Personal Vault
The Personal Vault is your own private workspace inside DocLock. It's where you keep drafts, notes, and personal reference documents that nobody else should see. Unlike a team workspace, the Vault is private to you only — even administrators don't browse its contents — and it's protected by an extra password check every time you open it.
How to open this screen
Open your Personal Vault from the workspace list (it appears as a workspace with a shield icon).
- Route:
documents/workspace/personal-vault - Access required: It's your own vault — every user has one. There's no separate permission to request, but you must confirm your identity with your password (see below).
The password gate ("Unlock Vault")
Because the Vault holds private material, DocLock asks you to prove it's really you before it shows anything — even if you're already signed in. When you open the Vault you see an identity verification screen split into two panels:
- The left panel explains what the Vault is and lists its protections:
- End-to-end encrypted
- Private to you only
- Zero-knowledge access
- The right panel is where you confirm your identity.
To unlock:
- In the Password field, type your DocLock account password — the same password you use to sign in.
- Use the eye icon to show or hide what you've typed if you want to check it.
- Click Unlock Vault (or press Enter).
The Unlock Vault button stays disabled until you've typed something in the password field.
Note: This is the same password you use to sign in to DocLock — there's no separate vault password to remember.
If the password is wrong
If the password doesn't match, the screen shows "Incorrect password. Please try again." and clears the field so you can retry.
After three failed attempts, the message changes to "Too many failed attempts. Please contact your administrator." — at that point, reach out to your administrator for help getting back in.
Inside the Vault once it's unlocked
After you unlock it, the Vault opens like a normal workspace, with a few private-by-design differences:
- A capacity line under the workspace name shows how many documents are stored and their total size (for example, "3 documents · 1.2 MB").
- You are the Owner of your Vault, so you have full control over its documents.
- Sharing is turned off. Documents in the Vault cannot be shared with other people — that's what keeps the Vault private.
- You can upload, open, edit, and organize files here just like any other workspace.
What "private" really means here
- End-to-end encrypted — your Vault's contents are encrypted so they can't be read in transit or at rest.
- Private to you only — no other user, and no administrator, can browse your Vault's documents.
- Zero-knowledge access — access is tied to your identity check; the system is designed so that only you can unlock and read what's inside.
Because of this, the Vault is the right place for personal drafts and reference material — but not for documents your team needs. Anything colleagues must access belongs in a shared team workspace instead.
Tips
- The Vault locks itself again when appropriate, so you'll be asked for your password the next time you open it — that's expected, not an error.
- Since sharing is disabled, move a document out of the Vault into a team workspace first if you later need to share it.
- Keep your DocLock password secure: it's also the key to your Vault.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| "Incorrect password" | Make sure you're typing your DocLock sign-in password — the Vault uses the same one. |
| "Too many failed attempts" | You've entered the wrong password three times; contact your administrator. |
| You can't share a document | Sharing is intentionally disabled in the Vault; move the file to a team workspace to share it. |
| The Vault asks for your password again | This is normal — the Vault re-locks to keep your documents private. |