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OnBase Information Resources & Technology

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OnBase FAQs

General Questions

For basic access, please submit an OnBase Application Access Request. If you are a power user, you may need to request the Unity Client or Outlook Integration Plug-in for your workstation.

Please contact the IRT Service Desk Team or (916) 278-7337.

Submit a ServiceNow ticket. Be as specific as possible in the explanation of the problem. If it is a problem within a workflow, please identify the lifecycle and queue where the problem occurred, entered data, or buttons pressed. A screenshot of the error and/or problem area is also helpful.

Work with the IRT Project Management Office to get on the project calendar. Be prepared to identify workflow processes, document types, and keywords for the documents that are needed for your solution.

Students are able to see the forms they submitted or submitted by staff/faculty on their behalf in the OnBase Forms Protal.

Please review the Knowledge Base Article for instructions.

Some faculty and staff may view the forms after it has been submitted or approved, but it is based on their access level in OnBase. If you have questions after you submit the form, you will need to contact the department that the form originated.

Yes, it will time you out. Please be sure to have all the information ready to fill out the form efficiently.

No, you will not be able to save the form.

In most cases, it means that the job data and reports-to relationships are not up to date in CMS. Please ask your department analyst to check your job data. After the analyst corrects it, the OnBase form will pick up the right information overnight and proceed to the correct approver. If the analyst confirms that CMS's job data has accurate information, there may be other technical issues. You will need to submit a ServiceNow ticket.

Yes, in most cases, you will receive notification of the status.

Contact the department that the form originated for questions regarding:

  • how to fill out and submit the form
  • who approves the forms processing times
  • any non-technical questions

Submit a ServiceNow ticket for questions regarding:

  • unable to submit or approve the form
  • all technical questions

Please contact the IRT Service Desk Team or (916) 278-7337.

Accessing OnBase

To access the OnBase Web Client, log in to the MySacState portal. Once on the home page, locate the "Faculty/Staff Related Links" section on the right side and click on the "OnBase Web Client." Please check the list of browsers compatible with OnBase ensure you have access to all the functions in OnBase Web Client.

You do not need an OnBase account to fill out OnBase forms, but you may need a valid SacLink account login.

OnBase forms are accessible from the MySacState portal. Log in to the MySacState portal and then locate the OnBase logo on the right side of your screen. Clicking on the OnBase logo will route you to a list of OnBase forms you are authorized to use. You can also find webpage links to OnBase forms specific to a department or processes on their webpages.

The browsers listed below are compatible with the current version of OnBase. However, we recommend Google Chrome or FireFox for better compatibility.

  • Google Chrome (80 and newer)
  • Mozilla Firefox (68 and newer orESR 68)
  • Microsoft Edge (EdgeHTML 16 and newer or Chromium 79 and newer)
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
  • Apple Safari (13.0.x and newer)

When a person separates from the University, their OnBase account is disabled. However, it is common for retirees to return to work on a part-time basis for the University. Please contact the Service Desk or (916) 278-7337 and request that the account be enabled.

OnBase Clients

From the Software Center of your CSUS supported device (Windows-based workstation or laptop), click on the Hyland Unity Client icon, and follow the instructions.

If you cannot install it on your own, open a ServiceNow ticket to request installation onto your workstation or laptop.

OnBase functionality is available to all faculty and staff as business needs require. Access to specific OnBase solutions; must be requested (preferably by your supervisor) through a ServiceNow ticket.

Yes, OnBase can integrate with Outlook. To check if you have OnBase installed, look for the OnBase logo/icon or the word OnBase as a tab within Outlook. If you don't see it and are interested in using the Outlook Client, contact the Service Desk.

The University does not currently use or support the OnBase Mobile Application.

