Use Filarr in your browser

Open Filarr at app.filarr.com: sign in, unlock at each visit, what changes from the desktop app, offline use and security in the browser.

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Documentation sections

The web app lets you use Filarr in your browser, at app.filarr.com, with nothing to install. With a cloud account, you find the same files and notes as in the desktop app. Decryption happens in the browser tab: your files reach it encrypted, and your key stays on your side.

The web app is handy on a computer where you cannot install anything, on a Mac while the desktop version is not available, or to reach your files from anywhere.

Open the web app

  1. Go to https://app.filarr.com in your browser.
  2. On your first visit in this browser, the setup wizard opens. It is the same as in the desktop app: see Set up Filarr the first time.

On the next visits, Filarr opens your profile, or the profile picker if you have several, and asks for your password to unlock it.

Sign in with your account

If you already have a Filarr account:

  1. On Where should your data live?, choose With cloud sync, then click Next.
  2. On Do you already have a Filarr account?, choose Yes, sign me in, then click Next.
  3. In Sign in to Filarr, enter your email address and password, then click Sign in. You can also click Sign in with a passkey if you created one.
  4. If you turned on two-factor authentication, enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app.

Your profiles, files and notes then appear in the browser.

A passkey opens your account, not your files. The first time you use it in a browser, Filarr may still ask for your password once to unlock your key. See Two-factor authentication and passkeys.

Unlock at each visit

The web app does not keep your key between visits, on purpose. When you come back, the lock screen says In the browser, this vault's key isn't kept from one visit to the next: your password reopens it. Type your password and click Unlock.

On your own computer, you can tick Stay unlocked on this device (14 days) before you click Unlock. The browser then keeps your key, sealed, for 14 days.

The web app at a glance

Once unlocked, the web app looks and works like the desktop app: the same sidebar, the same home screen, the same folders and notes. Find your way around describes the screen.

What changes compared with the desktop app

Most features work the same. The main differences:

  • Some keyboard shortcuts use Alt instead of Ctrl, so they do not clash with the browser: Alt+N for a new file, Alt+Shift+N for a new note, Alt+T and Alt+W to open and close a tab, Alt+1 to Alt+9 for your favorites.
  • Desktop-only features are missing: importing from Obsidian or Notion, the full backup (Export all), watched folders, protecting files in place, opening a file in another program, and the background reading of PDF text for search.
  • Web-only features: creating and using passkeys, and keeping folders offline.
  • One account per browser. Signing in with another account signs you out of the first one.

Desktop and web: what differs lists every difference.

Without an account

You can also use the web app with a local profile, without an account: choose Local only in the setup wizard. Your data then stays in this browser only, and a banner reminds you: clearing the site's data or switching browsers erases it. Click Turn on sync to link the profile to an account and keep a copy safe.

Offline

After a first visit, the web app opens even without a connection. A banner starting with Offline tells you that your changes will sync when the network is back.

Your notes and your folder list stay available. File contents come from the cloud when you open them. To have a folder's files at hand without a connection, open its parent folder, right-click the folder you want and choose Keep offline. The entry is only offered on a folder shown inside another folder, not on the home screen or in the sidebar. See Work offline.

Updates

The web app updates when you reload it. When a new version is out, a banner says A new version of Filarr is ready. Click Reload to use it, or Later to finish what you are doing first.

Security in the browser

  • The web app encrypts and decrypts in the tab, like the desktop app does on your computer. Filarr's servers receive your files and notes already encrypted.
  • The code of the web app is loaded from app.filarr.com at each visit. Settings → Security → Web security model explains what this means and how it differs from the desktop app. Click Read the page to see it.
  • To lock the web app with a cloud profile, click your avatar and choose Lock. To leave for good on this browser, go to Settings → Account & Sync and click Sign out.