Set up Sopycat for an office

The short version

Choose where the shared library will live.
Install Sopycat on each PC.
Point every copy at the same library folder.
Fill in each person's name.
Decide whether you need regulated-office mode, and turn it on everywhere if so.
Turn on weekly backups on one PC.

Each step is explained below. For keys and office plans, see Buying and your key.

1. Choose where the library lives

Pick a folder everyone can reach: a folder in your office OneDrive or Dropbox that each person syncs, or a folder on a network drive. Make a new, empty folder called something like "Sopycat library".

Think about who should see what. Anyone with access to the folder can open everything in it, including the untouched screen pictures behind any blurs. Set access in OneDrive, Dropbox or on the network drive, not in Sopycat. If some manuals are only for managers, keep them in a second library in a folder only managers can open.

If someone has already been using Sopycat on their own, you can start from their library instead. See Set up a shared library.

2. Install Sopycat on each PC

Download the installer from the download page and run it on each PC. It needs Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit and installs for the Windows user who runs it, so no administrator password is needed. If several people sign in to one PC with their own Windows accounts, each of them installs it.

Windows may show a "Windows protected your PC" message for a new app. See Install, update and uninstall for what to do.

Each installation has its own settings. Anything you choose in Settings, such as the writing mode, the recording keys or the Office pack, has to be set on each PC.

3. Point everyone at the same folder

Settings › Where your manuals are kept › Change…

The Welcome page on first start asks Where your library lives. Press Change… there and choose the shared folder. On a PC where Sopycat is already set up, go to Settings › Where your manuals are kept › Change….

With a sync program, let it finish downloading the folder before you choose it. Check afterwards that everyone sees the same items.

On the first start, Sopycat puts its sample manual and sample PDF in the usual library folder, Documents\Sopycat, before you choose the shared one. They stay behind there when you switch, so that folder can be deleted if nobody used it. If samples do turn up in the shared library, click the Samples label in the sidebar to find them and delete any you do not need.

4. Fill in each person's name

Settings › Your name

Type each person's real name, for example "Maria Lopez". It is used:

on Follow along completions and reading confirmations in Records
in the banner colleagues see while you are editing
on items you delete, and on each save
as the author of PDF comments

If the box is empty, Sopycat uses the Windows user name, which is often less clear. The first time someone uses Follow along without a name, Sopycat asks Who is doing this? and saves the answer here.

Also give each PC its own Windows computer name. Two PCs with the same name are treated as one when Sopycat checks who is editing.

5. Decide on regulated-office mode

Settings › Regulated office › Regulated-office mode

Regulated-office mode is for offices that must keep a tight record and keep everything on their own computers. When it is on:

Step sentences are only written on the PC. The Sopycat account and My own Anthropic key writing modes are switched off, even if they were set up.
Share as a web page is hidden.
Automatic update checks and crash reports are turned off, and Send under "If something goes wrong" cannot be used. Check for updates by hand with Settings › Updates › Check now.
Every view, edit, export, backup, redaction, signature and record is written to the audit log.

With it off, the audit log still records redactions, signatures, publishing, reading confirmations, Follow along runs, deleting and restoring, and restoring a backup.

The mode is a setting on each PC. Turn it on on every PC that uses the library, or some actions will not be logged. To read the log, press Show the audit log in the same section, or Save as CSV… to open it in Excel. The log lives in the library folder, so it covers every PC that uses it.

More on what leaves the PC is in What stays on your PC.

6. Set up backups

Settings › Backup › Back up automatically once a week

A sync program copies mistakes as quickly as it copies good work. If someone deletes a folder outside Sopycat, it disappears on every PC. Keep real backups as well:

Choose one PC that is on most days, such as the office manager's.
On that PC, open Settings › Backup and tick Back up automatically once a week.
Choose a folder that is not inside the shared library, ideally on another drive or somewhere your IT backs up.

Sopycat keeps the last 4 weekly backups. It only backs up while it is open on that PC. One PC is enough, because each backup holds the whole shared library. See Backups and Recently deleted.

Day to day

If a colleague is editing something, you see their name in a banner. Choose Open read-only unless you have agreed otherwise.
If Sopycat says an item was changed on another computer, choose Reload theirs or Keep yours as a copy. See Share a library with your office.
Deleted items can be restored by anyone for 30 days from Recently deleted.
Use Ask staff to confirm they read this… on important manuals and check the Records page for who has read and done what.