--- title: "How to let others check a signed document · Attest" description: "Let a lender, landlord, employer, auditor or partner confirm a signed document is genuine, free and with no account, and choose exactly what they get to see." url: https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/let-others-verify-signed-document updated: 2026-10-12 --- [Attest](https://attest.datahubz.com/)/[Guides](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides) # How to let others check a signed document Give them something they can check themselves: the signed PDF, which carries its own free verifier, or the agreement's certificate link or verification code, which anyone can open for free and with no account while the certificate is public, as it is by default. If they only need to know that you signed it, and the date it was completed, share a zero-knowledge proof instead, so they learn that fact without seeing the document. By DataHubz · Updated October 12, 2026 · 7 min read ## What the person checking needs A lender reviewing a loan file, a landlord confirming a lease, an employer checking a signed offer, an auditor sampling contracts or a partner confirming a deal usually wants answers to the same questions: does the agreement exist, who signed it, when, and is this the version they signed? Sometimes they also need to read the terms. Often they don't. With Attest, you choose how much they see, and checking costs them nothing: verification is free and needs no account. ## Four ways to share, and what each reveals | What you share | What they can check | What they see | | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | The signed PDF | Each signer's passkey signature, the original document, the pages they see and Attest's anchored record on Horizen, with the verifier inside the file | The whole document, with every signer's entries, the stamps and the seal line, plus the certificate of completion, the audit trail up to completion, the "Verify it yourself, without us" page and the three attached files | | The certificate link (if public) | Who signed and when; every passkey signature and the anchor are re-checked in their browser | Title, file name, verification code, the fingerprints of the document, the signed copy and the signed state, each signer's name and signing time, the blockchain anchor and each signature's evidence. Never the document, and email addresses only to the parties | | The verification code (ATT-XXXX-XXXX) | The same certificate, opened from the code or the stamp's QR code | The same as the certificate link | | A proof from Share proof | One fact: that you signed, or that you and a named co-signer both signed, on the completion date | Your email, the named co-signer's email (if any), the completion date, and that the proof is valid and where its record is anchored. Never the document, its title or any other signer | ## Option 1: send the signed copy When they need to read the agreement, send the signed PDF. Every party downloads the same sealed copy. It holds the signed pages with every signer's entries, a "Signed with Attest" stamp around each signature (initials get a smaller "Attest" stamp) and a seal line at the foot of every page, a certificate of completion, the audit trail up to completion and a "Verify it yourself, without us" page. Attached inside it are the original document exactly as signed, the full evidence and a standalone verifier. The person checking has two ways to verify it: 1. **With the verifier inside the file.** They save attest-verifier.html from the PDF's attachments, open it in any browser and drop the PDF on it. On their device, with no Attest service involved, it checks the original document inside against what every signer signed, each signer's passkey signature and entries, Attest's anchored record of the agreement on Horizen, and that nothing was added to the PDF after it was sealed. It also re-makes the pages they see from what was signed and compares them byte for byte, so pages drawn with anything else fail. The current version is also at [attest.datahubz.com/attest-verifier.html](https://attest.datahubz.com/attest-verifier.html). 2. **Online.** They drop the PDF on [attest.datahubz.com/verify](https://attest.datahubz.com/verify). It is fingerprinted in their browser and never uploaded, and a sealed signed copy is found by its fingerprint. [Verify a signed document, step by step](https://attest.datahubz.com/how-to/verify-signed-document-step-by-step) is the page to send them: it walks through both checks and what each result means. If a filing must keep the document's own page count, download **Signed pages only**: a second version with just the document's pages, which keeps the stamps and the evidence attachments and is anchored too. Keep in mind that the signed copy shares everything in it, including the audit trail page, which a public certificate never shows. ## Option 2: share the certificate link When the last signer signs, every party, including a sender who didn't sign, is emailed a link to the agreement's certificate. The certificate shows anyone with the link the title, the file name, the verification code, the fingerprints of the document, the signed copy and the signed state, each signer's name and signing time, the blockchain anchor and each signature's evidence. It never shows the document, and it shows signers' email addresses only to the parties: the sender, and each signer, through their own link or when signed in. The statement each signer's passkey signs carries their name and, in place of their email address, a salted commitment to it (a fingerprint of the address and a secret value Attest gives only to the parties), so the signature evidence carries no email address. Each time it loads, it re-checks every passkey signature and reads the anchor from the blockchain in the visitor's own browser. Certificate pages are marked noindex, so search engines don't list them. Anyone who can view the certificate can also download a **certificate of completion PDF**, without the document. It names signers only by name, and it carries the evidence and the verifier too, which re-makes its pages from what was signed and compares them byte for byte, so an auditor can keep it on file and re-check it later. **Public or private is your choice.