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WebF1 Pad

by WebF1
How To

Encrypt your backups

Set the one passphrase that encrypts your cloud backups on this device, and generate a strong memorable one.

Cloud backup encrypts your notes and chats on this device before they are uploaded. The key comes from a single passphrase you set once in Settings → Security; the storage provider only ever receives ciphertext. The same passphrase is shared by the S3 and Dropbox backups.

Set the passphrase

  1. Open Settings (the gear button, or View → Settings) → Security.
  2. Under Encryption, type an Encryption passphrase - the longer and less predictable the better.
  3. Click Save passphrase.

Cloud backup needs this passphrase before it can save; it is the one secret that protects everything the app stores off-device from this machine.

Generate a strong one

Rather than inventing one, let the app generate an EFF Diceware phrase:

  1. Pick 6 words, 7 words or 8 words.
  2. Click Generate passphrase - a phrase appears in the field.
  3. Click Save passphrase, and store it somewhere safe, a password manager is ideal.

A generated phrase is long but easy to type and to read aloud, and it is strong against offline guessing. Keep it exactly as generated: the words and spacing are significant.

Keep it safe

  • There is no recovery. The passphrase is turned into an AES-256-GCM key on your device and is never sent to any server, so if you lose it, backups made with it cannot be decrypted.
  • Use the same passphrase on every device you back up from. The app recognizes a generated phrase, so just paste the exact same phrase into Settings → Security on each device and your backups stay readable everywhere.
  • Like the S3 secret key, the field also accepts a file:/path/to/passphrase reference if you would rather keep the value in a file outside settings.json.

Changing it

Changing the passphrase does not re-encrypt anything already uploaded. Copies saved with the old passphrase can no longer be decrypted until you re-upload them with the new one, so the app asks you to confirm before changing an existing passphrase. Only change it if nothing has been uploaded yet, or you intend to re-upload everything.

Back to Back up notes to your own cloud or Back up notes to Dropbox.