GETTING STARTED
Get started with ClearHarbor
From download to your first clean note, in a few minutes.
Once ClearHarbor Desktop is installed, it works without an internet connection. The only thing that ever leaves your computer is a note you choose to write and send us, plus a set of non-identifying technical details about the app — never your documents or their contents.
What counts as “technical details”?
What's in the note: what you typed, cleaned twice — once on your own computer, before you see it, and again when it reaches us — and shown to you on screen before you send it.
What's in the technical details: around 60 small pieces of information about how the app was used — things like which screen you were on, how many items were found, your app and Windows version, and how large the document was. Each one is a category, a count, or a version number, never free text — none of them can hold a name, a document, or a file path, because the fields they're built from don't have room for that kind of thing.
How long we keep it: 30 days, then it's deleted automatically.
Quick start
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Download and install
Download ClearHarbor and run the installer. Windows may show a caution screen the first time you open this — that’s normal for a new app from an independent developer, not a sign of a problem. Click More info → Run anyway to continue.
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Open it and paste a note
Open ClearHarbor and paste in a note. Not ready to paste something real? Click “Try a sample note” to watch it work first, on fake patient data.
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Run it and review the findings
Click Run. ClearHarbor lists everything it found — names, dates, record numbers, and more — so you can check its work before anything changes.
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Copy your clean result
Once you’re satisfied, click Copy to place the cleaned note on your clipboard, ready to paste wherever it needs to go.
Meet the floating button
When you copy text anywhere on your computer, a small button glows to offer to clean it before you paste it. It runs the same local check as the main window — nothing about your clipboard is sent anywhere.
- Glows the moment you copy text — click it to review and clean that text before pasting.
- Drag it anywhere on screen; it stays where you put it.
- Right-click it to hide it, any time.
- Bring it back from the tray icon’s menu, or the Floating button toggle in the app.
Frequently asked questions
Does ClearHarbor work offline?
Yes. ClearHarbor runs entirely on your computer and works fully offline — it never needs an internet connection to clean a note.
What does ClearHarbor remove?
ClearHarbor finds and removes the kinds of identifying detail defined by HIPAA’s Safe Harbor method — grouped here, not listed exhaustively:
- Who: names, and ID numbers tied to a person (medical record, health plan, account, license, or Social Security numbers)
- Where: addresses and locations smaller than a state
- When: specific dates tied to a person, like birthdays or admission dates (the year alone is kept)
- Contact info: phone, fax, email, and web addresses
- Devices: serial numbers, device IDs, and vehicle identifiers
- Digital traces: IP addresses and other online identifiers
- Images and biometrics: photos, fingerprints, and other unique physical identifiers
For the exact regulatory list, see HIPAA’s Safe Harbor method (45 CFR §164.514(b)(2)), which defines all 18 categories.
What is Deep Detection?
Deep Detection is an optional add-on that helps catch things the built-in rules might miss — names and identifiers written in less predictable ways. It runs entirely on your computer, downloads once (about 1.8 GB), and never sends anything anywhere. Turn it on or off anytime in Settings; turning it off removes the download too.
Is anything sent to the cloud?
Only if you choose to send us feedback — a note you write, plus a set of non-identifying technical details about the app, never your documents or their contents. Everything you paste, upload, or clean stays exactly where it is, on your computer.
How do I hide or bring back the floating button?
Right-click the button to hide it, any time. Bring it back from the ClearHarbor icon in your system tray (choose “Show floating button”), or the Floating button toggle in the app window.
Why does Windows warn me when I install ClearHarbor?
Windows may show a caution screen the first time you open this — that’s normal for a new app from an independent developer, not a sign of a problem. Click More info → Run anyway to continue.
New to ClearHarbor? Download it to get started.