--- title: Add a device | Relic Help description: Put Relic on a second computer or phone. Show the QR and the code on a device you already use, scan or type it, then check the four digits match. canonical: https://relic.space/help/add-a-device source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Sync and devices # Add a device Put Relic on a second computer or phone. Show the QR and the code on a device you already use, scan or type it, then check the four digits match. Updated 10 September 2026 · Every platform ## [Before you start](#before) Pairing hands your vault key from a device you already use to a new one, so the new device never has to be told your vault passphrase. You can always type the passphrase on the new device instead. Pairing is quicker, and it keeps the passphrase off a machine you may be borrowing. * Both devices need to be on and online at the same time. They do not need to be on the same network. * The code is live for about two minutes, and it works once. Start again and you get a fresh one. * Sign in to the same Relic account on the new device first. Pairing joins a vault, it does not create one. * The QR on a computer is also a link. Your phone's own camera app can read it: if Relic is installed the link opens Relic and starts the join, and if it is not, it opens a page with the store button. The code refreshes itself while the Add a device window stays open, so a phone that had to install first just scans again. ## [Pairing, step by step](#steps) 1. Open Add a device on a device you already use On a computer open Settings›Sync and account›Devices, press **Manage**, then press **\+ Add a device** at the top of **Your devices**. On a phone, open the settings sheet and tap **Add a device**. The screen fills with a QR code and says _Scan this with your other device_, then _Waiting for the other device…_ at the bottom. 2. Start the join on the new device Install Relic on the new device and sign in to the same account. It then asks how you want to unlock this device. On a computer choose **Use another device**, described as _Type the pairing code shown on a device you already use_. On a phone choose **Scan a QR from another device**. 3. Scan the QR, or type the code Point the phone camera at the QR on the first device and it reads it straight away. On a computer there is no camera, so type the code shown under the QR into the field and press **Connect**. See [Typing the code instead](#by-code). 4. Check the four digits match Both screens now show a four-digit code. The new device says **Check the code**, and the device you already use says **Do the codes match?** with the line _This 4-digit code should be identical on both devices._ Read them off both screens yourself. On the new device press **The codes match**, then on the trusted device press **Yes, approve this device**. 5. You are done The trusted device says **Device added** and _Your other device is now connected to your vault._ Press **Done**. The new device unlocks and starts pulling your items down. It appears in [Your devices](https://relic.space/help/your-devices) on both. The Add a device screen. A card holds a square QR code on a white tile. Under it a thin rule with the word or, the line No camera on the other device? Type this code instead, and a recessed well holding a long code in capital letters and dashes. The QR and the typed code are two doors into the same pairing. Either one works. ## [Typing the code instead](#by-code) A computer has no camera pointed at your other screen, so it joins by code. The trusted device shows the code under the QR, in capital letters and dashes, starting with a 2\. On the new computer the field is already waiting, with _2XXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX_ in it as a hint. Type what you see and press **Connect**. On a phone the camera opens first. If it will not read the screen, tap **Can't scan? Type the code instead** under the viewfinder and type it the same way. Capitals and dashes are filled in for you as you go. One code, one use A code is spent the moment a device uses it, and it dies after about two minutes either way. If you need to add a third device, run **Add a device** again for a new one. ## [Made a second account by mistake?](#second-account) Two different sign-ins are two different vaults, always. If you signed in on a phone with a different Google, GitHub, Apple or email account than the one on your computer, the phone shows an empty vault and will keep showing it. Relic cannot tell the two accounts are one person. The fix is to sign the phone in with the account you use on the computer. Open the settings sheet on the phone, choose [Switch account](https://relic.space/help/switch-account), then on the first screen pick **I already use Relic on another device** and sign in with that account. Then pair as above, or type your vault passphrase. The empty account can be deleted from [Sync and account](https://relic.space/help/settings-sync-and-account) on the device that made it; there is nothing in it to lose. When Relic thinks this happened A vault that is new, has almost nothing in it, and is the account's only device shows a notice: _Expecting things you saved on another device? You may have started a second vault._ Its **Link it** button takes you straight to the right door. ## [When pairing does not work](#problems) Relic says which of the few things went wrong. _That code looks mistyped. Check it and try again._ The code carries its own check digits, so a wrong letter is caught before anything is sent. Read it off the other screen again. _That doesn't look like a Relic pairing code._ What you pasted is not a code at all. Copy the one under the QR. _Pairing timed out. The code is only live for about two minutes._ Press Add a device on the trusted device for a fresh code and start again. _No device connected in time. The code is only live for about two minutes._ The same thing, seen from the device that was waiting. Press Try again. If you press **No, cancel** on the trusted device, it says _Pairing canceled. Nothing was shared._ Your vault key never left. If the four digits on the two screens are different, press **They don't match**. The new device stops and says: _Pairing canceled. If the codes keep differing, someone may be interfering with your connection. Try again on a network you trust._ A single mismatch is usually two pairings running at once. Close both screens, start one pairing, and compare again. If the digits still differ, move to a network you trust before trying a third time. Related [Your devicesSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/your-devices)[How sync worksSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/how-sync-works)[Connect to your own serverSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/self-host-connect)[Your first runGet started](https://relic.space/help/first-run)