** A certificate is public by default. The sender can make it private when sending, or at any time later from the dashboard (**Make private**) or the API. A private certificate is visible only to the parties; anyone else who looks it up is told the agreement exists and is private. Making a certificate private does not recall copies already downloaded. ## Option 3: point them to the verification code Every signature stamp carries the agreement's verification code (ATT-XXXX-XXXX), the signing date and a QR code, on any page size. The foot of every page of the document reads "Sealed by DataHubz Attest" with the same code and the link to verify it. The person checking can: 1. Scan the QR code on a stamp with a phone camera, or 2. Type the code at [attest.datahubz.com/verify](https://attest.datahubz.com/verify), or 3. Open verify.datahubz.com/ followed by the code, which opens the verifier with the code filled in. Each route leads to the agreement's certificate or, if the certificate is private, says the agreement exists and is private. One limit to explain to them: the code leads to the record, but a printed page can't prove its own words. To confirm that a paper or a file is the signed document, they compare it with the signed copy or drop the file on the verifier. ## Option 4: Share proof, when they should learn only one fact Sometimes the right answer is "yes, it's signed" and nothing more. A lender may only need to know that you signed an agreement with a named counterparty, and when it was completed; a partner may only need to know that you and a contact at another company both signed. **Share proof** lets a signer prove one fact about a completed agreement: that they signed it, or that they and a named co-signer both signed it, on its completion date. It uses a **zero-knowledge proof**: a cryptographic proof that a statement is true which reveals nothing beyond the statement. The recipient sees your email address, the named co-signer's email address (for the second kind), the completion date as a calendar day (UTC), and that the proof is valid and where its record is anchored. They never see the document, its terms, its title or any other signer. 1. In the dashboard, open the completed document and choose **Share proof**. 2. Send the proof link or its ID (azk\_...) to the person checking. 3. They open it, or paste the ID at [attest.datahubz.com/verify](https://attest.datahubz.com/verify), free and with no account. They see the statement, whether the proof is valid, whether the named email addresses match it, the anchor and its status on zkVerify, the independent network that verifies every Attest proof. A proof for each signer is made automatically when the agreement completes, and each party decides who sees theirs. Share proof is on every plan, Free included, with up to 10 proofs per party per agreement, and each proof can be checked any number of times. A proof names email addresses, not companies, so "an agreement with Acme" means a co-signer's address at Acme. For more, see [how to prove you signed without sharing the contract](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/prove-you-signed-without-sharing-contract). ## For teams that check many documents Software can verify Attest records through the public API, POST /api/v1/verify, with no API key. The [verification guide](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/verify-signed-document) covers what each check proves, step by step. ## Questions people ask Does the person checking need an Attest account or have to pay? No. Verification is free and needs no account. They open attest.datahubz.com/verify, or the link or file you send, and the check runs in their own browser. If I share the certificate link, will they see my document? No. The certificate never shows the document. It does show the title, the file name, the verification code, the fingerprints of the document, the signed copy and the signed state, each signer's name and signing time, the blockchain anchor and each signature's evidence, so give the document a title you are comfortable sharing. Can I stop strangers from looking up my agreement? Yes. The sender can make the certificate private when sending or at any time later. Anyone who isn't a party is then told only that the agreement exists and is private, and the parties can share zero-knowledge proofs instead. What does a lender see in a shared proof? The statement that you signed a completed agreement, or that you and a named co-signer both did, with the completion date, your email address and the co-signer's if included, and that the proof is valid and where its record is anchored. The document, its title, its terms and any other signer stay private. Can they still check the document if Attest isn't available? Yes, with the signed copy or the certificate of completion PDF. Both carry the evidence and the standalone verifier, which runs in any browser with no Attest service, reading only a public blockchain node. ## Read next - [Verify](https://attest.datahubz.com/verify) Check a signed document, receipt, certificate or proof for free, with no account. Drop the file, or enter its ID or fingerprint: it is checked in your browser. - [How to prove you signed without sharing the contract](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/prove-you-signed-without-sharing-contract) Prove you signed an agreement, and the date it was completed, without handing over the contract: a zero-knowledge proof, verified on zkVerify. - [How to verify that a signed document is genuine](https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/verify-signed-document) Check who signed, that nothing changed and when. How e-signature services verify documents, and how to check an Attest document free, even without Attest. - [Document signing](https://attest.datahubz.com/sign) Electronic signatures with a passkey: no account or password for signers, documents encrypted in the browser, and a signed copy anyone can verify. --- Source: https://attest.datahubz.com/guides/let-others-verify-signed-document