18Docs

Security

A plain-language look at how 18Docs keeps your files safe — and how to check it for yourself, independently, right now.

Most tools run entirely in your browser

When a tool page says "100% private", it means exactly that: your file is opened and processed using JavaScript running on your own device. It is never uploaded anywhere, and we never receive a copy. Merging, splitting, rotating, watermarking, signing and most of our other tools all work this way — you could disconnect from the internet after the page loads and they would keep working.

You don't have to take our word for it. See the "Prove it" panel on any in-browser tool page for a way to check this yourself in about ten seconds.

What the few server-side tools do

A handful of tools (Office file conversions, OCR, PDF compression, and similar) need more processing power than a browser can offer, so those send your file to our servers. Here is exactly what happens when that occurs:

  • Your file travels to us over an encrypted connection (TLS/HTTPS).
  • It is encrypted at rest while our server processes it.
  • It is automatically and permanently deleted within about an hour — this is enforced at the storage layer itself (a lifecycle rule), not left to application code to remember to do.
  • We never log file contents, filenames, or the personal data inside a document. Our logs only ever record operational metadata (which tool ran, whether it succeeded, how long it took) — never what was inside your file.

What we never do

  • We never sell or rent your data or files to anyone.
  • We never keep your files beyond the brief processing window above.
  • We never use your documents to train AI models.
  • We don't run third-party advertising networks or cross-site tracking trackers on this site. The only analytics we use is Vercel Analytics, a privacy-friendly, cookie-free tool that reports aggregate page-visit counts — it doesn't track you individually or follow you to other sites.

Check us independently

Rather than ask you to trust a claim on this page, here are live, third-party reports you can run against 18Docs right now, from your own browser:

These are live tools run by independent third parties, not us — open one and see the result for yourself rather than trust a number we could put on this page.

See also our Privacy Policy for the full detail, or who runs 18Docs.