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Getting Started

This guide is for anyone setting up FileOnion for their firm for the first time. It walks you from creating an account to sending your first document request and understanding what your client sees on the other side.

What FileOnion does

FileOnion collects documents from your clients without email attachments or shared drives:

  1. You create a request — a list of the documents you need, with instructions and checklists for each item.
  2. Your client gets a magic link — a branded email or text message opens a secure upload portal. No account, no password, no sign-up.
  3. You review and approve — approve or decline each file, leave comments, and let automated reminders chase anything missing.
  4. Everything stays organized — files land in your File Manager, and requests move through your workflow stages on a Kanban board.

New here? Follow the tutorial series

The fastest way to learn FileOnion is the hands-on tutorial series, which takes you from an empty account to a fully organized document workflow in six short lessons. Start with the Tutorial Overview.

Create your account

  1. Go to the FileOnion sign-up page and register with your email and a password. FileOnion sends a verification code to your email — enter it to confirm your account.
  2. Alternatively, use Sign in with Google on the sign-in page to authenticate with your Google account.

Every new organization starts with a 15-day free trial. No credit card is required, and you choose a plan during onboarding — you can change it later in your settings. See Billing for plan details.

Clients never create accounts

Sign-up is only for you and your teammates. Your clients receive magic links and upload through a no-login portal — see What your client sees below.

The onboarding wizard

After you verify your account, a short wizard (up to five steps) sets up your workspace:

  1. Organization & plan — name your workspace and pick a plan (Personal, Professional, or Enterprise). You can change plans later in Settings.
  2. Branding — set your primary and secondary brand colors so client-facing emails and the upload portal match your firm.
  3. Your default workflow — FileOnion creates a 5-stage kanban workflow for you (New, Client Open, Files Uploaded, Needs Review, Approved). Requests move through these stages automatically; Owners and Admins can customize them later (see Workflows).
  4. Invite your team — enter a teammate's email and role to send an invitation (Professional and Enterprise; the Personal plan skips this step). You can always invite people later.
  5. Finish — turn on the notifications you want and jump into your first request.

You can leave the wizard and come back; it resumes where you left off.

Checkpoint

When the wizard finishes, you land on your Dashboard with an empty request list and your default workflow ready to go.

The five roles at a glance

Role In short
Owner Full control, including billing and organization settings. The only role that manages billing.
Admin Everything except billing — manages users, branding, workflows, and settings.
Member Day-to-day work: uploads files, comments, and creates requests.
Guest Read-only team user — views and comments where invited.
Client External. Receives requests and uploads through the no-login portal — never signs in.

See Team Members & Roles for the full permission matrix and how to invite people.

Your first request

Create a request in whichever way suits you:

  • From scratch — click New Request, name the request, pick the client, and add the documents you need. See Requests.
  • From the Template Library — browse ready-made document lists for Immigration, Tax & Accounting, Mortgage & Real Estate, Legal, and HR & Onboarding, then click Use template. See Template Library.
  • With the AI Request Builder — describe the matter in plain language ("marriage-based green card case") and the AI drafts a scoped document list with checklists, which you edit before sending. See AI Request Builder.

When the request is ready, click Save & Send. FileOnion emails your client a magic link and starts tracking the request for you, including automated reminders if you enabled them.

Checkpoint

After sending, the request appears in your request list with status Sent, and it moves to Read as soon as your client opens it.

What your client sees

Your client receives a branded email (or text message) with a magic link. Clicking it opens the upload portal — no account or password needed. They see your document list with instructions and checklists, upload files against each item, and can leave comments if they have questions. You are notified as files arrive, and the client can see which documents have been approved.

See the Client Portal guide for a full walkthrough of the client experience.

Next steps

  • Tutorial Overview — the guided six-part tutorial series
  • Requests — everything about creating, sending, and reviewing requests
  • Clients — adding and managing your client list
  • FAQs — quick answers to common questions