User Guide

1. Getting Started

Installation

DocVault is available free on Google Play for Android: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.zenerly.docvault.mobile. An iOS version is coming soon — join the early access list to be notified.

First Launch

• No sign-up, email, or account is required — DocVault opens straight to your vault.
• You'll be asked to create a 4-digit PIN the very first time. Pick one you'll remember; if you do forget it, see Troubleshooting.
• DocVault seeds two starting vaults for you: Personal Vault (with Identity, Education, Health, Finance, Property folders) and Family Vault (with Wife, Son, Parents folders) — rename, delete, or ignore them and build your own structure instead.
• Tap the gold + button (bottom-right) to scan or add your first document.

2. Vaults & Folders

Beyond the six built-in categories (Identity & Birth Records, Medical, Education, Property, Financial & Legal, Signed Contracts, plus "Other"), DocVault lets you build your own two-level structure:

• Vaults are top-level containers (e.g. "Personal Vault", "Business"). Tap + New Folder in the top chip row to create one.
• Folders live inside a vault (e.g. "Passports" inside "Personal Vault") — one level of nesting only.
• Selecting a vault chip shows every document inside it and its folders; selecting a specific folder narrows to just that folder.
• Long-press any vault or folder chip to rename or delete it. Deleting a vault also deletes its child folders, but the documents inside are kept — just unfiled, not lost.

3. Adding Documents

Tap + to open the scanner. You can:

• Take a photo with your camera. Add more pages for a multi-page document (e.g. a 3-page rental agreement) and they're merged into a single PDF when you tap Continue. Large photos are resized so text stays readable without wasting space.
• Choose from gallery to use a photo you already took.
• Upload a file — PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, CSV or an image. The title is filled in from the file's name.
• Send a file from another app — see Saving Files From Other Apps.

The review screen

Before anything is saved you'll see a review screen with the file type badge (PDF, DOCX, XLSX…) and a preview. Set the title, category, document type and folder, and optionally fill in details such as name, date of birth, issue date, expiry date and address — these power search and expiry reminders. Tap Save to Vault and the file is encrypted; the temporary unencrypted copy is deleted. For PDFs, the first page becomes the document's thumbnail.

Hide in Catalog

New documents are marked "hidden" by default, which covers the thumbnail in your vault grid — the image isn't even decrypted for the grid, so there's nothing to see in a screenshot. Toggle this on the review screen, or later from the eye icon on the document.

4. Supported File Types

DocVault stores any of these files, and shows most of them in its own viewer:

• PDF — viewed page by page, with zoom.
• Word — DOCX is shown with its headings, bullet lists and tables. Older DOC files are stored, and open in another app.
• Excel — XLSX shows every sheet as a grid, with dates, numbers and TRUE/FALSE values formatted. Older XLS files open in another app.
• PowerPoint — PPTX shows the text of each slide. Older PPT files open in another app.
• Text & CSV — TXT is shown as plain text; CSV as a table (comma- or semicolon-separated).
• Images — JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP and others, with zoom up to 500%.

5. Saving Files From Other Apps

DocVault appears in Android's Open with and Share menus for PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, CSV and image files. To save an attachment or a download straight into your vault:

1. In your file manager, email, WhatsApp or any other app, tap Open with or Share on the file.
2. Choose DocVault.
3. Unlock DocVault if it's locked — the file waits for you.
4. Check the title, category and folder on the review screen and tap Save to Vault.

Sharing several files in a row? Each one gets its own review screen; saving one takes you to the next.

6. Viewing & Zooming

Tap any document to open its details: a preview (the photo, or a PDF's first page), its file type, category and type badges, dates, file size, the details you've entered, and your notes. From here you can View document, Open with another app, Edit details, Share a copy, or Move to Trash. Tapping the preview also opens the viewer.

Photos and PDFs

• Pinch with two fingers to zoom in or out, up to 500%.
• Double-tap to zoom in on the spot you tapped; double-tap again to return to 100%.
• Use the − / + buttons in the top bar; tap the percentage to reset.
• While zoomed in, drag with one finger to move around.
• For PDFs, swipe left or right (at 100%) or use the arrows at the bottom to change page. The page counter shows where you are.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and text

The same − / + buttons change the text size from 75% to 250%. Wide tables and spreadsheets scroll sideways; switch between spreadsheet sheets with the tabs at the top.

7. Searching Your Vault

The search bar at the top of your vault matches document titles and the details you've entered — name, father's and mother's name, dates, address and description. Combine it with the category and vault chips to narrow things down quickly.

8. Expiry Reminders

Give a document an expiry / renewal date (on the review screen or via Edit details) and DocVault reminds you before it lapses. In Settings → Expiry Reminders, choose how far ahead — any combination of 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, or 1, 2, 6, 9 or 12 months — plus a reminder on the day itself. Individual documents can override this schedule, or turn reminders off, from their edit screen. Reminders are local notifications generated on your phone; no server is involved.

9. Trash

Deleting a document doesn't erase it immediately — it moves to Trash (the bin icon at the top of your vault) where it's held for 30 days before permanent removal. Restore it anytime during that window, delete it forever early, or empty the whole Trash at once.

