Team and sync
Use Cloud Sync between computers
Check that Cloud Sync is on, close a profile on one computer and open it on another with its session intact, and understand why only one computer can have a profile open at a time.
Guide · 6 min read
By the end of this guide a profile you close on one computer opens on another, still signed in. Cloud Sync uploads a profile's session when the profile closes and restores it wherever the profile opens next. It also lets only one computer have the profile open at a time. Cloud Sync is switched on by default, so this guide is mostly about using it, not setting it up.
Before you start
- PowerOps installed on both computers.
- An ArticleOps account on each computer that belongs to the same workspace. It can be the same account on both.
- Cloud Sync switched on for your organisation. It is on unless an owner or admin has switched it off, and step 1 shows how to check.
- An internet connection on both computers whenever you open or close a synced profile.
1. Check that Cloud Sync is on
An organisation starts with Cloud Sync switched on, so usually there is nothing to turn on. It is one setting for the whole organisation, and it covers every workspace in it.
- On the computer you already use, choose Settings at the bottom of the sidebar, then Cloud Sync.
- Look at what the tab shows. It is one of the two screens below.
If you see a list of switches
Cloud Sync is on. The list starts with Cloud Sync (organization). There is nothing to do here, so go on to step 2.
If you see Enable Cloud Sync
An owner or admin has switched Cloud Sync off for your organisation. While it is off, no session is uploaded, and nothing stops two computers from opening the same profile. An owner or admin chooses Enable Cloud Sync to switch it back on. For everyone else the button cannot be pressed.
- Continue profiles on another computer
- Keep browser sessions synchronized
- Prevent simultaneous profile use
What you should see
After Enable Cloud Sync, the card is replaced by the list of switches, starting with Cloud Sync (organization). A change to any of them is saved straight away.
There is no key to write down and nothing else to set up. PowerOps creates the workspace's encryption key by itself the first time it is needed.
2. Choose what syncs
Three switches in the middle of the list decide which parts of a profile's session are uploaded, and all three start switched on.
- Cookies & sessions: the cookies that keep you signed in.
- Local storage: site data the browser keeps in Local Storage.
- IndexedDB: site data the browser keeps in IndexedDB.
Some sites keep their sign-in in Local Storage or IndexedDB instead of cookies, so leave all three on unless you have a reason not to. Only an owner or admin can change them.
To treat one profile differently, open the menu at the end of its row and choose View details. Under Cloud Sync, choose Custom to pick what syncs for that profile alone, or Disabled so that its session is never uploaded.
To switch Cloud Sync off for the whole organisation, an owner or admin turns off Cloud Sync (organization), the first switch in the list. From then on sessions are not uploaded and the one-computer rule in step 5 no longer applies. Your profiles still appear on your other computers, because the list of profiles is shared whether Cloud Sync is on or off.
3. Close a profile to upload its session
Cloud Sync uploads when a profile closes, so closing it properly is what moves your work.
- Finish what you are doing in the profile's browser.
- Choose Close on the profile's row, or close its browser window.
- Keep PowerOps open and watch the Activity panel at the bottom of the window until it reads Synced.
What you should see
The panel reads Closing…, then Syncing to cloud…, then Synced. It reads Up to date instead when nothing has changed since the last upload. The row's button goes back to Open.
What is uploaded
- When the profile closes: the parts of its session you left switched on in step 2, which are cookies, Local Storage and IndexedDB. They are encrypted on your computer before they are uploaded.
- As you work, without waiting for a close: the profile itself, so that it appears on your other computers. That is its name, group, folder and tags, its device identity, its proxy, and the tabs that were open. These details are not encrypted with the workspace's key, and they are shared even while Cloud Sync is switched off.
- With the profile: its proxy password and any saved account sign-in details, encrypted with the workspace's key.
What stays on the computer
History, bookmarks, passwords and autofill saved by the browser itself, downloads and the cache are not uploaded. They stay on the computer where they were made.
4. Open it on the other computer
- Install PowerOps on the second computer and sign in to the same workspace.
- Give the Profiles page a few seconds. Your profiles arrive by themselves, and Refresh, at the right of the bar above the table, asks for them straight away.
- Choose Open on the profile.
What you should see
The first time, the Activity panel shows Restoring from cloud… among its stages. Then the browser opens where you left off on the first computer, signed in to the same sites.
Nothing has to be typed on the second computer. It receives the workspace's key from the ArticleOps service, because the account you signed in with belongs to the workspace.
5. One computer at a time
While a profile is open on one computer, the others cannot open it. That is what stops two browsers from writing over the same session.
- On the other computers, the profile's Open button turns grey and shows a padlock. Point at it to see which computer holds the profile: Locked by, followed by that computer's name.
- If you choose Open before the padlock has appeared, the Activity panel answers This profile is open on another computer, with Retry beside it.
- The profile is released when it closes and its upload has finished. Close it there, wait for Synced, then open it here.
- If the computer holding it lost power or its connection, the profile frees itself about two minutes later. There is no button that takes a profile away from a computer that is using it.
Good to know
- While Cloud Sync is on, a profile will not open when Cloud Sync cannot be reached. PowerOps cannot tell whether another computer has it open, so it refuses rather than risk a second session. Try again once the connection is back.
- Cloud Sync never merges two versions of a session and never asks you to choose between them. The one-computer rule is there so that only one version exists.
- Sessions are encrypted on your computer before they are uploaded and decrypted on the computer that opens the profile, with a key that belongs to the workspace.
- Cloud Sync is not end-to-end encryption. The ArticleOps service keeps a copy of the workspace's key and gives it to a computer when an account that belongs to the workspace signs in there, so the service holds the key as well as your synced sessions. Your ArticleOps sign-in is what protects them.
What to do when a profile did not sync
- Recover from download, opening, proxy and sync problemsWhat to do when Orbit Browser does not finish downloading, a profile will not open, a proxy fails, or a profile's session does not reach your other computer.Next guide
- Export and import profilesSave profiles to a file, import them into another workspace or onto another computer, and know what travels with them and what stays behind.Next guide
- Workspaces, teams and Cloud SyncHow workspaces and roles work, inviting teammates, how synced sessions are encrypted, and what Cloud Sync moves between your computers.Next guide