The OnBase Web Client runs from a web browser; the OnBase Unity Client is installed directly onto a laptop or workstation. Functionality-wise there are nuances between the two. The user interface and toolbar features look and feel different in both Clients. Listed below are highlights of some features in the OnBase Clients:

Highlights of Features (not limited) Unity Client Web Client
Scanning features Advance Basic
Menu ribbon location Top of the screen Bottom of the Inbox
Column search Available Not Available
Preview document as thumbnails Not Available Not Available
Redacting and mark-up feature Available Not Available

Search Features

You can perform a wildcard search using the '*' and '?' characters to search for alphanumeric keyword values. Listed are two examples of wildcard searches:

  • SMITH* - retrieves documents with SMITH in the keyword (e.g., SMITH and SMITHSONIAN)
  • SM?TH – retrieves documents with SM-any character-TH (e.g., SMITH and SMYTH)

You can search for forms using Document Retrieval or, in some cases, Custom Queries. Click Document Retrieval, start typing the document type you are searching for (e.g., Faculty Release Time), click on that document type when it appears, and you will see the search options on the bottom left. If you have access to a Custom Query for this document type – click on it and search the same way.

For OnBase Unity Client:

  1. On the Home ribbon, click on the Reporting Icon to access reports
  2. Click on Shared with Me
  3. Look for the report you been given access to

For OnBase Web Client:

  1. Log into MySacState and under Faculty/Staff Related Links clink on OnBase Web Client.
  2. Click the main menu (hamburger) icon at the top left of the screen, then under Reporting Dashboards, click Gallery
  3. Click on Share with Me
  4. Look for the report you been given access to

Approving Forms

Yes, you can approve documents/forms from an email if you receive an email notification from OnBase. The email provides a link to the documents/forms for review and approval. Click on the link, and you will be taken directly to the form in OnBase. Take the appropriate actions and then click on the Submit or the Save Form button (depending on the form). Then be sure to click the refresh button (the circular arrow in the top right corner of the OnBase inbox window) to release your lock on the form before you close the browser. The recommended default browser for OnBase is either Chrome or Firefox.

You can access the form awaiting your approval through the Onbase email notification link or log into Onbase. If you click on the email notification link, it will route you to the form that needs your approval. If you log into Onbase from MySacState, follow these steps:

Access the OnBase Web Client via the link on MySacState. Once in OnBase:

  1. Click on the Main Menu (hamburger menu)
  2. Next to the words Document Retrieval
  3. Select Workflow
  4. In the workflow window
  5. Select the APPROVAL workflow to approve and/or modify your document

In both instances, after you review the form, click Approve or Deny, Save/Submit Form at the bottom, and then the refresh button on the top right (round arrow), so the form leaves your queue. If you do not click the refresh button, the next approver will not approve/process the form since it might get locked.

If the form is greyed out, this means that the form is locked. Please submit a ServiceNow ticket to unlock the form. Close your browser and wait to hear back from the Service Desk. Once they confirm that the form is unlocked, go back into the OnBase email notification and click on the link to take the appropriate actions on the form.

Access the OnBase Web Client via the link on MySacState. Once in OnBase:

  1. Click on the Main Menu (hamburger menu)
  2. Next to the words Document Retrieval
  3. Select Workflow
  4. In the workflow window
  5. Select the APPROVAL workflow to approve and/or modify your document

After you review the form, click Approve or Deny, Save/Submit Form at the bottom, and then the refresh button on the top right (round arrow), so the form leaves your queue. If you do not click the refresh button, the next approver will not approve/process the form since it might get locked.

Locked Documents

The document is locked from the prior user and will need to be unlocked. You will need to submit a ServiceNow ticket requesting that the document be unlocked.

You can remove locks from a locked document that you edited but not locks on documents edited by other colleagues.

Firstname Lastname Email Phone
John Doe john@example.com (916) 555-1111
Mary Moe mary@example.com (916) 555-2222
July Dooley july@example.com (916) 555-3333
Tom Jerry tom@example.com (916) 555-3333

You may have inadvertently locked your document. Log into OnBase, and then you will be prompted to unlock the document locked by you. Select all and remove the lock.