Viewer Guide

When your admin creates your account, the first login walks you through setup. You will enter your names, pick a username, provide your email, and set a master password. Store that password somewhere safe — Aegis does not keep a recoverable copy.

Next, the setup wizard asks you to configure TOTP two-factor authentication. Scan the QR code with any authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, and so on), then type the 6-digit code to prove the pairing worked. From then on, every login asks for your username or email, password, and a fresh TOTP code.

• Use a password manager if your organization allows it.
• If an admin enables trusted-device policy, you can check Remember this device after a successful 2FA.
• A 2FA prompt can also appear mid-session if your organization requires it for a specific resource.

The Virtual File System browser works like a regular file manager, but every action is filtered through your permissions. The URL reflects the current folder (`/browse/:folderId`), so you can bookmark a location or refresh without getting lost.

Depending on what you are allowed to do, you will see buttons to create folders, upload files, refresh, or index text in the current folder (admins only). The list view shows an icon for each file type, the file size, and a Processed badge when a document has been indexed for search.

• Right-click a file to download the original or delete it — only if your policy permits those actions.
• Use the filter to show only directories with searchable text.
• Files you cannot read are simply not visible; the UI does not tease you with locked icons.

Double-click any file to open it in a tab. Aegis Secure View supports PDFs, common image formats (jpg, png, gif, bmp, webp), and Office files (doc, xls, ppt, and their modern equivalents). Office documents render through an embedded OnlyOffice session configured as view-only.

The critical thing to remember: the original file never reaches your browser. The server rasterizes pages in memory and streams sealed pixels. You see the document exactly as intended, but there is no PDF or DOCX sitting in your downloads folder or browser cache.

Every document opens in a tab, and you can split the view into up to four panes. Drag a tab to the edge of a pane to create a new one, or into the center to move it; each pane keeps its own navigation and zoom.

Pin the document you are reading so browsing the file tree never closes it. Tabs come back exactly as you left them — per user, across reloads.

• Save a session as a named group — up to 20 groups of 25 documents — and reopen it later from any computer.
• Groups sync with your account; the pane layout stays in that browser.
• Right-click a tab for split, move, pin, and close options.

The header shows the filename and the actions available to you: pin the tab, toggle the text layer, find inside the document, share a link, go fullscreen, or download the original when policy allows. The footer handles page movement and zoom.

• Toggle the thumbnail sidebar to skim pages quickly.
• Use previous/next arrows, the page-number input, or the view-mode switch between single page and continuous scroll.
• Zoom out/in, rotate left/right, fit width (W), or fit the whole page (0).
• Thumbnails are virtualized, so even thousand-page documents stay responsive.

The viewer is designed to be keyboard-first. Press ? at any time to open the shortcut reference. Here are the essentials:

• Arrow keys — navigate pages.
• + / - — zoom in and out.
• 0 — fit the whole page.
• W — fit width.
• R — rotate clockwise.
• Ctrl/Cmd + K — open the global search palette.
• Ctrl/Cmd + wheel — zoom with the mouse while holding the modifier key.

Ctrl/Cmd + K opens the global palette: search file and folder names, or switch to content mode to search inside documents across the repository. Results respect your permissions and show the page where each hit lives.

Inside an open document, the floating find bar searches the indexed text as you type — sort hits by relevance or page, move with Enter, and jump straight to the page you pick. A page with no selectable text will tell you so.

When a document has an embedded text layer, the viewer can show it over the page so you can select and copy passages with their formatting — or copy the whole page in one click.

A page with no text layer cannot offer selection; the viewer tells you instead of failing silently.

Every page you view is overlaid with a forensic watermark. The template can include your company name, username, full name, email, IP address, and a timestamp. Admins control the opacity between 5% and 50% so the mark is visible enough to deter leaks but light enough to read through.

Aegis also applies layered client-side deterrence while you read, and every view is recorded in the audit log. We deliberately do not publish the exact controls — documenting them would only help someone try to bypass them.

Most deployments keep downloads off by design, but some policies allow it for specific users or folders. When the download option appears for a file, a policy has explicitly granted you that right on that resource.

If the option is missing, the document is view-only for you. Download rights are a deliberate exception your administrator grants — not a default.

Where your role allows downloads, an entire folder can leave as a single archive. Before anything is transferred, Aegis shows a summary: how many files are included, the total size, and which files your permissions leave out.

The same summary appears when you select multiple files for a batch download. Archives are built for your session, logged file by file in the audit trail, and files you cannot read are never included.

• Large archives warn before they start; if a batch exceeds what policy allows, split the download into smaller groups.
• A file marked as excluded is outside what your policy allows for that folder; ask your administrator if you need it.
• Downloads may be limited to trusted networks defined by your administrator.

Drag files or a whole folder into the browser where your policy allows it. Aegis scans the selection first and shows a summary before anything is sent.

Large files continue in the background with pause, resume, and retry, so a dropped connection does not start you over.

• If a name already exists, you choose: keep both, replace, or skip.
• You can close the tab; active transfers keep running and appear in the task indicator.
• Uploads and deletions are recorded in the audit trail.

Deleting is reversible: an undo notice appears first, and the file then rests in the recycle bin until your organization's retention window passes.

You can restore a file or remove it permanently at any time before the purge date.

If a scanned document has no searchable text, your context menu may offer to send it for OCR. Progress is shown page by page, and a failed job can be retried without starting over.

When it finishes, the document gains a searchable text layer and appears in full-text results. Your administrator controls who can request OCR.

The interface is available in English and Spanish and follows your preference wherever you sign in. Light, dark, or system theme is chosen from your account settings.

View defaults — single page or continuous scroll — are saved with your account too.

A few common issues and what they usually mean:

• The document will not open — check that your session is still active and that you have view permission for that file; if it persists, contact your administrator.
• A shortcut does not behave as expected — inside a protected document, some browser shortcuts are intentionally limited. This is expected; use the controls the viewer offers.
• The download option is missing — your policy does not grant download rights on that file or folder. The document remains available for reading.

If something still feels off, check with your admin or request a demo and we will walk through the viewer on your own documents.