Frequently Asked Questions
We must comply with Social Security Administration requirements and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act standards. Because we must follow those standards, we cannot guarantee that the Electronic Records Express website will be compatible with all internet browsers. We tested the Electronic Records Express website with commonly used browsers such as Internet Explorer for Windows, Firefox for Windows and Mac, Safari for Windows and Mac, and Chrome for Windows and Mac. To get the best results, we highly recommend that your browser have JavaScript enabled in your browser's preferences.
If you are experiencing technical difficulties, you should first check the security or preference settings for your browser. If further assistance is needed, please call the Social Security Electronic Records Express Help Desk at 1-866-691-3061.
Depending on which service you are using, the Electronic Records Express website will accept at least one of the following file formats: .doc, .wpd, .zip, .jpg, .bmp, .txt, .xls, .pdf, .tiff, .tif, .docx, .mdi, .rtf, and .xlsx.
Yes. The total file size of individual submissions using Send Response for Individual Case cannot exceed 50 megabytes. The total file size of files sent using Communication Utility cannot exceed 5 megabytes. (i.e., the aggregate size for all files in any one upload submission may not exceed 50MB or 5MB respectively.)
Online instructions are available by clicking on the "User Instructions" link in the upper right hand corner of Electronic Records Express website pages. Additional written instructions are available on Electronic Records Express page (https://www.ssa.gov/ere) available on www.socialsecurity.gov.
You may call the Social Security Electronic Records Express Help Desk at 1-866-691-3061 or send them an email at electronic-records-express@ssa.gov, or you should contact the office where you are sending the document or the office that requested the information.
To receive notification of scheduled ERE outages, you may subscribe to ERE GovDelivery services on the Social Security Administration's ERE internet website: Social Security Online: Electronic Records Express. You may also subscribe by clicking on the red envelope found on the Bulletin Board of the ERE website's homepage.
The tracking information page means that your document(s) was successfully uploaded to the Social Security web server. Once it is uploaded it must go through a virus scan and a file conversion process (converted to a Tagged Image Format file in order to conform to our storage format). Occasionally an uploaded document will not process. You should allow up to 24 hours before resending a document, although website submissions will be processed in a few hours under normal circumstances.
The website supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) / TLS (Transport Layer Security) encryption to protect records submitted from your PC to Social Security and the Disability Determination Services. Your account is protected by your confidential user ID and password combination.
You must contact the DDS to obtain a DDS barcode before sending any information to DDS.
You must have a barcode from the ODAR office you are dealing with before sending any information via the Electronic Records Express website.
After 25 minutes of website inactivity, you will be asked to indicate that you want to continue using the website. If you do not respond within 5 minutes, you will be logged off the Electronic Records Express Website. All users are logged out of the website 2 hours after logging in. If you want to continue using the website and have been logged out, you will need to go to the login page and reenter your User ID and Password.
Yes. There are User Instructions that will guide you through this process. You can find these instructions on any ERE page by selecting the "User Instructions" link in the upper right hand corner.
This message can be received for a number of reasons, such as:
For additional help, contact the Social Security office handling the case.
You will receive this message if you had 10 unsuccessful attempts to access electronic folders within a 24 hour period. You should contact the Social Security Administration at 1-866-691-3061 to reinstate your access to the service.
No, this restarts the clock and the count for failed attempts (10).
You must contact the local Hearing or Appeals Council office handling your case for additional help. Note: These unsuccessful attempts to access your claimant's electronic folder will not count as one of the 10 unsuccessful attempts that will cause your access to be suspended.
No, currently only cases at the Hearing or Appeals Council office can be viewed.
An email will be sent to you when your documents are ready to "pick-up". For more detailed information about this process, there are User Instructions that will guide you through this process. You can find these instructions on any ERE page by selecting the "User Instructions" link in the upper right hand corner.
If it has been more than 48 hours and you have not received an email, request the documents again.
Files are retained for seven (7) days. You will need to request these files again if they are no longer available.
No, the files remain for 24-hours after you begin the download process.
Yes, use the "Upload New Files" button at the bottom of the screen.
First, check the status of your submission by using the "tracking submissions" functionality. If the document shows it is still processing or shows sent but it is not in the file, contact the SSA office handling that case. If the Submission Status is "Error", check the File Status to see if more information is available, or check the previously uploaded file(s) on your computer to ensure it is not password protected or that there is no virus associated with the document. If everything appears OK, resend the file.
The Zip File contains the documents or the multimedia files you requested, an index page describing them, and some additional help files.
Go to the Document Index page and place the mouse pointer on the title of the document you want to view and click the mouse button. Alternatively, you can tab to the links and hit the ENTER key.
The link should take you directly to an image of the document.
Once you extracted the zip file, follow instructions below to specify locations on your computer for "TheRecord Player" to search for audio.
Once you extracted the Zip File and setup the Search Folders, follow the instructions below to play the audio file:
The header of the Index contains information for identifying the case.
The header displays the:
The page is designed to mimic an actual paper disability folder. Each disability folder has color-coded sections that hold different types of documents. Similarly, each section on this page has different types of documents. For example, the "yellow" section entitled Medical Evidence will contain documents relevant to that topic such as Medical Evidence of Record and Consultative Examination documents.
Every version of all modern day browsers should be supported.
The paper documents are stored as TIFF files with the file extension of TIF and the multimedia files are stored as audio files with an extension of TRM.
TIFF is an acronym for Tag(ged) Image File Format. It is one of the most popular and flexible of the current public domain raster file formats.
TRM files are multimedia files that are created by ForTheRecord©.
There are many image viewers available for viewing TIFF documents. The software we know about is listed below for the convenience of our users. Product names are linked to the web pages of the companies that produce them so you can check for additional information.
Some examples of TIFF viewers (SSA does not endorse any software products):
Use FTR "TheRecord Player" for playing the multimedia files.
Please take note of the minimum recommended systems requirements before downloading the player.
The Zip file package contains the documents you downloaded from your client's electronic folder. In order to view these documents you must first extract them from this Zip file package and save them to your computer. Depending on the Operating System (i.e. Windows or MAC) and Unzip program you're using, the process of extracting files may vary.
Therefore, the following instructions should be used as a general guide:
The documents you have requested will be sorted under the color coded sections within the Document Index (Gray sections within the Exhibit List Index). You will see the document's name and other information (Decision/Disposition date, Received Date, etc.).
When you click on the name of the document, an image of the document will appear. The image you will see is exactly as the document is stored in the Social Security Administration's records. Once you have opened one document, you may return to the index page and open another one.
Test your computer's ability to view multi-page TIFF documents by clicking the link to a sample image below.
You should be able to see both pages of the two page sample document. If you can see both pages you should be able to view all the images within this zip file. If you cannot view both pages of the sample image, you will have to correct this before continuing.
Please check the following: