---
title: Capturing on Android | Relic Help
description: Android does not let any app read the clipboard in the background, so Relic gives you two ways in: the share sheet, and a Quick Settings tile you tap once.
canonical: https://relic.space/help/capture-on-android
source: https://relic.space/llms.txt
---
Capture

# Capturing on Android

Android does not let any app read the clipboard in the background, so Relic gives you two ways in: the share sheet, and a Quick Settings tile you tap once.

Updated 10 September 2026 · Android

## [Why it is a tap and not automatic](#why)

On a computer, Relic watches the clipboard and keeps everything you copy without being asked. Android does not allow that. Since Android 10 only the app you are looking at, or your keyboard, may read the clipboard. An app sitting in the background cannot.

So on a phone, capture is something you do rather than something that happens. There are two ways to do it.

## [Share to Relic](#share-to-relic)

This is the one to learn first, because it needs no setup at all. In any app, tap **Share** and pick **Relic**. Text, images, PDFs, links and files all land in your vault.

It is also the only way to get in things you cannot copy as text. A photo from your gallery, a PDF from your mail, a page from your browser: share them and Relic keeps the file itself.

Relic shows a walkthrough of both routes the first time you connect the phone to your vault. You can open it again any time from the settings sheet, under **Set up quick capture**.

## [Add the Quick Settings tile](#the-tile)

The second route is a button in your Quick Settings panel called **Capture to Relic**. Pull the panel down, tap it, and whatever is on your clipboard goes into your vault. You add it once.

A Quick Settings panel with four tiles: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Capture to Relic (highlighted in gold with the Relic gem on it), and Dark theme. The tile among the ones you already have. It is labelled Capture to Relic.

### On most phones

1. Open Quick Settings
Swipe down from the top of the screen twice to open the full Quick Settings panel.
2. Tap the edit (pencil) icon
Open the tile editor. It is usually a pencil or a plus button.
3. Find Capture to Relic
Look through the available or inactive tiles for the Relic gem labelled **Capture to Relic**.
4. Drag it into your active tiles
Press and hold it, then drop it among the tiles you use.
5. Save
Tap done or back to keep the layout.

### On a Samsung

Samsung phones run One UI, whose editor works a little differently:

1. Open the Quick panel
Swipe down from the top right corner of the screen. If your notifications and quick settings are combined, swipe down twice from the top instead.
2. Tap the pencil (Edit)
The pencil is at the top of the panel. On older One UI it hides behind the overflow menu as _Edit buttons_.
3. Find Capture to Relic
Scroll the available buttons. The Relic gem is labelled **Capture to Relic**.
4. Add it
Tap its plus button, or press and hold and drag it into the buttons you use.
5. Tap Done
Your layout is saved and the tile lives in your Quick panel.

## [Using the tile](#using-it)

Once it is there, the whole thing is three moves:

**Copy anything, pull down Quick Settings, tap Capture to Relic.** You do not have to open the Relic app, and it works from inside any other app.

The tile answers with a short message so you know what happened:

* Captured to Relic what was on the clipboard is now an item in your vault.
* Clipboard was empty there was nothing to take. Copy something first.

The share sheet answers too. It says how many items it added, and if you share the same thing twice it tells you rather than adding it again:

Already in Relic

## [Where a capture lands](#where-it-lands)

On a phone, everything you send to Relic is a deliberate act, so it goes straight to your Vault and never expires. That is what this switch does, and it starts on:

Auto-save to Vault

New captures go straight to your Vault

Settings on your phone › Capture › Auto-save to Vault: toggle, default on.

Turn it off and captures go into history instead, alongside what your computers picked up. The rest of the sheet is in [Settings on your phone](https://relic.space/help/settings-on-your-phone).

Anything that looks like a key or a token is still hidden behind dots in the list. See [Secrets](https://relic.space/help/secrets). On an iPhone or an iPad the routes in are different again: see [Capturing on an iPhone](https://relic.space/help/capture-on-iphone).

Related

[Capturing on an iPhone or iPadCapture](https://relic.space/help/capture-on-iphone)[Settings on your phoneSettings reference](https://relic.space/help/settings-on-your-phone)[SecretsCapture](https://relic.space/help/secrets)[What Relic capturesCapture](https://relic.space/help/what-gets-captured)