# Send a confidential document to a client who has no account

A lawyer sends a contract to a client who has never heard of Databeamer. Passphrase by phone, link by email, done in five minutes.

**The situation.** You need to send a signed contract to a client. Email attachments are out of the question, and the client is not going to install anything or create an account for one document.

**What you will use.** A [transfer](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/transfers/send-a-transfer) to a guest, protected with a passphrase.

## 1. Start the transfer

Drag the contract onto the Databeamer window, or choose **New Transfer** from the **New** menu. Give it a clear **Title**, for example "Engagement letter, signed". Add a short **Message** if you like; it is encrypted along with the files.

## 2. Add the client as a guest

In **To**, type the client's full email address and choose **Add … as a guest**. Databeamer explains that they are not on Databeamer yet and will get a secure link by email.

Under **How will your guest open it?** keep **Passphrase**. It is the most private option: the email link alone cannot open anything.

![The New Transfer window with the client added as a guest](https://databeamer.eu/docs-screenshots/en/new-transfer-guest.png '1: the guest recipient, 2: how the guest unlocks, 3: send.')

## 3. Choose how long it stays available

Set **Expires after** to the shortest period that gives the client time to download, typically 3 or 7 days. After that the files are removed automatically; the record of the transfer stays in your overview.

## 4. Send, then copy the passphrase

Click **Send**. Once the upload finishes, Databeamer shows **Share this passphrase** with a code like `XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX`. Copy it now. It cannot be shown again, and Databeamer does not keep it.

![The Share this passphrase panel after sending](https://databeamer.eu/docs-screenshots/en/guest-passphrase.png)

## 5. Give the client the passphrase another way

Call the client, or send the passphrase in a text message. Do not put it in an email: the point is that the link and the passphrase travel separately, so neither one on its own is enough.

## What the client sees

They receive an email from Databeamer with a **Secure transfer** link.

![The Secure transfer page asking the guest for the passphrase](https://databeamer.eu/docs-screenshots/en/guest-unlock.png 'What the client sees after opening the link.') The page carries your organisation's branding if you set it up. They enter the passphrase, choose **Unlock**, and see your message and the files with a **Download** button each. The page tells them the files were encrypted end-to-end and offers **Create account** if they want their own. The full walkthrough from their side is in [Open a transfer you received](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/recipients/open-a-transfer).

## Afterwards

Open the transfer in **Exchange › Transfers** to check its **Activity**: you see when the client downloaded. If they report that the link no longer works, the transfer has expired; send a new one.

## If the client is a regular

Once a client has an account, add them to your [Contacts](https://databeamer.eu/en/docs/chat/contacts). Future transfers to them need no passphrase at all: they accept in the app and the files are encrypted directly to their keys.