Inbox Upload Page
The inbox upload page is the web page that opens from an inbox link. It lets a person who has no tiCrypt account send files and folders into the Vault of the tiCrypt user who created the link. The page is not the tiCrypt application: the sender cannot sign in, browse the Vault, or read back, download or delete anything, and sees only the one inbox the link names. The tiCrypt user who receives the files is the inbox owner. For the owner's side, see Inboxes.
The page is installed separately from the tiCrypt web application, so updating tiCrypt does not update it. This page describes version 2.18.2. Version 2.18.4 of the page changes how failed files, files already in the list, and a full inbox are handled; those differences are marked "From page 2.18.4". Administrators, see Install or update the inbox upload page.
Why the inbox upload page exists
People outside tiCrypt still need to deliver data into it. Collaborators, data providers and study sites often have no account and should not get one only to hand over files. An inbox link gives them a single, limited way in: they can add files to one folder, up to a set size, until a set date.
Files are encrypted before they leave the sender's computer. The page encrypts each file in the sender's browser with a new key, and locks that key with the inbox owner's public key. Only the owner can open the files, and the tiCrypt servers never see them unencrypted. The link names the owner's key, and the page checks that the key it receives from the server is that key. If they differ, the page refuses to upload, so files are never encrypted for anyone other than the person who sent the link.
The page cannot read anything back. A sender who has the link can add files but cannot see what others have sent or retrieve what they sent themselves. A leaked link therefore exposes nothing that is already in the inbox.
When to use the inbox upload page
- You received an inbox link: use the page to send the files the link's owner asked for.
- You have a tiCrypt account yourself: upload into your own Vault and share the files instead. See Upload and Share.
- You received SFTP details instead of a web link: the owner created an SFTP inbox. Use an SFTP client, as described in Inboxes.
Before you begin
- The inbox link: the owner sends it to you through another channel, such as email. Open it in a current web browser.
- The password, if the inbox has one: the owner gives it to you separately. The owner cannot look it up again later, so ask them to keep a copy.
- Enough time and space: the page shows when the inbox expires and how much space is left. Keep the page open until every file shows Uploaded.
Send files through an inbox
- Open the inbox link in your web browser.
- If the page shows This mailbox is password protected., enter the password in Password and click Enter inbox. Passwords of up to 64 characters are accepted, the most an inbox owner can set.
- Read the request at the top of the page.
- Click Select Files or Select Directories, or drag files and folders onto the window.
- Review the staged list. To drop an item before sending, click its Remove file button. Removing a folder also removes everything inside it.
- Click Upload n files.
- Wait until the button reads All files uploaded, then close the tab.
Every row in the list shows Uploaded and the heading reads All files uploaded. The files are now in the owner's Vault, encrypted for the owner. If you open the same link again in the same browser, the page lists the items you already sent as Uploaded.
What the page shows
The top of the page reads "First name Last name (email) is requesting files.", naming the inbox owner. Below it are the uploader name the owner chose, the owner's message if there is one, and "Expires in some time (date)". The instruction reads "Drag and drop on this window to queue files for upload. You can also use Select Files or Select Directories below."
The following table describes the columns of the staged list. Folders are listed before files, and you can sort by name, size and progress. From page 2.18.4, the column headers also sort from the keyboard: press Tab to reach a header, then Enter or Space.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| File or Directory | The name of each staged file or folder, indented under its folder. |
| Size | The size of each item. |
| Speed | The upload speed while the item is being sent, or "--" before that. |
| Progress | "Not uploaded" for an item still waiting, a progress bar while it is sent, "Uploaded" when it has arrived, or a red row with an error icon if it failed. From page 2.18.4, the reason a file failed is shown as text next to the icon. |
Above the list, a line reads "n files staged for upload", or "All files uploaded" when the upload has finished, next to "size remaining", the space still free in the inbox.
What happens next
- Delivery folder: each time you click Upload, the owner gets a new folder in the inbox, named after the uploader name and the time on your computer, for example
fred-Fri-Oct-16-2026-11.09.05. From page 2.18.4, files you retry after a failure go back to the folder of their first try; only new files get a new folder. - Project rules: if the owner tagged the inbox with a project, the delivered files take that project's tag in the owner's Vault. You need no project access for this.
- Remembered list: the page remembers, in this browser, the items you sent through this inbox, so reopening the link shows them as Uploaded.
- Unfinished files: if a file's upload breaks after the file was added to the delivery folder, it is renamed name
.incomplete, so the owner does not mistake the partial file for the real one. From page 2.18.4, a second broken try of the same file is named name.incomplete-2, then-3, and so on. Send the file again. If the partial copy cannot be renamed, the file's error says so and that the copy is still named name: tell the owner, so they do not mistake it for the complete file. - Long pauses: from page 2.18.4, the page keeps its session with the server open while it is open, so you can gather files and upload them later without reloading.
- Slow connections: files are sent in 8 MiB chunks, each with at least 60 seconds to arrive, and a chunk that fails because of a timeout, a network error or a server error is sent again up to twice.
- No read-back: you cannot open, download or delete what you sent. Contact the owner if you sent the wrong file.