deliveries are limited to 25 MB per file. Larger documents need a different sharing path (Salesforce Files, an external CDN, or a sales-enablement tool).
- The delivery URL is not deletable once created. You can expire it, but the URL remains in the database. Audit reports can re-surface old deliveries.
- Recipients who download the file have an unrestricted copy. Tracking ends at download. For DRM-grade protection, use a dedicated DRM tool, not Content Delivery.
- Email tracking through Content Delivery is separate from Einstein Activity Capture and Sales Engagement engagement metrics. The three systems do not share data.
- Content Delivery is tied to Salesforce CRM Content. Salesforce Files (the newer file storage) has its own sharing model that is different and not directly compatible.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Content Deliveries OverviewSalesforce Help
- ContentDelivery Object ReferenceSalesforce Developers
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Content Delivery.
- Enable Content DeliveriesSalesforce Help
- Salesforce CRM Content AdministrationSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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Q1. What does Content Delivery do?
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Q3. Why use Content Delivery instead of email attachments?
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