Sync is quiet when it works, so the first job is finding out what Relic already knows. The chip next to the wordmark and the strips above the list say almost everything. Read them, then work down this page.

Are you signed in and confirmed?

Relic works fully without an account, and it says so rather than pretending to sync. If you see this strip above the list, nothing is leaving this computer:

You're browsing locally. Sign in to save & sync everywhere.Sign in

A brand new account does not sync until you have opened the link in the confirmation email. Relic shows a second strip while that is outstanding, with a button to send the email again:

Confirm your email to start syncing. Local use is unaffected.Resend email

Check your spam folder before pressing Resend email twice. Everything you capture in the meantime is kept and goes up as soon as the account is confirmed.

What the chip is telling you

Four states of the small sync chip that sits next to the Relic wordmark: Synced with a green dot, Syncing with an amber dot, 2 pending with an amber dot, and Offline with a grey dot.

Synced: Everything on this device is on the server. Hover for when that last happened.
Syncing…: A sync is running. Leave it.
Uploading 40%: A large file is on its way up. The number moves.
2 pending: Items are queued. Usually you are offline, or a big upload is ahead of them in the queue.
Offline: No connection to the server. Relic keeps capturing and catches up by itself when you are back.
2 not synced: The server turned some items away. Click the chip to see why.

Offline needs nothing from you. Relic retries on its own schedule, and a laptop that has been shut for a week catches up a few seconds after it wakes. If it says Offline while everything else on the machine is online, check whether a VPN or a company firewall is in the way.

The not-synced reasons

Clicking a N not synced chip opens a sheet titled Not synced. Each refused item is listed with its reason and a Retry button, and there is a Retry all at the bottom. If the items sorted themselves out while you were reading, the sheet says Everything synced. These items cleared up on their own.

There are five reasons, and each one has one thing to do:

Vault is full on your plan: You are at your plan's storage limit. Delete some large items, or move to a plan with more room, then press Retry.
Too large for your plan: That single item is bigger than your plan allows for one item. Shrink it, split it, or move to a plan that takes items that size.
Confirm your email to sync: Open the link in the confirmation email, then press Retry all.
A newer copy exists elsewhere: Another device changed the same item more recently. Nothing to do. This clears itself on the next sync.
Sync error: Something else went wrong, often a connection dropped mid-upload. Press Retry. If it keeps coming back, send us the diagnostics.

You were signed out

Sometimes the session on this computer ends and Relic tells you plainly:

You were signed out. Sign in again to resume syncing. Your vault is safe on this device.Sign in

The two things that cause it:

Someone removed this device from the devices list, on this computer or another one. See Your devices.
Someone used Sign out everywhere. That signs out every device, including the one you pressed it on, because there is no way to end one session and leave the rest. See Sign out everywhere.

Press Sign in and enter your account password. Nothing on this computer is lost while you are signed out.

A different strip appears after you switch accounts: 12 items from your previous account are tucked away on this device, with a Review button. Those items are not missing, they belong to the other account and Relic will not put them in this one without asking. Press Review and choose. See Switch account.

A self-hosted server

If you run your own server, everything above still applies, plus one more: the server has to be reachable from this computer. Open the Connect dialog and it checks while you type. When it cannot get through it says Can't reach that server.

Check the address, including whether it starts with http or https, and the port.
Check the machine is on and Relic's server is running on it.
If you are away from home, check the address works from outside your network.

Setup and the address format are in Connect to your own server.

Making a sync happen now

Click the sync chip
When all is well, clicking it runs a sync straight away. When it is not, it opens the not-synced sheet instead.
Or press Sync now
The top row of Settings›Sync and account has a Sync now button next to your account email and the time of the last sync.
On a phone, pull down
Drag the list down and let go. That runs the same full sync.

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.

That row is also where Switch account and Disconnect live, and where a computer with no account shows a Connect… button instead. How the whole thing works is in How sync works.

Still nothing? Open Settings›About, press Copy diagnostics, and send it to support@relic.space with the reason the not-synced sheet gave you.