Desktop App

Last Updated: 2026-02-09

The cloak.business desktop application provides a local interface for secure document processing. Documents stay on your device, and only extracted text is sent for analysis.

Table of Contents#

1. Overview
2. Installation
3. How It Works
4. Features
5. Processing Documents
6. Encryption Keys
7. Presets
8. System Requirements

Overview#

The desktop app brings cloak.business functionality to your local machine. It is designed for users who prefer a native application experience or need to process sensitive documents without uploading full files to the cloud.

Key benefits:

• Documents remain on your device -- only extracted text is sent for analysis.
• Drag-and-drop support for quick document loading.
• Encrypted local vault for storing analysis history and encryption keys.
• Full access to all anonymization methods and presets.

Installation#

1. Go to cloak.business and navigate to the Downloads section.
2. Download the installer for your operating system.
3. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.
4. Launch the application and sign in with your cloak.business account.

Platform Availability#

How It Works#

The desktop app processes documents in a privacy-focused pipeline:

1. Local file loading -- you select a file from your device. The file is opened and read locally.
2. Text extraction -- text is extracted from the document on your machine. The original file is never uploaded.
3. Analysis -- the extracted text is sent to the cloak.business analysis engine for PII detection.
4. Results -- detection results are returned to your desktop app.
5. Anonymization -- you choose anonymization methods and the text is anonymized.
6. Reconstruction -- the anonymized text is used to reconstruct the document locally on your device.

At no point is the original document file sent to or stored on cloak.business servers.

Features#

Drag and Drop#

Drag files directly from your file explorer into the application window. Multiple files can be dropped at once for batch processing.

Supported File Formats#

Encrypted Local Vault#

The desktop app includes an encrypted vault stored on your device:

• Analysis history -- past analyses are saved locally for reference.
• Encryption keys -- keys used for the Encrypt anonymization method are stored securely.
• The vault is encrypted with your account credentials and is only accessible when you are signed in.

All Anonymization Methods#

The desktop app supports all five anonymization methods:

• Replace, Redact, Hash, Encrypt, and Mask.
• Per-entity type configuration is available, just like the web app.

Processing Documents#

Step-by-Step#

1. Open the app and sign in with your cloak.business account.
2. Load a document by clicking Open File or dragging it into the window.
3. Select a preset or configure entity types manually.
4. Click Analyze to detect PII in the extracted text.
5. Review results -- detected entities are listed with types, values, and confidence scores.
6. Choose anonymization methods for each entity type or apply a global method.
7. Click Anonymize to produce the anonymized output.
8. Save the anonymized document to your device.

Token Usage#

The desktop app uses the same token balance as the web app. Text analysis consumes tokens based on character count. See the Token System guide for details.

Encryption Keys#

When using the Encrypt anonymization method:

• Your encryption key is stored in the local encrypted vault.
• Keys are associated with specific anonymization operations.
• You can retrieve keys later to deanonymize text.
• Back up your keys. If you lose access to the vault (e.g., by reinstalling the app without exporting keys), encrypted text cannot be recovered.

Presets#

The desktop app includes the same 157+ presets available in the web app:

• 131 country presets
• Regional presets (EU, DACH, Nordic, APAC, etc.)
• Industry presets (Healthcare, Finance, Technology, Legal)
• Custom entity selection

Preset selection and entity configuration work identically to the web app. See Presets & Entity Configuration for details.

System Requirements#

The desktop app requires an active internet connection to perform analysis. Document loading, text extraction, and result reconstruction happen locally.