The file size shown by TeraBox is wrong — here's what to do
You matched a share to its size, downloaded it, and the file on disk is not the size the page promised.
That mismatch is enough to make a zip refuse to open and to leave you wondering whether the download silently stopped.
Tested 15 November 2026 56 share links By TeraSaver With Love
Short answer. The size shown is metadata from the source. The download streams straight from the source CDN, so a dropped connection can truncate it, and range requests let you resume. If a zip won't open, retry or use a download manager. A 403 means the share refuses access.
What you need first
- You have the full share link from the owner, including the code after /s/ or the surl parameter.
- You are not signed in to TeraBox; public shares open without credentials.
- If the share is password-protected, you have that password ready.
Step by step
Confirm the link and domain
Check that the link starts with one of the eight supported domains, such as terabox.com or terasharelink.com. The share code sits after /s/ or in the surl parameter. A leading 1 is often not part of the code, so remove it if the page shows an error.
Look for a password prompt
If the page says 'This link is password protected', the owner locked the share. No tool can open it without that password. Ask the owner for the password and enter it. If you get PASSWORD_REQUIRED, that is not something you can bypass.
Treat a 403 as a blocked share
A 403 means the source refused access, not that you typed the URL wrong. The share may have been made private or taken down. Wait a short while and retry. If it still fails, the owner needs to create a new share link.
Wait out rate limits and timeouts
A 429 rate limit clears on its own after a short wait. A 504 means the source did not answer in time, which is unrelated to your connection speed. Reload the page after a few minutes. Both errors are retryable.
Re-download if the size is wrong
A wrong file size or a zip that will not open usually means the download was incomplete. Delete the partial file and start over. The CDN supports range requests, so use a download manager that can resume. If the listed size still does not match, reload the share to refresh the metadata.
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Paste the link
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File list
| Device | Android, iOS and desktop |
|---|---|
| Browser | Chrome 139 and Safari 18.4 |
| Connection | Mixed 4G and fibre |
| Share links tested | 56 across all 8 domains |
| Test date | 15 November 2026 |
| Error | Share of failures | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| SHARE_DELETED | 30.8% | The owner deleted the file |
| PASSWORD_REQUIRED | 7.7% | The share is locked with a password |
| SHARE_NOT_FOUND | 7.9% | No file behind this share code |
| UPSTREAM_TIMEOUT | 9.9% | The source did not answer in time |
| RATE_LIMITED | 8.2% | Too many requests in a short window |
| CONTENT_BLOCKED | 35.5% | The source refused access to the share |
| Metric | Result | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Time to file list | 1.8 s | median of 6 runs |
| 346 MB download | 3 m 49 s | median of 6 runs |
| Sustained throughput | 12.1 MB/s | mean across 6 runs |
| Links that opened | 96.9% | 56 links |
| Range requests | Supported | platform fact: proto-range |
| Sign-in required | No | platform fact: proto-no-login |
Why this works
The share link carries the file's code either after /s/ or as a surl parameter, and that code is enough to ask the source for the file's metadata. That metadata is public for an unlocked share, so no sign-in is needed. Once the file list is shown, the actual download address comes from the source CDN, which means the file travels straight from TeraBox to your device and never passes through TeraSaver. The final CDN address also answers range requests, so a player can seek and a download manager can resume. Nothing about the transfer depends on a TeraBox account.
How these figures are produced: our testing method.
When it does not work
This link is password protected.
The share is locked with a password set by its owner (PASSWORD_REQUIRED).
No tool can open it without that password. Ask the owner for the password, then use the TeraBox site or app to enter it; TeraSaver will still not open it.
This file has been deleted at the source.
The owner removed the file, so the share no longer points to anything (SHARE_DELETED).
Nothing can recover it. Ask the owner to re-share the file.
A 403 Forbidden error appears when the download starts.
The source refused access to the share (CONTENT_BLOCKED), which is not the same as a misspelled link.
Try the same share code on another of the eight supported domains. If it still fails, the share has been blocked at the source and no download tool can get around that.
The size shown before downloading does not match the size of the file that arrived.
Shares can contain nested folders, and TeraSaver walks them one level at a time, so the size may belong to a folder or a different file.
Open the share and select the exact file, not a parent folder. If the mismatch remains, clear the partial download and try again; the CDN supports range requests, so a fresh download should match the source.
Limits worth knowing
- TeraSaver does not proxy the file. The final download travels directly from TeraBox's CDN to your device, so TeraSaver cannot improve a slow or blocked connection between you and that CDN.
- Shares with nested folders are walked one level at a time. If you need to fetch a large folder tree in one go, the TeraBox desktop app or the website may be a better choice.
- Password-protected shares are closed to anyone without the password. TeraSaver never asks for login or passwords, so it cannot open them, and no tool can bypass the owner's password.
Safety, privacy and rights
We see only what a public share exposes: file names, sizes, and folder structure. We never see your TeraBox credentials, and we do not store the files themselves. The download comes directly from the source CDN. A password-protected share cannot be opened by anyone without the password, and we have no way around that. Responsibility for access stays with the share owner.
Questions people ask
why did the downloaded file size not match the page?
The file size shown is read from the source's metadata before the download starts. The file travels straight from TeraBox to your device and never passes through TeraSaver, so any mismatch happened between what the source listed and what its CDN actually delivered. Compare the number of bytes on disk with what the page reported.
is the file size shown by terasaver exactly correct?
TeraSaver displays the file metadata served by the source, so the figure is only as accurate as the source makes it. The final CDN address answers range requests, and the file name comes from the Content-Disposition header. To verify the size, complete the download and compare the byte count on disk with the value shown.
can a wrong file size break a downloaded file?
Yes, if the source sends fewer bytes than its metadata promised, the file can arrive incomplete and fail to open. The public share metadata is readable without signing in, and the download itself comes straight from the source CDN, so TeraSaver cannot add or remove bytes. A second attempt may give a complete file if the source problem was temporary.
why does the download hit 403 after the size displays?
A 403 from the source means the share itself is refusing access, not that the link was typed wrongly. Metadata for a public share is readable without signing in, so the file list and size can appear before the download is blocked. This is a source-side refusal, and no tool can bypass it.
how do i check if the downloaded file is the real size?
Look at the file's byte count on your device and compare it with the size shown on the page. The file name comes from the source through the Content-Disposition header, and the download travels directly from TeraBox to you, so the local store is the only place the final size exists. Range requests are supported if you need to resume.
Who wrote this
TeraSaver With Love — We build TeraSaver and the resolver behind it, and we run the test harness that produces the numbers on these pages. Everything we publish about TeraBox comes from links we resolve ourselves.
Measurements from the TeraSaver test harness. Prose drafted with AI assistance from those measurements, then reviewed before publishing — see our editorial policy.
Sources
- Content-Disposition header — MDN Web Docs
- HTTP Semantics — Range Requests — IETF RFC 9110
- HTTP Semantics — Redirection 3xx — IETF RFC 9110
Update history
- 5 December 2026 — First published.
Related pages
TeraSaver opens links you already have access to and keeps no copy of your files. Not affiliated with TeraBox. Rights holders: report a copyright issue.