Activity vs. Reports — What's the Difference

The admin panel has three tabs at the top of the Activity/Reports area: Activity, Alerts, and Reports. Understanding the difference between Activity and Reports helps you use each one correctly.

Tab	What It Does	Best For
Activity	Live, filterable log of all events across your organization. Export as CSV on demand.	Ad-hoc investigations, incident response, one-time compliance exports
Alerts	System-generated alerts such as quota warnings, machine unreachable notices, and policy events.	Monitoring storage usage and system health
Reports	Named reports (Saved or Scheduled) that can be emailed to recipients automatically on a recurring basis.	Ongoing compliance monitoring, recurring audits, automated delivery to a compliance officer

Using the Activity Log

The Activity log records every action in AXIS CloudSync with a timestamp, the user or system that performed it, and the affected resource. The log is paginated and cannot be modified by any user, including administrators.

File operations: upload, download, rename, move, delete, restore.
Sharing events: share link created, accessed, revoked.
Authentication events: login, logout, failed login, 2FA setup.
Administrative actions: user created, suspended, deleted; policy changes; team share subscription changes.
System events: machine unreachable, quota threshold reached.
Sync events: desktop client registrations, mobile logins.

1Log in to the web portal and click your Organization in the left sidebar.
2Click the Activity tab at the top of the page.
3The full activity log loads, showing the most recent events first.

Filtering the Activity Log

The Activity log has four filter fields at the top of the page. Apply any combination to narrow the results before exporting.

Filter	What It Does
Show activity by	Filter to a specific user's actions only
Scope	Filter by event type or resource category (dropdown)
Between / And	Set a start and end date for the log range
Search: contains	Free-text search within the log entries

1Enter a username in Show activity by to see only that user's actions.
2Select a scope from the Scope dropdown to filter by event category.
3Set a date range using the Between and And date pickers.
4Enter a keyword in the Search field to find specific entries.
5Click Submit to apply the filters. Click Clear to reset.

Exporting the Activity Log

After filtering the log to the desired scope and date range, you can download the results as a CSV file. The download link appears at the bottom of the results list.

1Apply your filters and click Submit.
2Scroll to the bottom of the results.
3Click Download as: CSV.
4The CSV file will download to your computer and can be opened in Excel, Google Sheets, or imported into a SIEM system.

Tip

For HIPAA audit submissions, set the date range to cover the full audit period, leave the other filters blank to capture all events, and export the full CSV. Include the exported file with your Risk Analysis documentation.

Using the Reports Tab

The Reports tab is a separate report management area where you can create, save, and schedule named reports. Each report has a name, a type (Saved or Scheduled), an optional list of email recipients, the organization it covers, and a record of when it was last generated.

Report Type	How It Works
Saved	A named report configuration that you run manually on demand. Results can be re-generated at any time.
Scheduled	A report that runs automatically on a recurring schedule and emails the results to the specified recipients.

Each report row in the list has action icons on the right: delete, edit, duplicate/run, and email. Scheduled reports show the last generated date and time so you can confirm they are running correctly.

Creating a Saved or Scheduled Report

1Click the Reports tab.
2Click the + Create Report button in the top-right corner.
3Enter a Report Name that describes its purpose (e.g., "Monthly HIPAA Activity Audit").
4Configure the report scope, filters, and date range.
5To save as a one-time report, select Saved as the type.
6To schedule recurring delivery, select Scheduled, set the frequency, and enter the recipient email address(es).
7Click Save. The report will appear in the Reports list.

Tip

For HIPAA compliance, create a Scheduled report that runs monthly and delivers to your compliance officer's email. This creates a documented, recurring audit review process — which is exactly what OCR looks for during an audit.

Note

Scheduled reports run automatically in the background. The Last Generated column in the Reports list shows when the most recent delivery occurred. If a scheduled report stops running, check that the recipient email address is still valid.

HIPAA Audit Log Requirements

The HIPAA Security Rule (45 CFR § 164.312(b)) requires covered entities to implement hardware, software, and procedural mechanisms to record and examine activity in information systems that contain or use ePHI. AXIS CloudSync satisfies this requirement through its comprehensive audit logging and reporting system.

Retain audit logs for a minimum of 6 years (HIPAA documentation retention requirement).
Review audit logs regularly — at minimum quarterly, ideally monthly via a Scheduled Report.
Investigate any anomalous access patterns: after-hours access, large downloads, access from unusual IP addresses.
Document your audit review process in your HIPAA Risk Analysis and Policies & Procedures.
Export and archive the Activity log CSV annually for long-term retention.

Important

AXIS CloudSync retains audit logs according to your plan's retention policy. For organizations subject to HIPAA's 6-year retention requirement, confirm your plan includes extended log retention. Contact [email protected] or call 1-866-232-2211 to verify your retention settings.

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Activity Logs & Compliance Reports