Sync across your devices
Use BGP on a desktop and a laptop, or in Chrome and Edge, and keep them in step. Sync is off by default. Your data stays on this device until you choose a tier in Settings → Data → Sync. The two tiers can be used together.
Pick a tier
| Local only (default) | Quick sync | Full private sync | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | none | one switch | Drive connect + a passphrase, once per device |
| Carries | nothing | your theme, layout and widget choices, plus tasks, countdowns and projects | your notes, dates, habits, bookmarks and Belief Genome, plus tasks, countdowns and projects |
| Reaches | this device | Chrome ↔ Chrome or Edge ↔ Edge signed into the same browser account | any browser, any computer |
| Privacy | nothing leaves the device | uses your browser account's sync (like Chrome bookmarks), without end-to-end encryption | end-to-end encrypted in one file in your own Google Drive |
Quick sync never carries your Belief Genome, notes, dates, bookmarks, memories or API keys. They're either too large or too sensitive for the browser's small sync store. API keys and a local AI server address never sync on either tier. They stay on the device you entered them on. Your Memories archive is covered by backups.
Turn on Quick sync
- Settings → Data → Sync → Turn on Quick sync.
- That's it. Do the same on your other Chrome (or Edge) signed into the same account. Your setup, tasks, countdowns and projects follow you within a minute or so. The status line shows how much of the browser's small sync store you're using.
Turn on Full private sync
- Settings → Data → Sync → Full private sync. Choose a sync passphrase with 8 or more characters, made up by you. It's never uploaded. Keep it in a password manager.
- Click Sync now. The first time, Google asks permission for BGP to manage only the files it creates in your Drive.
- On each other device, enter the same passphrase and click Sync now. After that, sync runs by itself: when you open a tab, come back to it, change something, and every 15 minutes as a backstop. Click the sync dot in the top bar to sync on demand.
What to expect
- Sync merges changes. Two devices editing the same list end up with both edits. A deleted item stays deleted on every device.
- Widgets update live when sync brings in changes. You don't need to reload.
- Sample content doesn't sync. The starter items on a fresh install stay on that device unless you edit them. Once you edit one, it syncs like anything else. A new device joining your sync drops its own untouched samples and shows your real data.
- Lose the passphrase and the synced file can't be opened. There's no reset, by design. Your data on each device is untouched. You can start sync again with a new passphrase.
Troubleshooting
My two browsers don't sync with Quick sync.
- They must be signed into the same browser account (check the profile avatar). Two different Google accounts are two separate sync stores.
"Wrong passphrase."
- The passphrase must match exactly on every device. Nothing is changed when it's wrong.
Quick sync is greyed out.
- It isn't available in the Mac app or in browsers without built-in sync. Use Full private sync there.
Something looks stale after a change on the other device.
- Click the sync dot. Changes made in Settings sync too, but a tab that was already open may need a moment.