Requesting documents from a client
A ShieldFive document request (a file request) is a link you send to a client. They open it in a browser, upload the documents you asked for with the PIN you gave them, and never create an account. Every file is encrypted in their browser before it leaves their device, so ShieldFive stores only ciphertext and never holds your keys.
In short: no client account or app; a required PIN; up to 5 GB per file and 25 files per request by default (up to 100); links that expire after up to 7 days on the free plan, or 7, 30, 90 days or never on the Firm plan (€29 per seat per month). Updated .
Walkthroughs for specific jobs: collecting tax documents without email, collecting passports and identity documents from immigration clients, collecting bank statements from bookkeeping clients, collecting bank statements and pay stubs from loan applicants and collecting signed engagement letters and ID from new law firm clients.
Does my client need a ShieldFive account?
No. There is no account, no sign-in, no app and no plugin. Your client opens the link, picks their files, types the PIN you gave them and sends. It works in any current browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Because there is no account, nothing identifies the uploader automatically. If you need to be certain who sent a document, confirm it with the client through a channel you already trust.
How do I create a document request?
- Unlock your vault and open Requests.
Choose Request documents. You can start from a procedure template (for example a tax-return checklist) or from a blank request.
List the documents you need, one per line. End a line with "(optional)" and the client sees that item as optional.
Set a PIN of at least 4 characters, the maximum number of files, and when the link should expire.
Pick the folder the documents should land in, or leave it at the vault root. ShieldFive creates a dated folder for the request if you don't choose one.
Select Create secure link, then copy the link and send it to your client. Send the PIN separately.
Your vault has to be unlocked to create a request, because the request title and the item list are encrypted on your device before they are stored.
Does ShieldFive email the link to my client?
No. You send the link yourself, through email, a message or however you already talk to that client.
This is a consequence of the encryption rather than a missing feature.
Part of the decryption key lives in the # fragment at the
end of the link, and a browser never sends that part to a server. Our
servers therefore never hold a working link and could not email one even
if you asked them to.
For the same reason, the link has to arrive complete. Some chat apps
and preview panes trim everything after the #. If that
happens, your client sees "This link is incomplete" and should ask you
for the full link again.
Are the uploads end-to-end encrypted?
Yes. Each file is encrypted in the client's browser before upload, under a hybrid scheme that combines X25519 with ML-KEM, the post-quantum key standard, and XChaCha20-Poly1305 for the file itself. The file key is wrapped to your firm's published public keys, so only a member of your firm with an unlocked vault can open the result.
- Filenames are encrypted too, not only file contents.
- The request title and the list of requested items are encrypted.
Our servers receive ciphertext only: the documents, their names and what you asked for are all encrypted, and we never hold your keys.
Before encrypting anything, the client's browser verifies the signature on your firm's key bundle and refuses to continue if it does not check out.
The honest limit: the upload page is code we serve, so a client trusts ShieldFive to serve correct code at the moment they upload. That is a property of every browser-based encryption product, ours included.
Can a client see my other files, or what other clients uploaded?
No. The link resolves to one request and nothing else. It does not expose your vault, your other requests, the documents already received for this request, or your identity beyond what you wrote in the request itself.
Every failure looks the same from outside — unknown, revoked, expired, full or locked all return the same response — so a stranger cannot use a link to learn whether a request exists.
What does the client see?
A single page headed "Send your documents securely", with one upload slot per document you requested, each marked required or optional, plus a box for anything else you asked for. They can drag files in or tap to choose them.
If they only have some of the documents, they can send what they have and come back to the same link later. Files already sent are not uploaded again. The page has to stay open while files encrypt and upload; each file shows its own progress and ends at "Sent".
Folder upload is not supported: clients choose files, not folders.
What is the PIN for?
The PIN is a second factor for the link. You choose it when you create the request, and it never reaches our servers in a form that can be reversed: the client's browser stretches it with Argon2id and sends only a verifier.
Send it separately from the link — a text message if the link went by email, for example. Wrong PINs slow the link down and then lock it: 5 seconds after 6 attempts, 30 seconds after 11, two minutes after 16, an hour after 20, and permanently after 50. You can clear a lockout yourself with Reset PIN attempts, which does not change the PIN.
What are the limits on a request?
Files per request: 25 by default, adjustable from 1 to 100 when you create the request. You can raise the limit on a live request with Raise the file limit, never below what has already arrived.
Size: a single file can be up to 5 GB. A request accepts about 2 GB in total by default.
Requested items: up to 100 lines per request.
Expiry: up to 7 days on the free plan. On Firm seats and during the 14-day trial, 7, 30 or 90 days, or no expiry; the default is 30 days.
File types: any type.
If a client hits a limit mid-send, they are told plainly, and the files that already arrived are unaffected.
How many requests can I have open?
A new firm gets 14 days with everything unlocked, no card. After that the free plan allows 1 open request at a time; revoking it or letting it expire frees the slot. Free links last up to 7 days and clients get no automatic reminders. Documents you have received are always kept.
A Firm seat is €29 per month (€290 per year) and adds unlimited open requests, automatic client reminders, your logo on client pages and emails, and links that stay open up to 90 days or with no expiry.
Clients never pay, never sign up and do not use a seat. Seats are per person in your firm who sends requests.
Am I told when a client uploads?
Yes. The firm owner gets an email titled "New document in your ShieldFive inbox". It deliberately carries no filename, no request title and no client name — only the fact that something arrived — because those details are encrypted and an email is not. Several files sent in one sitting collapse into a single message.
If a request has had no response after a few days, ShieldFive sends you a reminder so you can chase the client, on every plan. On Firm seats and during the trial, if you add the client's email when you create the request, ShieldFive also reminds them, at most twice (after about three and seven days), while required items are missing. That email cannot include the upload link, because we never hold the key that opens it, so it points them back to the link you sent. They can stop it with one click.
On the paid plan and during the 14-day trial, your firm name and logo appear on the client's upload page and in that reminder. Set them under Firm.
How do I read what was sent?
Open Requests with your vault unlocked and use Download & decrypt. Decryption happens in your browser. The documents are ordinary files in your vault afterwards, in the folder you chose, so you can move, share or delete them like anything else.
How do I turn a link off?
Use Revoke link. The link stops accepting uploads immediately, and documents already received stay in your vault. A link also stops working on its expiry date. In both cases the client is told the link is off or expired and to ask you for a new one.
Can I reuse a checklist for another client?
Yes. On a request you already created, choose Send this checklist to another client. The title and the list of documents are decrypted in your browser and carried over; the PIN, file limit and expiry start fresh, and you get a new link.