After launching SelfControl a file has to be opened or created. Use options "New" or "Open" in the "File" menu respectively.

If you double click the icon of an already existing file, it will be opened automatically along with SelfControl's launch.

The unlicensed copy of SelfControl (see "Shareware Remark" and "Registration") is installed with an empty data file already. Only this file can be used with the unlicensed copy as creation of other files as well as entering more than 25 entries is restricted.

With a full version of SelfControl, you can create as many files as you like with as many entries as you like. However, only one file can be opened and used at the same time.

New entries and changes to existing entries are saved into the opened file automatically. However, technically speaking, one file of SelfControl consists of two components: The data entered by the user and the index. The index is used for fast retrieval of all stored information. It is managed by SelfControl automatically and is saved automatically upon closing a file or the application itself. During usage of a file the user can choose to manually save all contents of the currently used file at any time by choosing "Save" or "Save as" in the "File" menu.