Create an account and turn on sync
Create a Filarr account when you first open the app, or turn on sync later for a local profile you already use.
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A Filarr account lets your profiles sync between your computers and the web app, encrypted on your device before they leave it. You can create it the first time you open Filarr, or later, from a local profile you already use.
Create an account when you first open Filarr
The setup wizard walks you through it. The main screens, in order:
- On Where should your data live?, choose With cloud sync.
- On Do you already have a Filarr account?, choose No, create an account.
- Enter your Email address, an Account password, then Confirm password. The password needs at least 10 characters, including 1 uppercase letter and 1 digit.
- Click Create my account.
- Write down your account recovery phrase (24 words), tick the confirmation box and continue.
- Open the link Filarr emails you to verify your address.
- Set up your profile: name, color and, if you like, a PIN.
Set up Filarr the first time describes each screen in detail. If you already have an account, choose Yes, sign me in at step 2: the profiles of your account come back after you sign in.
One password for your account and your files
For a personal account, one password does two jobs. It signs you in, and it encrypts your files on your device. The account form says it plainly: "This password also encrypts your files."
What this means for you:
- If you lose the password, only the 24-word recovery phrase can reopen your files.
- You can change it later in Settings → Security → Change password. Your files are not re-encrypted.
Passwords and recovery explains every way back in.
Turn on sync for a local profile
A local profile keeps its data on this device, or in this browser, with no account. You can link it to an account at any time.
- Open the local profile.
- Go to Settings → Account & Sync.
- Click Enable cloud sync.
The Turn on sync wizard opens on a sign-in form. To create a new account instead, click Create an account below the form.
With a new account, the wizard has four steps:
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| Account | You enter your email address and choose the account password. |
| Recovery phrase | Filarr shows the account's 24-word phrase. Write it down, then click Next. |
| Verification | You open the link Filarr sent you. The wizard moves on by itself once your address is confirmed. |
| Encryption key | Filarr links this profile's encryption key to the account. |
With an account you already have, you sign in, and the wizard goes straight from Account to Encryption key.
When everything is done, the wizard shows Sync enabled. Click Done. Sync starts, and the other profiles of the account, if there are any, appear on this device.
What happens to your password
Once the profile is linked, your account password is the one that unlocks it and encrypts its files. If the local profile had its own encryption password, the account password replaces it. If it had none, the profile is now protected by your account password. Your PIN, if you set one, stays the same.
When the wizard refuses
The last step can end on This profile can’t be linked to this account. The most common reason: this profile already encrypts files with its own key, and the account you signed in to has a different one. Syncing those files as they are would make them unreadable on your other devices, so Filarr stops.
The wizard then confirms: Nothing was changed: this profile stays local and its files stay on this device. You have two options:
- keep the profile local;
- add your account from the profile picker with Add a cloud account. The profiles of that account come to this device, next to your local profile.
Two other messages can appear at this step:
- The account key doesn’t open with this password. You probably changed your password on another device. Sign in again with the new one.
- A message that starts with Your system’s secure keychain is unavailable: unlock your computer session, then try again.
If the server can't be reached, the wizard shows Linking didn’t complete with a Retry button.