---
id: KB-SC-013
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/smartcheck/what-if-i-lose-the-original-file
idioma: en
categoria: smartcheck
subcategoria: empezar
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-SC-002, KB-SC-010, KB-SC-020]
citadoPor: [KB-SC-015]
---

# What if I lose the original file?

_What can still be proven without the file, and why it is best not to get there._

**Responde a:** i lost the certified document · can it be verified without the file · what if i delete a sealed document · recovering certified evidence

Certifying a document does not store a copy somewhere else in the world: it fixes a fingerprint that lets you check that **that** file is the same one that existed on that date. The practical consequence is direct: if the file disappears, the check has nothing to work on.

## What survives and what does not

| Still exists | No longer possible |
| --- | --- |
| The record that something was certified, and when | Checking a file matches, with no file |
| The fingerprint of that content | Reconstructing the content from the fingerprint |
| The record of who did it | Proving exactly what the document said |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row on the right surprises people: the fingerprint is not a compressed copy, and you cannot work back from it. It proves a file is the same one; it does not let you recover it.

## How to avoid the problem

1. **Keep the document in its file, not only on a machine** — That is what stops it depending on a disk or a person.
2. **Download copies of what is genuinely critical** — Whatever supports a large claim, keep outside as well.
3. **And do not delete old material to make room** — It takes little space and its value appears years later, exactly when it is gone.

> [!WARNING]
> Beware automatic retention deletion. If you have a policy that deletes after X years, check it does not sweep up certified documents supporting something with a longer claim window.

## If it has already happened

**En corto**

- Check whether someone outside has a copy: the other party, the adviser, the client.
- Any copy works, provided it is exactly the same file.
- And if a different version turns up, it will not verify — which is also information.

That last point has a positive reading: if a recovered copy verifies, you know with certainty it is the original document and not a version altered along the way.

> [!NOTE]
> The commonest loss is not a technical failure: it is a document that only existed in the email or desktop of someone who has left. The answer is not more backups; it is that it should never have lived there.

**Does the platform store my documents?**

Yes, what is uploaded is there and can be downloaded. The risk is what was never uploaded.

**What if I stop being a customer?**

You can export everything; and certified material can still be verified afterwards.

**Is a paper printout enough?**

To read it yes, to verify no: the check is on the exact file.

## Ejemplos

**A company certifies a report and keeps it only on the author's laptop.**

- Uploads the report to the matter's file
- Also downloads a copy of what is critical

→ The day that laptop fails, the document is still there and still verifies.

**The file is lost and only the reference remains.**

- Checks what can be asserted without it

→ You know what you actually have.

**The file sits on a machine that failed.**

- Keeps a copy in more than one place

→ The loss stops being total.

**Only the seal reference is kept.**

- Keeps document and reference together

→ The proof is complete.

**The loss is discovered when the proof is needed.**

- Verifies a sample periodically

→ The problem is discovered sooner.

**The file was held by somebody who left.**

- Stores evidence off personal machines

→ Somebody leaving does not take the proof.