PhotonFile - FAQ

Quick answers about Relay, Photon Vault, Vault Intake, plans, File Passes, retries, limits, and how PhotonFile separates moving files from keeping them in a private cloud drive.

What is PhotonFile?

Photon Transfer moves files live through Relay. Photon Vault keeps your complete file collection in a private cloud drive divided into isolated Vaults. Vault Intake collects from outsiders without workspace exposure. Vault Sync maps different local folders to the Vaults where they belong. Teams coordinate access without automatically opening every Vault.

Relay transfers always travel over encrypted connections. In supported web-app browser flows, client-side encryption is on by default so only someone with your key can decrypt the file. You can turn it off for extra browser compatibility while the Relay connection still uses TLS. PhotonFile Desktop provides a richer native experience for send, receive, and Vault workflows. Vault applies client-side encryption before upload, so PhotonFile stores encrypted data rather than plaintext Vault contents.

Does paid Vault storage stop at the included amount?

No. The 50 GiB, 150 GiB, and 350 GiB amounts shown for paid plans are storage included with the plan, not maximum storage limits.

Paid Vault storage has no fixed capacity limit. Storage beyond the included amount is billed at $0.04/GiB-month, so it can serve as your private cloud drive for a complete collection.

Vault Free is different: it has 10 GiB included with a 10 GiB storage limit, and no paid overage. Files expire seven days after upload.

View Vault pricing Read the plans and storage guide

How is PhotonFile different from a cloud drive?

Photon Vault is a cloud drive replacement. Use it for your whole file collection, then decide where the hard privacy boundaries go. Folders organize files inside a Vault; separate Vaults isolate personal, work, financial, project, client, team, or family data from one another. Relay remains the separate path for files that should move live rather than stay.

What is per-Vault sync?

Per-Vault sync maps each Vault workspace or shared scope to its own local desktop folder. Map personal files, work, client data, or a shared project to different Vaults so they stay separated instead of becoming one broad synced drive tree.

Why does PhotonFile Desktop ask to access Keychain on macOS?

PhotonFile Desktop uses your operating system's secure credential store: Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, and Secret Service on Linux. On macOS, it reads and writes only PhotonFile's own named Keychain entries; it does not browse or retrieve your unrelated Keychain passwords, passkeys, or other app credentials.

Those entries can hold the app-agent secret, an opted-in persisted signed-in session, an optional remembered Vault password, and active protected-transfer resume secrets. PhotonFile stores references and non-secret operational state elsewhere when needed; the secret values stay in the operating system's secure store.

If you decline access, you can still use features that do not need persisted secure state, but saved sign-in, remembered Vault unlock, and protected-transfer resume may be unavailable or prompt again. Signing out clears the saved session and associated remembered Vault password. Locking Vault clears its unlocked key material from memory and removes the remembered Vault password. On macOS, choose Full removal in the installed PhotonFile uninstaller to remove PhotonFile data and its Keychain items for the current user.

Why does PhotonFile Desktop ask for macOS file or folder access?

macOS may ask for access when you choose files or folders for Relay, Vault uploads or downloads, or Vault Sync. PhotonFile uses the locations you select for that workflow; it does not need access to unrelated files just to open the app.

Vault Sync continues to need access to each local folder selected as a sync root so it can detect and apply changes there. Remove that sync root or revoke the app's macOS permission to stop access; sync for that folder will no longer run until access is restored.

Do team members need paid accounts?

In eligible team workspaces, the team owner's plan powers the team. Team members can join without per-seat billing, subject to plan limits. Pro includes 1 team up to 25 members; Studio includes unlimited teams and unlimited members.

Does team membership open every Vault?

No. Team membership gives someone team context, but Vault access is separate. Grant access to each Vault intentionally.

Can Vault Intake senders see my Vault?

No. They get a focused upload page. They cannot browse Vault contents, see unrelated files, manage the workspace, or turn the upload link into team access.

When is a File Pass consumed?

A File Pass is consumed only after completed delivery. If the transfer fails before completion, the pass is not consumed and may be retried.

Can I move my PhotonFile account to another region?

PhotonFile supports Account Region Move for changing the home region or data center that owns your account and related workspace data. The process includes target-region selection, step-up verification, progress tracking, and sign-in through the new home region after completion.

What is my username used for?

Your username is a private login alias. It is not used as your public identity on Vault Share pages, Vault Intake pages, team permission decisions, or audit/activity logs. PhotonFile uses your account identity and email address for recovery, permissions, ownership, and security-sensitive attribution.

Vault branding is separate from your account username and is intentionally user-controlled. If you change your username, the old username may become available to another account, but that does not transfer your vaults, teams, permissions, ownership, audit history, or account identity.

Do you store my files on your servers?

