Someone shared a safe with you. Here you can read where to find it, why you cannot open it yet, and what changes when the key is released. You do not need to do anything in the meantime. The safe stays on your phone.
Where received safes live
- Open the Safes tab.
- Choose the Received filter. Safes shared with your account appear here.
- Tap a safe to open it.
The Overview tab lists received safes under Your safes, with the time remaining and the date the key becomes available. The Action needed section above it is only about safes you own and have to extend yourself.
The locked state
A locked safe shows how much time is left and the exact key date. Under What happens? you see the three steps:
- Encrypted copy received. The copy is on this device.
- Waiting for the key date. The sender can extend the timelock.
- Open afterwards. The contents are not available yet.
The files are already on your phone, but they are unreadable until the safe expires. Part of the key is held by the service and released only when the timelock lapses. That is why we cannot peek in the meantime.
The sender may extend the timelock, which moves the key date further away. That is normal: as long as they are around and extending, you do not need the safe.
When the key is released
- You get a notification that the key for the safe has been released.
- Open the safe. It now shows Safe files are ready with the date the key became available.
- Tap Access safe files. The key is retrieved and unwrapped on your device, and the contents appear.
- Open a file to view it, or select files and use the share option to save copies with your device's own share menu.
The contents are read only: you can view, open, and export, but not change what is in the safe. Notes, photos, documents, and videos all open in the app or in your device's native viewer.
What the sender can still do
- Before the key date, they can extend the timelock as often as they like.
- They can revoke the safe. That destroys the server key and asks the app on your device to remove the files as best it can.
- Once you have opened or exported something, it cannot be recalled. An exported copy is stored on your device, not in SafelyShare.
Good to know
- A received safe lives on the device that received it. On another phone, the app tells you the encrypted files are not stored on that device.
- You cannot change a received safe's timelock or reminder; only the sender can.
- If you use an appcode, keep it safe: erasing local data removes received safes from that device as well.
- Export anything you want to keep for the long term to your own storage after the safe unlocks.
Need help?
Received a safe you did not expect, or unable to open a file after the key was released? Contact us through the contact page.