GetSafeDocs Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with GetSafeDocs in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through creating your account, sending your first malware-scanned document package, sharing access tokens, viewing received files safely in the browser sandbox, and requesting files from clients.

Table of Contents

1. Step 1: Create Your Account (2 Minutes)
2. Step 2: Send Your First Secure Document (2 Minutes)
3. Step 3: Manage Recipients & Share Links or Tokens (1 Minute)
4. Step 4: Access & Preview Shared Documents (No Account Needed)
5. Step 5: Request Documents from Clients (Premium & Enterprise)
6. Account Tiers at a Glance
7. Next Steps & Additional Guides

Step 1: Create Your Account (2 Minutes)

1. Visit GetSafeDocs Registration (or click Sign Up in the top navigation bar on https://getsafedocs.com).
2. Choose your sign-up method:
3. Email & Password: Enter your email address and create a strong password (minimum 8 characters), then accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
4. Sign in with Google: Use one-click Google OAuth authentication for instant account setup.
5. Verify your email: Check your inbox for the verification email from GetSafeDocs and click the verification link (or enter the verification code on /verify_email).
6. Optional — Add a Passkey or Generate an API Key (Recommended):
7. Once signed in, open Profile → User Account Information.
8. Under Passkeys, click Add Passkey to register Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello, or a hardware security key (such as a YubiKey) for instant passwordless sign-in.
9. Under Developer API Keys, generate a personal gsd_... key (X-API-Key) if you want to automate uploads and document sharing via the REST API without needing a password.

Enterprise Auto-Enrollment Tip: If your organization has registered your corporate email domain under Enterprise Management, signing up with your work email automatically enrolls your account into your company's Enterprise plan upon email verification.

Step 2: Send Your First Secure Document (2 Minutes)

1. Sign in and click Send Documents (https://getsafedocs.cloud.run/send_message).
2. Upload Your Files:
3. Click Choose Files (or drag and drop files into the upload box).
4. Files upload directly to Google Cloud Storage in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (northamerica-northeast2) over TLS 1.3 and are immediately scanned for threats by the QuickSand Malware Analysis engine.
5. Once the progress bar reaches 100%, a security badge (Clean, Suspicious, or Malicious) appears next to each file along with a View Malware Scan Results button.
6. Configure Security & Delivery Options:
7. Preview Only (Optional): Check Preview Only to restrict recipients to viewing documents inside the secure browser sandbox (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Markdown, images, and text) while disabling raw file downloads.
8. Subject & Message: Enter a required Subject and an optional Message body. (You can also send a secure text message without attaching any files.)
9. Activity Notifications (Optional): Check Notify me when recipients view or download this message to receive real-time email alerts with timestamp, IP address, and browser details whenever your document is accessed.
10. Message Expiry (Premium & Enterprise): Select an expiration window from 1 Day up to 1 Year (Free accounts default to 1 Month).
11. Add Recipients:
12. By Email: Enter one or more comma-separated email addresses (client@example.com, partner@example.com).
13. By Mailing List (Premium & Enterprise): Select a saved recipient group from the Or Select a Mailing List dropdown.
14. Manual Token Only: Leave the recipient fields blank to generate a single Manual Access Code that you can share yourself over any channel (Signal, Teams, Slack, SMS, or phone).
15. Click Send Message.

Step 3: Manage Recipients & Share Links or Tokens (1 Minute)

After clicking Send Message, you are taken to Recipient Management (https://getsafedocs.cloud.run/recipient_management?message_id=...):

• Existing GetSafeDocs Account Holders (Account Holder badge):
• If a recipient already has a GetSafeDocs account, your message is delivered directly to their secure GetSafeDocs Inbox and they are automatically notified by email—no external token is needed in the email.
• External Recipients (No Account Required):
• Send Email Notification: Keep the checkbox next to their email selected and click Send Selected Emails to send an email containing their unique ID Token and access instructions.
• Share Manually: Uncheck the email box and use the Copy buttons next to Token ID (e.g., k9m4p2x7) or Full URL (https://getsafedocs.cloud.run/access_document?token=...) to share access over your own preferred communication channel.

You can return to Outbox (https://getsafedocs.cloud.run/outbox) at any time to view sent messages, inspect view/download activity logs, resend notifications, or extend message expiration dates before they expire.

Step 4: Access & Preview Shared Documents (No Account Needed)

Recipients do not need a GetSafeDocs account to view or download shared files:

1. Enter Your Token or Click the Link:
2. Visit https://getsafedocs.com (or Access Document), paste your Access Token, and click Access Documents; or click the direct /access_document?token=... link shared by the sender.
3. Check the box agreeing to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and click Access Document.
4. Verify Malware Scan Status:
5. Review the Clean security badge and click View Scan Report (scan_report) to inspect cryptographic file hashes (SHA-256, SHA-1, MD5), verified MIME type, and threat analysis results before opening any file.
6. Preview or Download:
7. Safe Preview in Sandbox: Click Preview / View to open PDFs, Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Markdown, images, or text files directly in your browser without downloading them to your device.
8. Download: Click Download on individual files or Download All as ZIP (unless the sender enabled Preview Only mode).
9. Send a Reply:
10. Use the Reply box at the bottom of the message page to send a response back to the sender. (Free users can send an initial reply; Premium and Enterprise users can participate in full back-and-forth threaded conversations.)

Step 5: Request Documents from Clients (Premium & Enterprise)

Need a client, vendor, or applicant to send sensitive files to you without requiring them to create an account?

1. Open Document Requests (https://getsafedocs.cloud.run/document_requests) and click Create New Request.
2. Enter a Request Name (e.g., 2026 Tax Return Intake), optional Description, and Expiry (days) (0 for no expiry, or up to 365 days).
3. Configure Max File Size, Max Files per Submission, Allowed File Types (e.g., pdf,docx,xlsx,jpg,png), and which fields the submitter must provide (Email address, Subject, Message).
4. Click Create Request, then share the request using Copy Token ID, Copy Full URL, or the Share Request email button.
5. External users simply open the link, drag and drop their files (which are automatically scanned for malware), and submit. All submissions appear in your Document Requests dashboard and your Inbox.

Account Tiers at a Glance

Try Premium free for 7 days on the Pricing Page.

Next Steps & Additional Guides

• Complete User Guide: Detailed instructions on every GetSafeDocs feature, security setting, and troubleshooting tip.
• Enterprise Admin Guide: Complete guide to setting up your company workspace, configuring Auto-Enrollment Email Domains, and managing seats and invitations.
• Supported File Types Reference: Live list of all allowed Free and Premium/Enterprise file extensions and blocked executable types.
• API Documentation: REST API reference for developer integrations.
• Security Documentation: Security Architecture White Paper, OWASP Top 10 Assessment, and Compliance Overview.