Get help with fwd

Contact us

Email hello@usefwd.io. To help us find the problem quickly, include:

• which fwd apps you use (the browser extension, the Android app, the Mac app) and their versions, shown at the bottom of Settings in each app;
• what you did, what you expected and what happened instead, and roughly when;
• a screenshot, if it helps show the problem.

For questions, ideas and feature requests, join r/usefwd, where you can also see what others have run into.

Never send anyone your recovery key, a sign-in code or private content. We will never ask for them. To report a security issue, see Report a security issue.

Pushes arrive late, or only when I open the app

• Browser: open the extension’s Settings and look at Delivery. “Instant” means pushes arrive through Web Push; “Every minute” means this browser can’t use Web Push, so fwd checks once a minute. In Brave, turn on “Use Google services for push messaging” in Brave’s privacy settings.
• Android: background delivery depends on your phone. If its battery settings restrict fwd, pushes can wait until you open the app; allow fwd to run in the background.
• Mac: the menu bar app receives while it is running and the Mac is awake and online. After sleep or a network change it reconnects and catches up.
• Offline devices: once a push shows as Sent, it is stored, and a device that was offline receives it when it reconnects.

I don’t get notifications

• Permission: each app needs your system’s permission to notify. On a Mac, check System Settings › Notifications for fwd (and for your browser); on Android, check fwd’s notification settings.
• In the extension: Settings › Notifications turns notifications for pushes sent to this browser on or off.
• Browser and Mac app on the same Mac: while the fwd Mac app is running, pushes sent to all devices notify once, through the Mac app, instead of twice. Pushes sent to the browser itself still notify in the browser.

I can’t add a device

• Approve from a device you already have: a new device joins only when a device on your account approves it, by scanning its code or typing the manual code. Codes expire after a few minutes; if one does, start again for a new code.
• Device limit: during the beta an account can have up to 5 devices, and the browser extension and the Mac app each count as one. Remove a device you no longer use first.
• New accounts: creating an account needs an invite. Join the waitlist to get one.

I lost a device or my recovery key

• A lost or stolen device: remove it from any other device on your account (Devices, then its ⋯ menu, then Remove). It loses access to new pushes; anything it already had stays on it.
• A lost recovery key, but you still have a device: issue a new one from Settings on that device. The old key stops working.
• Every device is gone: sign in on a new device with your email and enter your recovery key to restore your account and history.
• Every device and the recovery key are gone: your encrypted history can’t be recovered, by anyone, including us. You can delete the account and sign up again with the same email.

The Security page explains how recovery works and its limits.

A file or text won’t send

• File size: during the beta, files can be up to 25 MB each.
• Storage: each account has 1 GB. When it is full, delete older pushes from History to make room; fwd never deletes your history on its own.
• Long text: text over 64 KB is sent as a .txt file automatically, unchanged.
• Folders: fwd sends files, not folders. Compress a folder into a zip file first.
• Waiting to send: a push made offline waits on your device and sends when it reconnects.

Sign out of a device, or delete your account

• Sign out of one device: in Devices, open this device’s ⋯ menu and choose Sign out. That device leaves your account and erases its keys and history; your other devices keep everything.
• Delete your account: from Settings in any app, or from the account deletion page. A request made on the website has a 72-hour hold, during which a device on your account can cancel it. Copies you saved outside fwd are not removed.

See the FAQ for more answers, and the privacy policy for what happens to your data.