--- title: How sync works | Relic Help description: Every item and its files reach your other devices in seconds, sealed before they leave. What Sync now does, what happens offline, and what Not synced means. canonical: https://relic.space/help/how-sync-works source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Sync and devices # How sync works Every item and its files reach your other devices in seconds, sealed before they leave. What Sync now does, what happens offline, and what Not synced means. Updated 10 September 2026 · Every platform ## [What syncs](#what-syncs) Sign in on two devices and they share one vault. Everything Relic holds goes across: the item itself, the files attached to it, and the title, note and tags you gave it. Items you kept in your Vault and items sitting in history both sync. So do deletes, so clearing something on your laptop clears it on your phone. Each item is sealed on the device that made it, before it goes anywhere. The server stores the sealed bytes and the times they were written. It cannot read what is inside them, so it never sorts, tags or previews your items. Every item carries the name of the device it came from, which is what the small line under a row says. Change that name in [Settings › Sync and account › Device name](https://relic.space/help/settings-sync-and-account#device-name). Device name Labels what this machine captures. Defaults to the hostname. Settings › Sync and account › Device name: text, for example Windows PC. Connected, end-to-end encrypted Your account email, when this computer last synced, and the Sync now, Switch account and Disconnect buttons. Not connected shows a Connect… button instead. Settings › Sync and account › Connected, end-to-end encrypted: button: Sync now. ## [How fast it is](#how-fast) Copy something on one computer and it is waiting on your other devices within seconds. You do not have to press anything. A phone that is asleep catches up the moment you open Relic on it. The chip beside the wordmark in the Relic window says where things stand. It reads **Synced** when everything is up to date, **Syncing…** while a round is running, **Uploading 40%** while a large file goes up, **2 pending** when items are queued, and **Offline** when there is no connection. The [window tour](https://relic.space/help/the-popup#sync-chip) shows it in place. Four sync chips side by side, each a small rounded pill with a coloured dot: Synced with a green dot, Syncing with an amber dot, 2 pending with an amber dot, and Offline with a grey dot. The chip in its four everyday states. ## [Syncing on demand](#sync-now) You can always ask for a round right now. On a computer, click the sync chip in the window, or open Settings›Sync and account and press **Sync now**. The same row shows your account email and when this computer last synced. On a phone, pull down on the list, or open the settings sheet and tap **Refresh now**. Both do a full round: send what is waiting, then fetch what is new. ## [Working offline](#offline) Relic does not need a connection to be useful. Capture, search, editing, tags and paste all run against the copy of the vault on the device you are holding. Nothing is greyed out. While you are offline the chip says **Offline** and anything new queues up behind it. When the connection comes back the queue drains on its own and the chip returns to **Synced**. There is nothing to press. ## [When an item says Not synced](#not-synced) Sometimes the server turns an item away. When that happens the row says _Not synced_ under its title, the chip counts them, and clicking the chip opens a sheet titled **Not synced** with one line per item. Each line gives the reason and how long ago it happened. These are the reasons the server can give: **Vault is full on your plan** Free up space or upgrade, then retry. Deleting a few large images is usually enough. **Too large for your plan** Upgrade your plan to sync items this large. The item stays on this device either way. **Confirm your email to sync** Open the confirmation link in the email Relic sent when you made the account. **A newer copy exists elsewhere** This usually resolves itself on the next sync. **Sync error** Something else went wrong. Retry, and if it keeps happening send the logs from Settings › About. Every line in the sheet has a **Retry** button, and **Retry all** at the bottom queues the whole list again. When the items have cleared on their own the sheet says _Everything synced. These items cleared up on their own._ Nothing is lost A refused item is still on the device that made it, with its title, note and tags. Only the copy on the server is missing, so the other devices cannot see it yet. ## [The same item edited twice](#two-devices) Each item syncs on its own, so two devices editing two different items never collide. When you edit the _same_ item on two devices, the last edit to reach the server wins, and that version is what the other devices pull down. There is no merge screen and nothing to resolve. In practice this means a title you type on your laptop replaces the one you typed on your phone a minute earlier. If both devices were offline, the one that reconnects last is the one that sticks. * Deleting on one device deletes everywhere, and it is the same rule: the delete is just another edit. * Keeping an item in your Vault on one device keeps it everywhere. See [Your devices](https://relic.space/help/your-devices) for the list of what is signed in. Related [Add a deviceSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/add-a-device)[Your devicesSync and devices](https://relic.space/help/your-devices)[The Relic windowGet started](https://relic.space/help/the-popup)[Settings: Sync and accountSettings reference](https://relic.space/help/settings-sync-and-account)