How does encrypted sharing work?

Dash encrypts the note on your device and builds a link. The key sits in the part of the URL after the # symbol, which browsers never send to a server, so the decryption happens entirely in the recipient’s browser. Anyone with the full link can read the note; anyone who only sees the server side of it cannot.

Can the relay read a shared note?

No. If you choose to upload the encrypted blob for a shorter link, the relay stores ciphertext and never receives the key, because the key stays in the URL fragment. You can also skip the upload entirely and put the whole encrypted payload in the link itself.

How long is a shared note stored?

Uploaded share blobs are kept for 30 days and then deleted. A link that carries its own payload has no expiry and no server involved at all, so it lives exactly as long as the link does.

Can I password-protect a shared note?

Yes, and it is on by default. Dash generates a four-word passphrase with three digits, roughly 38 bits of entropy, or you can set your own. Send the link and the passphrase through different channels for the sensible version of this.

What happens to attachments in a shared note?

Attachments are not transmitted; they appear in the shared note as a placeholder naming the file. Images that are shared inline have their EXIF metadata stripped first, so location and camera details do not travel with them.

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Encrypted sharing

Share a Note Without Handing It to a Server

The note is encrypted on your device and the key rides in the part of the link a browser never transmits. The recipient needs no account and no app.

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Updated September 2026 · Dash team

Sharing is where most private notes apps quietly stop being private. To show a note to someone else, the usual approach uploads it somewhere readable, or requires the other person to make an account. Neither is necessary.

Dash encrypts the note first, then puts the key in the URL fragment, the part after the # that browsers keep to themselves. The recipient opens the link in any browser and the decryption happens on their machine.

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How it works

Encrypt on the device. Dash compresses the note, strips EXIF metadata from any inline images, and encrypts the payload with a passphrase.
Build the link. The key goes in the fragment after the #. Browsers never send that part to a server, so it cannot be logged by one.
Choose where the payload lives. Keep it inside the link itself, so no server is involved at all, or upload the encrypted blob for a shorter link that expires after 30 days.
Send it. As a link, a QR code for someone in the room, or through the system share sheet. The passphrase should travel separately.

What the recipient sees

A read-only page that decrypts in their browser, with no account, no app and no sign-up. Dash users can open it directly in the desktop app instead, through the dash:// link, which is convenient when the note is something they want to keep.

What it is not

A share link is a read-only copy, not collaboration: there is no live editing, and nothing you change afterwards updates a link you already sent. Anyone holding the full link and the passphrase can read the note, so treat both together as the secret. Attachments are not included, only named. And a link that carries its own payload cannot be revoked, because there is no server holding anything to delete.

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Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

Self-destructing notesNotes that delete themselves when a timer runs out.Privnote alternativesEncrypted, self-destructing note links compared.How Dash encrypts notesThe cipher, the key derivation and the salts, in plain language.

Share the note, not the keys to everything.

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