Changelog

Version 3.1.0

Added

• Remember recent files setting (on by default). Switching it off hides the Quick Access Recent Files list, stops recording opened files, and erases the list already saved on your device.

Security

• SafeViewer's own settings file is now encrypted at rest. It used to hold your favorites, recent files, and vault folder as plain readable paths — enough to name your protected content without opening a single encrypted file. It’s now AES-256-GCM encrypted under a key derived from your session password, with tampering detected. An existing plain settings file is read once and rewritten encrypted the first time you unlock.
• If the settings file can’t be decrypted, SafeViewer falls back to defaults and refuses to overwrite the file, so a typo in your password can’t silently destroy your favorites and settings.
• SafeViewer's file pickers no longer add what you choose to Windows' recent-documents history. Previously, the plaintext originals selected in Add Files, and the destination chosen in Export un-encrypted, survived in File Explorer's Quick Access even after the originals were deleted. Viewing an encrypted file was never affected — the viewer decrypts in memory and never launches an external app.

Version 3.0.0

Added

• Encrypted video support for MP4, M4V, MKV, WebM, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, MPG/MPEG and 3GP, with transport controls (play/pause, click-or-drag seek, volume) in a dedicated viewer window.
• Video keeps SafeViewer’s strict in-memory rule — the decrypted video is never written to disk. It’s decrypted on the fly and streamed to the player from memory, and the decrypted buffers are cleared when the viewer window closes.
• The seek bar supports jumping to any point — click the track or drag the thumb, and playback resumes from that position.

Changed

• A new chunked encryption format for video, so large movies can be seeked and streamed without loading the whole file into memory — each roughly 1 MiB chunk is independently encrypted and authenticated. Existing files are unaffected: images and documents keep the original whole-file format, and every previously encrypted file still opens exactly as before.

Security

• Each video chunk binds its own position (index and total count) into the authentication, so a tampered, reordered or truncated video fails to decrypt rather than playing corrupted content.

Version 2.0.0

Added

• Encrypted-file explorer — browse any drive or folder on your PC; the list shows only encrypted files plus folders for navigation. Location dropdown, clickable breadcrumb, Home / Refresh / Up, list & grid views, search, and colour-coded file icons with a lock badge.
• Add Files — drag & drop or pick files, encrypt them in the same folder or into the folder you're browsing, with live progress and a completion summary (encrypted / skipped already-encrypted / unsupported / failed).
• Add Folder — encrypt an entire folder, with an include-subfolders toggle and a summary of files, size and sub-folders.
• In-memory viewers — images, PDFs, text / code, Excel, Word and PowerPoint, with a single-click preview and a separate maximizable viewer window. Images and PDFs support mouse-wheel zoom and click-drag panning.
• Right-click actions on files — View, Export un-encrypted… (save a decrypted copy to a chosen location), and Delete.
• Quick Access — pin folders to Favorites and reopen Recent Files; both persist between sessions.
• Settings — appearance theme (System / Light / Dark), a “Starts In” folder the explorer opens in after every unlock, and a “Files to encrypt” choice (images & known document types, or all files).
• Unlock screen improvements — the password box is focused automatically, and an encryption disclaimer explains the no-password-recovery rule and how consistent-password encryption works.
• About window with product branding, version and an auto-incrementing build number.
• A crash log — unexpected errors are written to your app-data folder and shown in a dialog instead of terminating the app.

Security

• Authenticated AES-256 encryption with per-file salt and tamper detection, replacing the original fixed-salt scheme.
• Decrypted content exists only in memory while you view it — plaintext is never written to disk.
• SafeViewer will never delete files in protected OS locations (Windows, System32, Program Files), and never deletes your un-encrypted originals.

Changed

• New encrypted files use the .es260 extension; older .es256 files are still read in place and decrypted automatically.
• The fixed Documents\SafeViewer vault and the separate import wizard were removed — legacy files are now read directly where they live.
• Modern light / dark interface that follows the Windows theme; the main window opens larger and shows the app icon in the title bar.

Fixed

• The explorer now reliably opens in your chosen “Starts In” folder.
• The Settings window no longer crashes when reopened, and now shows all options without scrolling.
• Numerous Add Files / Add Folder refinements — clearer button labels, the current-folder path shown, and individual file failures no longer abort the whole run.

Version 1.0

Initial Release

• A simple encrypted-file vault for Windows — files stored encrypted in a dedicated Documents\SafeViewer folder.
• AES-256 encrypted .es256 files, unlocked with a single session password.
• Import files into the vault and open them for viewing.