10. Sharing & Opening in Another App

Share a copy

Open a document and tap Share a copy — DocVault decrypts a copy and hands it to your phone's share sheet, so you can send it via email, WhatsApp, Drive, or any app you use. You'll see a confirmation first, since this is the moment a document leaves your vault decrypted. The temporary copy is deleted right afterward.

Open with another app

To edit a document, or to read a format DocVault can't preview (such as older .doc, .xls or .ppt files), tap Open with another app on the document or the open icon in the viewer. After you confirm, Android shows the apps that can open that file type — Word, Excel, your PDF reader and so on; DocVault never lists itself. The temporary decrypted copy is removed when you close the viewer, and any leftovers are cleaned up the next time DocVault starts.

If no installed app can open that type, DocVault tells you, so you can install one or share a copy instead.

11. Backup & Cloud Sync

Open the cloud icon at the top of your vault to reach the Backup screen, which offers two independent ways to protect your vault:

Local export & import

• Export Vault — choose a password (6+ characters), and DocVault creates a .dvbackup archive (every file re-encrypted under that password) and hands it to your share sheet — save it to Files, email it to yourself, or drop it in any cloud drive.
• Restore Vault — pick a .dvbackup file and enter its password to bring everything back, on this device or a new one. Documents already present aren't duplicated.

Cloud backup (Google Drive)

• Tap Connect to sign in with Google.
• Set a cloud backup password — separate from your app PIN — the first time you back up.
• The backup is stored in Drive's hidden app-data area — it will not appear in your regular Drive files.
• Turn on Back up automatically to have DocVault quietly re-upload a few seconds after any change, whenever you're connected — or use Back up now / Restore manually.

12. Security & App Lock

• Your 4-digit PIN is required on every launch (subject to the auto-lock delay below); it's hashed and stored in your device's secure keystore, never as plain text.
• Enable biometric unlock (face / fingerprint) in Settings to unlock with a glance instead of typing your PIN — biometric checks happen entirely inside your device's own hardware, and DocVault never receives your fingerprint or face data.
• Auto-lock controls how long DocVault stays unlocked in the background before re-locking: Immediately, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, or Never. Files sent to DocVault while it's locked wait until you unlock.
• Every document and thumbnail is encrypted at rest with AES-256, using a key generated on your device and stored in its secure hardware keystore — nobody, including Zenerly, can read your files without your device.
• Reset Vault (Settings, bottom of the list) permanently wipes every document, folder, and setting — a full factory reset, with no undo.

13. Settings, Languages & Updates

• Language — DocVault supports 20 languages (English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Urdu, Indonesian, German, Japanese, Swahili, Marathi, Telugu, Turkish, Tamil, Vietnamese, Korean) and follows your device's language automatically, or you can pick one manually. Arabic and Urdu switch the whole interface to right-to-left layout.
• Sort order — sort your vault grid by recently updated, date added, or title.
• App updates — new versions arrive through Google Play's in-app updates: when one is available, Google Play asks once, downloads it in the background while you keep using DocVault, and then offers Restart to update. Tap Check for updates to look for one yourself; the row also shows your version number and download progress. If you choose "No thanks", DocVault won't ask again for 24 hours. Updates only work for the copy installed from Google Play.
• Usage Analytics — turn app usage statistics on or off; see the Privacy Policy for exactly what's included.
• Invite a friend and Rate DocVault — share the app, or leave a review on Google Play.

14. Troubleshooting

I forgot my PIN

On the lock screen, tap Forgot PIN? and confirm it's you with your phone's own screen lock (PIN, pattern or password) or biometrics. You'll then set a new DocVault PIN — your documents are not affected. If your phone has no screen lock or biometrics set up, DocVault can't verify you, and the only way back in is Settings → Reset Vault, which erases everything. This is why keeping a backup matters.

A document won't preview

Older .doc, .xls and .ppt files, password-protected PDFs, and unusual formats can't be shown in DocVault's viewer. Use Open with another app instead. If a file that previewed before now shows "Could not open document", it may be damaged — restore it from a backup.

DocVault isn't in my "Open with" list

Make sure you have the latest version from Google Play. Some apps only offer Share rather than Open with — DocVault appears in both. If another app is set as the default for that file type, clear the default in Android's app settings so you can choose DocVault.

"In-app updates work only for the Google Play version"

In-app updates come from Google Play, so they only work for DocVault installed from the Play Store — not for copies installed another way.

Cloud backup won't connect

Make sure you're signed into a Google account on your device and have an internet connection. If Google Sign-In fails immediately, update to the latest version from Google Play and try again.

15. Using the DocVault Website

This website (www.docvault.zenerly.com) doesn't hold any of your documents — it's for information and a few self-service requests:

• Request Early Access — leave your name and email to be notified the moment DocVault launches on iOS.
• Support — browse the FAQ or send us a message; submitting the contact form opens your email app addressed to app.zenerly@gmail.com.
• Account & Data Deletion — since there's no server account, this page explains how to instantly erase your on-device vault, and how to ask us to delete anything you've sent us directly (like an early-access signup).
• Privacy Policy and Terms of Service — the full legal detail behind everything summarized in this guide.