# How data rooms work

> Each deal can have one data room with standard folders, a stage checklist with owners and due dates, founder uploads, versions, Q&A and an activity log.

Source: https://delsivo.com/help/data-rooms/how-data-rooms-work · Updated 2026-11-07

## Key takeaways

- A deal has one data room, created from its Data room tab with the Seed, Series A, Confirmatory or Folders only template.
- Every room has the folders funds expect plus a team-only Fund workpapers folder that founders and guests never see.
- Checklist items have an owner, a due date and a review state, and are grouped by diligence workstream through their folder.
- Founders see nothing until you give them access in Settings and access, and then only the folders you choose.
- The Data rooms page lists what is outstanding across your deals and what came in during the last seven days.

A data room keeps one deal's diligence in one place: the documents, the checklist of what you still need, who owns each item, and the questions you asked about each file. Founders upload on your fund's portal, so nothing arrives by email attachment.

## Create the room

1. Open the deal and choose **Data room**.
2. Under **Checklist**, pick a template. The deal's stage suggests one. See [Room templates](/help/data-rooms/room-templates).
3. Choose **Create data room**.

The room starts with the folders **Corporate**, **Financials**, **Customers**, **Product and IP**, **Security**, **People** and **Round Documents**, plus **Fund workpapers** for your own market map, reference call notes and committee documents. Each checklist item is owned by the deal owner and has a due date. A deal keeps one room.

You need to be able to edit the deal to create or change its room: an admin or partner, or the analyst the deal is assigned to. Anyone who can see the deal can read its room. Committee members don't open data rooms; they read the packets assigned to them.

## What the room shows

The top of the room shows its state (**Open**, **Closed** or **Archived**), the **Checklist** progress bar with how many required items are accepted, and four counts: **Open**, **To review**, **Overdue** and **Files**. **Open by workstream** splits the open items into Market, Product and technology, Customers, Financials, Team and Legal, so a partner sees where diligence stands at a glance.

Below it are three tabs:

| Tab | What it's for |
|---|---|
| **Files** | The folder tree on the left, the files of the chosen folder on the right. Drop files on a folder to upload there. |
| **Checklist** | Every item with its state, owner and due date, grouped by **Workstream**, **Owner** or **Folder**. **Open only** and **Mine** narrow the list. |
| **Activity** | Uploads, previews, downloads, review changes and access changes, with who and when. See [The room's activity log](/help/data-rooms/access-log). |

Select a file to open it in a side panel with its preview, versions and questions. Select a checklist item to review it. The address bar keeps what you opened, so you can send a teammate the link.

## Folders

Use **Add folder** under the tree, or a folder's menu (**Edit folder**, **Add a folder inside**, **Remove folder**). A folder can be:

- **Team only**: for your own work. Founders and guests never see it, or anything inside it, whatever access they were given.
- **Founders can see this folder**: founders with room access see it and, if you allow, upload into it. Turn it off to keep a folder for guests or the team.

A lock marks team-only folders and a crossed-out eye marks folders hidden from founders. Only an empty folder can be removed.

## Give the founder access

1. In the room, choose **Settings and access**.
2. Under **Founders**, turn on **Can open the room** for each founder who should see it. They get every founder folder with upload allowed.
3. To narrow it, set each folder to **No access**, **View** or **View and upload**.

Nothing is emailed from here. The founder opens the room from your portal. Founders are never asked to accept an NDA: founder materials are confidential under your fund's policy. Turning access off ends it at once.

Under **Room** in the same panel you can rename the room, close it (read only for founders and guests) or archive it (team only), turn on **Watermark guest previews and downloads** (PDFs and images are stamped; other file types stay closed to guests while it's on), and keep a link to **The founder's own data room** with where your access stands.

## Questions and internal notes

Every file and checklist item has **Questions and notes**. A comment is visible to the founder when they can see that file or item. Turn on **Internal note (team only)** to keep a note inside your team: founders and guests never see internal notes. Each comment records the file version it was written against. Use **Resolve** when a question is answered.

## Across your deals

**Data rooms** in the sidebar answers "what's outstanding across my deals and what came in since last week":

- **Rooms**: one row per room, later stages first, then the most overdue, with progress and open items by workstream.
- **Outstanding**: every open checklist item, grouped by workstream or owner, with **Mine** and **Overdue only** filters.
- **Since last week**: files uploaded in the last seven days.

Analysts see the rooms of deals assigned to them. Partners and admins see every room.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a deal have more than one room?

No. A deal keeps one room. Add folders for anything else, such as confirmatory diligence after the term sheet.

### Does the AI read the room?

Ask This Deal and search read clean files in the folders the person asking can see. Nothing in a team-only folder reaches a founder or guest through any answer, and AI never changes a checklist state or contacts the founder.

### What happens when I archive a room?

Founders and guests can no longer open it. Your team still can, and every file and version is kept.