Back up your sync key

Your sync key unlocks everything in your sync folder. Nobody can recover it for you, so Sval offers to back it up when it makes the key.

You use Sval on one laptop. If the laptop were lost, the backup is how you’d read your Workspaces in the sync folder again.

Save a backup

Open Settings › Sync and devices.
Open Advanced.
Under Sync key, select Save a backup.
Select Copy, then paste the key into a secure note in your password manager.
Select Done.

Sval shows the same dialog when you first choose a sync folder.

Restore on a new device

You lost your laptop, and Sval ran on no other device. Set Sval up on your new one:

Open Sval. The Welcome to Sval dialog opens.
Select Use my tabs and settings from another device.
Select Choose folder…, then choose your sync folder.
Select Continue.
Select Restore with your backup key.
In Backup key, paste the key, then select Continue.

The step reads “Your tabs and settings are here.” Select Continue on each of the next steps, then Start browsing. The panel shows your Workspaces.

Restore in Settings

Use this on a device whose setup is done and whose sync folder is chosen.

Open Settings › Sync and devices.
Open Advanced.
In Restore from a backup, paste the key.
Select Restore.

When the key matches the Workspaces in your sync folder, the line under it reads Done. Both devices are synced.

Details

Print… prints the key, and Save to a file… saves it as a file.
Sval won’t save the key inside your sync folder. Anyone who could open the folder could use the key with it.
Sval warns you when you save the key in the same cloud account as your sync folder. A password manager is a safer place.
You haven’t saved a backup. shows under Sync key until you copy, print, or save the key.
Restoring in Settings needs the sync folder chosen on this device.
While any of your devices still syncs, you don’t need the backup. That device can give the others a code. See Sync another device with this one.

If something goes wrong

That isn’t a sync key backup. Check what you typed. Paste the whole key again.
That key doesn’t match the Workspaces in this folder. The key belongs to another sync folder, or to a key you replaced with Set up sync again.
Choose your sync folder first. Choose the folder under Sync, then restore again.
Can’t reach your sync folder. Try again when it’s back. Check that the folder’s drive or cloud app is connected, then select Continue or Restore again.