For Relay, PhotonFile is designed to avoid stored delivery. The relay holds file bytes in memory only long enough to move them from sender to receiver, then clears transient state when the session ends.

For Photon Vault, the answer depends on the plan. Paid Vault provides persistent encrypted storage. Vault Free files expire seven days after upload. In both cases, files are stored as encrypted data while retained so authorized clients can access them, while PhotonFile is designed not to have the keys required to decrypt vault contents.

What is Photon Vault?

Photon Vault is persistent client-side encrypted storage for files you want to keep. It is built for long-term protection, private collaboration, scoped sharing, Vault Intake, and versioning.

Vault Free is time-limited: it includes 10 GiB with a 10 GiB limit, and files expire seven days after upload. Files are encrypted on your device before upload and later decrypted only by authorized clients while retained.

Read the Vault overview Read the Vault guide Technical security details

Can PhotonFile read my Vault files?

Photon Vault is designed so PhotonFile does not have access to the plaintext contents of vault files. Files are encrypted on the client before upload, and authorized clients decrypt them later.

PhotonFile still needs limited operational metadata to run the service, such as vault and object identifiers, file sizes, transfer activity, and share-link or upload events.

Read the technical security overview Read the Vault guide

Should I use a File Pass or a subscription?

File Passes are pay-per-transfer. One File Pass covers one transfer, which may contain one or multiple files. They are best for one-off large sends, with no ongoing commitment.

Subscriptions include a monthly pool of relay bandwidth for regular use, with overage billed at the same rate.

You can use both: if a transfer exceeds your plan's limits, you can apply a File Pass to that transfer.

Use Vault when the file should stay. Vault storage is based on stored capacity, so retained files count against storage capacity instead of Relay transfer tiers.

View pricing Compare plans

What's a File Pass?

A File Pass lets you make an oversized send using the same Ephemeral File Transfer relay. One File Pass. One transfer. One or multiple files. The total transfer size determines the tier.

File Passes can also be used alongside a subscription for qualifying occasional oversized transfers that exceed your plan's limits.

View File Passes

Is there a max file size?

Relay Lite remains limited to 250 GiB per transfer even with a meter. Relay Pro and Studio have no fixed transfer-size cap with valid Additional usage billing. Without a valid meter, Pro and Studio retain a 400 GiB transfer limit while monthly included usage remains, then follow the full Free Relay policy with a 10 GiB maximum until monthly reset. Pro trials keep a hard stop. File Passes are separate transfer workflows with their own transfer-size rules. Vault is different: Vault provides persistent encrypted storage based on stored capacity. Paid Photon Vault has no per-file upload size restriction, so you can upload files of any size. Usage beyond the included amount is billed at $0.04/GiB-month. Vault Free has 10 GiB included, files expire seven days after upload and no paid overage. Client environment, network conditions, account policy, and abuse controls still apply.

What if my transfer fails?

If something breaks mid-transfer, you can retry. For File Pass transfers, the pass is only consumed once both sides have fully transmitted all required bytes through the relay and nothing remains in flight. If the transfer fails, your pass stays valid and you can try again.

How many retries do I get if there's a connection issue?

As many as you need. We log retry counts only to improve reliability, not to limit you. If a transfer ever fails, both peers see exactly what happened. No guessing, no hidden throttles, and no silent timeouts.

Do you support client-side encryption?

Yes. In supported web-app browser flows, PhotonFile can encrypt your file in the browser before it ever leaves your machine. PhotonFile Desktop provides a richer native experience for send, receive, and Vault workflows. The decryption key is encoded into the URL fragment (the part after #...), which never gets sent to the server.

That means the relay only sees encrypted chunks, and only someone you share the full link with can decrypt the content. If you want to understand the details, check the Technology page for diagrams and implementation notes.

What can I send?

Anything you're legally allowed to share. You are responsible for the content you transmit and for complying with local laws and our Terms of Service.

Why did you build this?

Because many "file transfer" services rely on stored delivery, throttle speeds, track users, or cap file sizes.

PhotonFile is built around an ephemeral-by-default model.
We built an Ephemeral File Transfer relay that keeps bytes in memory while they are moving, turns end-to-end client-side encryption on by default, and avoids surveillance economics.

If it's free, am I the product?

No. PhotonFile is funded by paid usage (subscriptions and File Passes), not by selling your data.

We do not inspect your files, sell file contents, or mine your transfers for marketing profiles. We may use limited measurement to understand whether ads are working, but this does not inspect your files and is not used to build cross-site behavioral profiles.

What are the limits of the free tier?

You can send files up to 10 GiB.

Free transfers use our standard pool and may be queued during periods of high demand. If you send large files regularly, check Pricing and Plans for options that include higher priority and additional features.