How do I add watermarking to my data room?

This guide explains how to enable dynamic watermarking to your data room and how it works when participants view your documents. Dynamic watermarking helps protect sensitive information by making each document traceable to the individual viewing it.

Enabling Dynamic Watermarking

You can enable dynamic watermarking directly from your data room settings, by following the steps below

1. Go to the Data Rooms app
2. Select your data room to open the settings panel
3. Go to the Options tab
4. Toggle on Dynamic Watermarking

Once enabled, watermarking will automatically apply to all supported documents in your data room.

Note: Dynamic watermarking is only available on our Teams Plans 

Documents Supported for Watermarking

Dynamic watermarking applies to specific documents that we can preview within the data room including the following (full list can be found here)

1. PDF files
2. Google Docs
3. Google Sheets
4. Google Slides
5. MS Word
6. PowerPoint presentations (.ppt, .pptx)

Watermarking is applied when these files are previewed within your data room and are also included in the downloaded version (if downloading is enabled).

How Dynamic Watermarking Works

When dynamic watermarking is enabled, each participant will see a personalized watermark applied to documents when viewing them.

The watermark includes the participant’s email address overlaid across each page of the document allowing

1. Each document to be uniquely tied to the participant
2. Screenshots or shared copies can be traced back to the viewer
3. Participants are discouraged from unauthorized sharing

Watermarking is applied automatically and does not require any changes to your existing documents. It also works seamlessly within the document preview experience, ensuring security without interrupting usability.

Note: Watermarking will also apply to the downloaded version of each document (if downloading is enabled).

Best Practices

To maximize the effectiveness of dynamic watermarking, it’s recommended to combine it with additional security controls.

Use device-level security

Limit the number of devices each participant can use to access the data room. This reduces the risk of access links being shared or forwarded by participants.

NDA Gating

Requires recipients to accept a non-disclosure agreement before accessing your documents. This adds a legal layer of protection, ensuring confidential documents are covered under your NDA.

Download Restrictions

Control how your documents are used by preventing or limiting downloads. This helps reduce unauthorized sharing and ensures your content stays within the secure viewing environment, even after it’s been accessed.

Using these controls together ensures your documents remain secure, traceable, and accessible only to the right people.

Summary

Dynamic watermarking adds an extra layer of security to your data room by making document access traceable to each participant, even when the file is downloaded. By enabling watermarking, you can confidently share sensitive documents while reducing the risk of unauthorized distribution and maintaining accountability across all participants.