Starting Safe Share for Windows and signing in

​

Starting Safe Share for Windows

Safe Share for Windows automatically starts when Windows boots up or restarts.

• When Safe Share for Windows is running, its icon appears in the Windows taskbar notification area (either or ).

After starting, Safe Share for Windows may automatically prompt you to sign in by opening the ‘Sign in’ dialog box, especially if you signed out from a previous Safe Share for Windows session or you had never signed in to the application. If you had not signed out from a previous Safe Share for Windows session, then Safe Share for Windows is likely to retain your session when the application is restarted (and you will not be required to sign in). If you need to sign in but the ‘Sign in’ dialog box is not visible, you can always sign in manually to access this dialog box. If you happen to exit Safe Share for Windows or the application does not start after Windows boots up/restarts, you can manually start Safe Share for Windows. To start Safe Share for Windows manually:

• Double-click the Covata Safe Share icon on the desktop or choose Covata Safe Share from the Windows start menu. When running, the application’s icon appears in the Windows taskbar notification area (either or ).

​

Signing in manually

The Safe Share for Windows icon in the Windows taskbar notification area indicates:

• (i.e. a gray Safe Share icon with a red x sign) if you are not yet signed in to the application.
• if you are already signed in.

Once you are signed in, any Covata-secured files and folders associated with your Covata user account in remote storage (managed by the Covata Platform) are synchronized with your computer’s file system and can be accessed locally through Windows Explorer. To sign in to Safe Share for Windows manually:

1. Ensure Safe Share for Windows has been started.
2. Click the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area to open the Safe Share for Windows application pane (which appears at the lower-right of the screen) and then click the Sign in link on this pane:
   Tip: Alternatively, right-click the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area and choose Sign in from the pop-up menu:
3. In the Sign in - Safe Share dialog box, enter your Email address and Password into the relevant fields:
   Notes:
   • The email address of the last Covata user account to sign in to Safe Share for Windows is automatically specified in the Email address field.
   • If you have forgotten your password, leave the Password field blank, click the Forgot your password link, follow the instructions on the subsequent page and then in your email notification to reset your password.
4. Click the SIGN IN button (or type ‘Enter’/‘Return’).
   • If the Sign in - Safe Share dialog box requests you to enter your Authentication code, then either you have configured your Covata user account with two-factor authentication (2FA) (via Account Management) or at least one of your Safe Share Organization administrators has enforced this feature on your account.
     1. If you have not yet configured a mobile device with your Covata user account for 2FA, then refer to the Configuring a mobile device for 2FA procedure below before continuing on.
     2. Open the authenticator app on your mobile device.
     3. In the Authentication code field, enter the code from the authenticator app that relates to your Covata user account.
     4. Click the Authenticate button to complete the authentication process.
   To verify that you are signed in to Safe Share for Windows, the application pane automatically appears after signing in, with your Covata user account’s email address indicated at the top and the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area changes to :
   Tips:
   • If the application pane does not appear, click its icon to access it.
   • Alternatively, you can verify that you are signed in by right-clicking its icon and observing in the pop-up menu:
     • ‘You are signed in as your@email.address’, which indicates you are signed in, or
     • ‘You are not signed in’, which indicates you are not.

​

Configuring a mobile device for 2FA

If either you or one of your Organization administrators has configured your Covata user account with two-factor authentication (2FA), then you require a mobile device (i.e. an Android-, iPhone-, iPad-, iPod Touch- or Microsoft Windows-based one) running an authenticator application (from Google or Microsoft) to be able to sign in to Safe Share for Windows. This authenticator application (aka authenticator app) that runs on your mobile device provides the 2nd authentication factor for your account, where your password is the 1st authentication factor. To configure your mobile device with your Covata user account for 2FA:

1. Open your Covata Notification email message containing the subject line ‘Two-factor authentication has been enabled for your account’.
2. Follow the instructions in this email message - i.e. click the link to open the two-factor authentication configuration pages.
   Follow the remaining instructions on these pages to complete the process for configuring your mobile device and then continue with entering your authentication code (i.e. from the 2nd step of completing the 2FA authentication process above) to sign in to Safe Share for Windows.

​

Accessing the web application

Safe Share for Windows provides easy access to the Safe Share web application for better integration between these two products. To access the Safe Share web application:

1. Ensure Safe Share for Windows has been started and that you are signed in.
2. Click the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area and then click the ‘Safe Share web’ icon at the lower-right of the application pane:
   The Safe Share web application opens at the main Safe Share page in your default web browser (configured in Windows), as the Covata user with which you are signed in to Safe Share for Windows.

​

Signing out

To sign out of Safe Share for Windows, either:

• Right-click the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area and choose Sign out from the pop-up menu:
  
• Click the application’s icon in the taskbar notification area, then click the ‘Settings’ icon at the top-right of the application pane … :
  and then click Sign out from this icon’s pop-up menu.

​

Exiting Safe Share for Windows

To exit Safe Share for Windows, either:

• Right-click the application’s icon or in the taskbar notification area and choose Exit Safe Share from the pop-up menu:
  
• Click the application’s icon or in the taskbar notification area, then click the ‘Settings’ icon at the top-right of the application pane … :
  and then click Exit Safe Share from this icon’s pop-up menu.

---

​

Please provide your feedback here