Frequently askedquestions

ExactlyHow is knowledge preservation and transfer software: organizations document how work is done as owned processes, find them in a process library, and transfer ownership when people change — vacation, leave, role changes, resignations, retirement.

Operations and People teams at mid-market businesses, public organizations and education institutions who need work to keep running when someone is out, changes roles, or leaves.

Most documentation tools just store pages. ExactlyHow adds a named owner to every process, a library you can actually search and filter by title, owner, department, team, or job title, and a formal way to transfer that ownership when people change jobs or leave.

Yes. You can attach supporting files, templates, spreadsheets, and reference materials directly to any process.

Yes. Contextual comments allow teams to ask questions, suggest improvements, and collaborate directly on specific steps.

Yes, anyone with Editor access and the right permission on that process can collaborate on and update it.

Every process keeps its comment history, so you can see who asked what and what changed. There's no one-click revert to a prior version today.

Yes, you can duplicate processes to use them as templates for similar operational workflows.

Yes. Workspaces can be segmented by Departments and Teams.

Users receive notifications when a process they own or follow is updated, commented on, or transferred.

The Process Library is the centralized, searchable repository where all your organization's approved operational processes live. Instead of scattered documents across multiple drives, everything is in one place.

Search matches on title, owner, department, team, or job title — not the text inside step instructions or attached files.

Yes. By typing a plain-language query like 'monthly report' or 'vendor onboarding', the system instantly returns relevant processes ranked by relevance and recent activity.

Yes. You can structure your library with dedicated Teams and Departments, ensuring Finance processes are managed by Finance while still being globally searchable if permissions allow.

Yes. You can filter the Process Library by title, owner, department, team, or job title.

Yes. Processes can be archived to remove them from active search results while retaining their complete history and documentation for audit purposes.

Instead of just changing a name on a document, an owner sends a transition request to the next owner. Once accepted, the steps, tools, attachments and comment history move with it — this is a Business plan feature.

Before they depart, you transition each process they own to their manager or successor, so ownership and the full context move with the work instead of leaving with the person.

Yes. The Transitions inbox shows incoming, outgoing and completed transfers so managers can see what's pending across the team.

Yes. Ownership can be transitioned again at any time as team structures change or projects are handed off.

Every transition records who requested it, who accepted it, and when — so there's a clear record of who owned a process and when it changed hands.

A paid user is anyone who creates, edits, or maintains processes — including Owners and Admins. You only pay for these seats. Viewers are free.

We believe knowledge should be accessible. Most employees only need to search and view processes, so we do not charge for them.

ExactlyHow currently offers Free and Business. Free includes up to 3 creators/editors and 15 processes. Business is $19 per billable seat per month ($15/mo billed yearly) with unlimited processes and advanced team features. Owners, Admins, and Editors are billable; Viewers are free.

Yes. You can upgrade from Free to Business at any time from Settings & Billing.

Yes. You can switch to annual billing at any point to save 21%.

Data is protected with layered security controls, including modern encryption at rest and in transit.

You do. Customers retain complete ownership of all data uploaded to ExactlyHow.

Yes. Data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 and in transit using TLS.

Free plans include Creator and Viewer permissions. Business adds Admin roles and full Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

SSO and SCIM are not available yet — we're focused on Free and Business first. Business includes session controls and audit logs today; authenticator-app MFA is coming soon.

We maintain automated, encrypted, and geographically redundant backups.

Yes. Prospects can request our security overview and architecture details. Email exactlyhowsaas@gmail.com or visit the Trust Center.

Most organizations can set up their workspace and begin documenting their first process in under 15 minutes.

You can invite employees via email or sharing links from User Management.

Yes. Many customers begin with a single department (like Operations or Finance) and expand to the rest of the company over time.

We recommend starting with processes that are highly repetitive, complex, or currently held by a single key employee.

Typically: Create Organization → Invite Core Creators → Document High-Value Processes → Invite Viewers → Establish Transition Protocols on Business.

Use Ask a question on this page or in Help & Support inside the app. We send it to the ExactlyHow team and reply by email.

Yes — self-serve resources and Help FAQs are available on every plan. Book a demo if you want a guided walkthrough.

Yes. Send feature requests with Ask a question. We review them when we prioritize the roadmap.

Use Ask a question and include steps to reproduce. You can do that here or from Help & Support in the app.