Quick Start: Your First Data Room in 5 Minutes
Create a Peony data room, upload files, and share a secure link in under five minutes.
Last updated July 22, 2026
Sign up, set your company name, create a room on Business or above, drag in files, toggle the protections you want, and send the link. On the Data Room plan, AI auto-indexing finishes in the background while you configure the rest.
1. Sign Up
Go to app.peony.ink and sign in with your work email. Peony uses a one-time code (OTP) — no password to remember. Your workspace is created on first sign-in.
Your new workspace starts named Peony with a default logo. Click the workspace name at the top of the left navbar to open Edit workspace branding and set your Company name — editable on every plan. Replacing the logo requires the Business plan or above.
The Free plan lets you share single files or folders as tracked links. Creating a full data room requires the Business plan ($30/admin/month) — on Free, the Create new data room button shows an upgrade prompt. Here is how the tiers stack up:
- Business ($30/admin/month): create data rooms, screenshot protection, simple one-click NDA, unlimited e-signatures, video/audio/HTML upload, allow/block visitor lists, custom logo, AI document Q&A (viewers ask questions inside the room).
- Data Room ($52/admin/month): dynamic watermarks, Screenshield (advanced screenshot protection), AI auto-indexing, Visitor Q&A, audit trail, granular per-file permissions, custom domains, unlimited storage.
- Deal Team ($64/admin/month, minimum 4 admins): structured investor Q&A module, new-file notifications, and everything above.
- Enterprise (custom): device fingerprinting, redaction, higher AI limits, API access, and priority support.
Want to try the paid features first? Any paywalled action opens an upgrade screen with a Claim your 7-day Data Room trial link below the payment button — no credit card. If you don't see it, contact support and we'll extend it from the backend.
2. Create a Data Room
On the send screen, click Create new data room ("Best looking data room with enterprise security"). From the data-rooms list you can also use Create data room in the top bar. Both open the create dialog. (This action requires the Business plan or above.)
Name it something your counterparty will recognize — "Acme Series A" or "Project Falcon Diligence." The name appears in the viewer's browser tab. You can rename later without breaking the link URL.
If your workspace has branding defaults (logo, colors), the new room inherits them. Room-level display is controlled from the data room's Settings tab — see Custom Branding for logo and banner edits.
3. Upload Files
Drag and drop files — or a whole folder — into the room. Peony accepts PDFs, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images on every plan. Video, audio, and HTML uploads require the Business plan (on Free these are rejected). Folder structure is preserved on folder upload.
If a folder uploads fewer files than you expected, that's usually macOS hidden files (like .DS_Store) that Peony skips by design — re-upload and choose "only the missing ones" to merge. For large-file or video upload errors, see Upload Issues.
On the Data Room plan, AI auto-indexing runs in the background so your documents become searchable. Keep going — you can configure the link while it indexes. AI auto-indexing — the background indexing that makes your documents searchable — is a Data Room tier feature and does not run on Free or Business rooms. The separate per-group AI document Q&A toggle, which lets viewers ask questions inside the room, is available from the Business plan.
4. Configure the Link
Click Share securely in your data room. A new room has no groups yet — click Create new group to create your first shareable group, then set who can see it and how it's protected. (This opens the link/permissions editor, not a "copy link" shortcut.)
The link editor has a Security control card grid, with a Permissions table below it:
- Security control (card grid) — Email-gated access, Password protection, Expiry, Dynamic watermark (Data Room tier), One-click NDA, Screenshot protection, Access questions (Data Room tier — click the card to set the questions viewers must answer), AI document Q&A (the in-room AI Q&A toggle, available from Business), and Appearance (theme and an optional welcome message for this group). Click any card to open it and set its inner toggle — for example, Password protection opens a Secure password toggle and Expiry opens an Auto-expiry timer.
- Permissions (the table below the grid) — per-folder and per-file control over what this group can view, download, or upload; granular per-file overrides are Data Room tier.
Typical fundraise stack: dynamic watermark plus screenshot protection, with downloads turned off in the Permissions table. For live M&A, add a One-click NDA.
Full walkthrough of access modes, security controls, and per-folder permissions: Permission & Security Settings.
5. Share the Link
Copy the link and send it — email, Slack, LinkedIn, whatever.
The moment a viewer opens the link, their activity shows up in the Analytics tab — pages read, dwell time, exact file order. Click into any viewer's name to see their full activity timeline, location, device, total view time, and downloads. You can also create a separate link per counterparty (using email access, domain gating, or plain links) to isolate their analytics cleanly.
Your data room sidebar has more tabs than just Analytics:
- Documents — the file tree.
- Analytics — per-viewer activity.
- Audit trail — a compliance event log (Data Room tier).
- Q&A — the investor Q&A module; you can enable or disable it per room from Settings (Data Room tier and above).
- Permissions — groups and their link settings.
- Settings — room-level toggles: Index documents (Data Room), Visitor Q&A (Data Room), Show cover image, Show logo, and New file notifications (Deal Team).
Note two different Settings surfaces: your workspace settings (bottom-left of the app home screen) control billing, admins, and custom domains, while the per-data-room Settings tab controls room-level display and notification toggles. The room-level Show cover image / Show logo toggles are separate from the per-link Appearance cover-image control.
Common Mistakes
- Trying to create a data room on Free. Full data rooms require Business or above. Free supports single-file and folder tracked links.
- One link for all investors. Per-viewer analytics still work (click into each name), but separate links make it easier to filter, revoke, and watermark per counterparty.
- Forgetting to toggle protections. The default link is open. Turn on dynamic watermark and screenshot protection from the link's Security control cards.
- Expecting AI features on Free. AI auto-indexing is a Data Room tier feature; the AI document Q&A toggle that lets viewers ask questions inside the room is available from Business. Neither runs on Free.
- Using "Invite Team" when you meant "Invite Viewer". Team invites add paid admins. Viewer invites are free. See Invite Your Team.
Common Questions
Why does an upgrade pop-up appear when I set an expiry or enable a setting on Business?
The prompt is usually triggered by a higher-tier feature that's toggled on — most often Dynamic watermark, which is a Data Room tier feature. A purple or orange flash next to a control means it's a higher tier. Turn Dynamic watermark off and you can save the expiry on Business.
I'm on the Free plan and everything asks me to upgrade — what's included?
Free includes 50 documents, page-level analytics, password and email capture, and a demo data room you can share for 3 days. Sharing a plain file or folder as a tracked link works on Free. Watermarks, screenshot protection, NDAs, and full data rooms require Business or above.
Can I rename my workspace or company name later?
Yes. Click the workspace name at the top of the left navbar to open Edit workspace branding and edit the Company name on any plan. This name shows next to your logo. If you need the name changed on counterparty emails as well, that's part of the Deal Team tier — contact support.
Do I get charged per viewer, per click, or for storage?
No. Billing is per admin seat only. There are no viewer or click charges, storage is unlimited with no size fees, and external viewers never need a Peony account.
My uploaded folder shows fewer files than the original — did some fail?
Usually not. macOS counts hidden files (like .DS_Store) that Peony skips by design. Re-upload the same folder and choose "only the missing ones" to merge just the skipped items. For genuine upload failures, see Upload Issues.