Getting Started
SyncBins is a personal sharing portal — a place to drop passwords, links, screenshots, code snippets, voice memos, and files from one device and pick them up on another. Everything is end-to-end encrypted: the server stores only ciphertext and can never read your content.
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”- A modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
- A SyncBins account at syncbins.com, or a self-hosted instance
1. Create an account
Section titled “1. Create an account”Open syncbins.com and click Get started. The onboarding wizard walks you through:
- Choosing where it lives — use the hosted service or point to your own server.
- Creating your account — name and email only. No public profile, no tracking.
- Saving your recovery phrase — 12 words generated on-device. Write them down. If you lose the phrase, your data is unrecoverable — the server has no way to decrypt it.
- Confirming the phrase — you’ll be asked for three specific words to make sure you’ve saved them.
- Creating your first bins — pick from suggested bins (Work, Screenshots, Passwords, etc.) or make your own.
- Pairing this device — your first device is paired automatically during signup.
2. Understand bins
Section titled “2. Understand bins”A bin is a named, emoji-tagged collection. Each bin has:
- A name (encrypted — the server can’t read it)
- An emoji and hue (stored in the clear for fast rendering)
- A capacity — a soft limit you set yourself
The “Everything” view in the sidebar shows all items across all bins, sorted by time.
3. Add your first item
Section titled “3. Add your first item”Click in the composer at the bottom of the feed and start typing — or use the tool buttons on the left:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Paste | Paste text or an image from your clipboard |
| Upload | Upload a file from disk |
| Mic | Record a voice memo |
| Password | Generate or save a password |
The composer auto-detects the content type as you type: URLs become LINK items, high-entropy strings become PASSWORD items, and so on.
Press Enter (or click the send arrow) to encrypt and save the item. A “syncing…” indicator shows while the item fans out to your other devices.
4. Pair more devices
Section titled “4. Pair more devices”Go to Settings → Devices on any paired device to get a 6-word pair code and QR code. On the new device, open SyncBins and enter the code during onboarding (or in Settings → Devices → “Pair this device”).
See Pairing Devices for the full walkthrough.
5. Search
Section titled “5. Search”Press ⌘K (or Ctrl+K) to open the search bar. Search runs entirely on-device across your decrypted items — the server never sees your query.
Recovery phrase
Section titled “Recovery phrase”Your recovery phrase is the only way to bootstrap a new device or recover your data. Store it somewhere safe — a password manager, printed paper in a safe, or a hardware key. Without it, nobody (including SyncBins) can recover your bins.