Register only the file fingerprint (SHA-256) to record "this file existed at this time". The file itself never leaves your device.
Free with no sign-up, and the check runs inside your browser, so what you enter never leaves your device. The result is a signal to help you decide, not proof for money or legal decisions.
Pick a file and only its SHA-256 hash is computed, inside your browser, and registered — neither the file nor its name leaves your device. What remains is a single line: this hash was first seen at this time.
It proves one thing: that exact sequence of bytes existed before the registered time. Upload the same file later and you get the same hash, shown alongside the earlier timestamp. It is a record for arguments about "since when".
It proves nothing else. Who made the file, who owns the copyright, whether the content is true: a hash says none of that. Anyone holding the file can compute it, so registering first does not make you the author.
SHA-256 changes completely when the content changes at all. Resizing, re-compressing, editing metadata, re-saving as a screenshot. It can look identical and still hash differently. Keep the registered file untouched, or there will be nothing to match later.
Files uploaded to social platforms are re-compressed automatically, so they never match the original. Register the file straight out of your camera or editor, and do it before you publish.
It fits files where "this was in my hands at this point" may later be disputed: draft designs before a pitch, a quote PDF before delivery, source material for a story. Registration takes seconds and never hands over the original, so running it right before you publish is cheap insurance.
Registering a file that is already widely circulated is close to pointless — if the timestamp is later than the leak, the record says nothing useful.
SHA-256 is a function for which producing two different files with the same value is considered practically impossible. So identical hashes can be read as identical files. That property is what holds this registration up.
Earlier generations were different. SHA-1 stepped back from integrity use after a real pair of distinct documents sharing a hash was published in 2017. That history is why SHA-256 is used here.
Put the other way, the guarantee is exactly that much: the files are the same, and this time came first. Whether the contents are true, and who made them, are not questions a hash function can answer.
As the stakes rise, heavier instruments are needed. A qualified timestamping authority has a trusted third party attest to the time, with legal footing behind it. Notarisation follows an established procedure in the same way.
This registration does not stand in for either. In exchange for requiring no account and costing nothing, the record rests on this site alone. It is designed to be used lightly, often, and before publication.
In practice: register work as you go to build a sequence of times, and if a dispute actually starts, gather the original file, the working files and the correspondence and move to a formal process. The registration record becomes one line of context inside that bundle.
A PNG exported from the working file was registered right before the client email went out. The file never left the device — only the 64-character hash and a timestamp were recorded. Months later, when someone claimed a similar result had been published first, uploading the same file returns the same hash and the original registration time. It does not prove authorship, but next to working files and dated email it supports the order of events.
The priced quote PDF was registered moments before it was sent. The recipient received the file as usual and never had to be told about the registration. If someone later claims the figures in their copy differ, the stored original is uploaded again and the hashes are compared. A document differing by a single character hashes completely differently, so the comparison is unambiguous.
Unable to find the original, the user downloaded their own old Instagram post and registered that instead. On screen it looked identical to the original. Platforms re-compress on upload, so those bytes differ from the original and the hash differs completely. Uploading the true original later reports "not registered". This is exactly why registration has to use the file straight from the camera or editor.
No. Hashing finishes inside your browser; what reaches the server is the 64-character hash and a category (image, document, and so on). Neither the contents nor the filename is sent.
It does not claim the standing of a qualified timestamping authority or a notary. Treat it as light supporting context that gains meaning next to other evidence: the original file, working files, dated correspondence. For a high-stakes dispute, use an accredited service.
Only someone who already has the file, since a hash cannot be produced without it. And as above, registering first does not confer ownership: the record speaks only to existence before a given time.
Upload the original again and it is recomputed: the same hash comes back with the original registration time. The thing you must not lose is the file, not the hash.
Only the hash is stored (no file, no personal data). A reference timestamp, not legal notarization — keep the original file for disputes.