Everything you need to scan files for sensitive data, review findings, clean up what you find, and get the most out of FileSentinel. Can't find an answer? A real person reads every message.
Open the Scan screen, then do any of the following:
Optionally set include and exclude filters, toggle OCR, then click Start Scan. Results stream onto the Findings page as the scan runs.
Yes. First open the share once in Windows Explorer so Windows signs you in. Then paste the path (for example \\server\share\folder) into the network share field on the Scan screen and add it. FileSentinel verifies access before adding the target.
The Dashboard summarizes your exposure at a glance: a Protection Score, total files scanned, total findings, Crown Jewels count, and the percentage of files that came back clean. Charts break down exposure by asset type, severity, the rules triggered most, and confidence. Recent scans and top findings are listed at the bottom.
Use include globs to limit a scan to certain patterns (for example **/*.docx, **/*.pdf) and exclude globs to skip folders like **/node_modules/** or build output. FileSentinel already excludes common Windows system folders, browser caches, and dev tooling by default.
Severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low) reflects how damaging the data would be if it leaked. Confidence (Verified, Likely, Possible, Lower) reflects how certain FileSentinel is that the match is real.
Use them together: sort by severity to triage impact, and raise the confidence floor to hide likely false positives. You can also show low-confidence findings when you want maximum coverage.
From the Findings page, pick a remediation action, such as Redact All Sensitive Data on This File or Strip Metadata to Copy. FileSentinel writes a cleaned copy rather than overwriting the original, and records the action in the Remediation History with the output path and result.
Use Mark False Positive or Ignore Finding on the row. Marking false positives helps you keep counts honest and focuses the list on what actually matters. You can also raise the confidence floor to filter out weak matches in bulk.
Open the Reports screen, choose a scan, set the confidence floor and which severities to include, then generate a CSV, HTML, or PDF report. Reports save to your local AppData folder and are listed under Past Reports for quick reopening.
Crown Jewels are the categories you care about most, such as personal identifiers, financial data, or health information. Choose them in Settings, and any matching findings are escalated so your most critical exposure rises to the top of the dashboard and findings list.
Toggle OCR on the Scan screen or in Settings. With it on, FileSentinel reads text inside JPG, PNG, TIFF, and WebP images and image-based PDFs, catching sensitive data in screenshots and scans. OCR adds processing time per image page, so turn it on when you want the strongest coverage and leave it off for the fastest scans of plain text and Office documents.
Choose a scan performance mode in Settings:
You can also enable recursing into archive contents (for example .zip and .jar).
On the Rules screen, start from a template or build from scratch. Choose plain text (exact phrase) or regex matching, name the rule, set a category and severity, and optionally mark it as a Crown Jewel. Use the Test box with sample text to confirm it matches before saving.
Add a folder on the Watched Folders screen and FileSentinel runs an initial scan, then monitors it. New or changed files are batched and scanned automatically, with a toast confirming completion. Results appear on the Findings page like any other scan. Stop watching a folder at any time.
No. Scanning, OCR, and remediation run entirely on your device. File contents are never uploaded and there is no telemetry of your results. Reports stay in your local AppData folder unless you move them. See the Privacy Policy for full detail.
FileSentinel is in private beta and coming soon for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Email info@vandien.io to request early access and we'll notify you the moment the beta opens.