Mon Écrin on Linux

Install Mon Écrin

1. Download the AppImage with the button above (Intel or AMD computers; a 64-bit ARM version is available on the desktop app page). Put it wherever you like, for example in an "Applications" folder in your home folder.
2. Make the file executable: right-click the file › Properties › allow it to run as a program. In a terminal: chmod +x followed by the file name.
3. Double-click the file (or run it in a terminal with ./ followed by its name). A browser can't open this type of file: always launch it from your file manager.
4. From the first launch, Mon Écrin adds itself to the applications menu with its icon. If you move the file, launch it once from its new location: the menu entry and automatic startup follow it.
5. At the first launch, your desktop may ask you to create or unlock your keyring: Mon Écrin stores the key that protects your data there.

Mon Écrin works on Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 36 or later and their derivatives, with a session keyring (GNOME Keyring or KWallet) and the xdg-desktop-portal file selection service, included by default on these systems. Everything else is included in the AppImage.

First launch

1. Click "Sign in with Mon Écrin". A tab opens on monecrin.com: sign in as usual (password, Google or two-factor authentication), then come back to the app. Your password never goes through the software.
2. If the browser doesn't open, click "Copy link" and paste it into the browser on this computer. You have 5 minutes to sign in.
3. The "Welcome to Mon Écrin" assistant guides you: "Get started", choose your folders, then "Finish and sync". You can then add or remove folders at any time in the "My folders" tab.
4. Does your account already have a computer? Choose "Take over a computer" to replace the old one (it will be disconnected from the service) or "Set up as new".
5. Maximum number of devices reached? Use "Replace with this PC", or remove a device from "My devices" in your Mon Écrin account, then sign in again.

What you can do

• Mon Écrin lives in the notification area. Its icon menu offers, among other things, "Open the dashboard", "Sync now", "Pause for 1 h" or "Resume syncing", "Settings…", "My vault online", "About" and "Quit" (which stops syncing). Closing the window offers to "Minimize to system tray". On a desktop without a notification area, the window is minimised to the dock.
• "Start at login" (turned on by default from the first launch) starts Mon Écrin in the notification area every time you log in.
• Desktop notifications let you know when an update is ready or installed, and about important events while the window is closed. The automatic pause on mobile data relies on NetworkManager. The monecrin-sync command-line tool is included in the AppImage for advanced users.
• Add a folder: "➕ Add a folder…" in the "My folders" tab, or "🔍 Scan this computer" so that Mon Écrin suggests the photo, video and document folders it finds.
• Choose the direction: "To the vault ↑" sends the folder's contents to your vault; "Two-way ↕" keeps the folder and the vault identical in both directions. Each folder becomes an album in your vault, filed under "This PC". To change direction, remove the folder and add it again.
• Deletions: in "Settings", the "When a file is deleted" section offers "Add only", moving a file deleted on the computer to the vault's trash (recommended, the default choice) and "Mirror", which also carries deletions made in the vault over to the computer ("Two-way" folders only, once it is turned on): the file then goes to the computer's trash. When the system trash can't be used (Linux, network drive, USB stick), Mon Écrin replaces it with a hidden ".monecrin-corbeille" folder, emptied after 30 days.
• Automatic sync: a new file is usually sent within a minute of arriving in a protected folder. On top of that, a full check runs every 6 hours (adjustable: 3, 6 or 12 hours, or once a day at a time of your choice).
• Send right away or take a break: "Check and sync" on the dashboard, "Pause" for 1 hour, 2 hours or until you turn it back on, then "Resume".
• Mobile data (Windows and Linux): by default, sync pauses on a metered connection (4G/5G, hotspot) and resumes on its own on a regular network. Tick "Sync over mobile data too" to allow it. On a Mac, this automatic pause doesn't exist.
• Follow the progress: the dashboard shows how many files are "safe", until "Everything is safe". The "Duplicates & ignored files" tab explains why a file wasn't sent (duplicate, size, OneDrive "online-only" file…).
• Get your files back: "Download my entire vault" brings a copy of your vault to this computer, organised by original folder or by date, after checking the free space.
• Remove a folder: "Remove", then "Stop protecting". No file is deleted from the computer, and what is already in your vault stays there.
• Language and appearance: French, English, Spanish or German, light, dark or system theme, in "Settings".
• Lost, broken or stolen phone: the Mon Écrin icon menu offers a direct link.

Updates

• Updates are automatic. Mon Écrin checks for a new version about 5 minutes after it starts, then every 6 hours.
• Every version is signed by Mon Écrin: it is only installed once its authenticity has been checked. An unauthenticated version is never installed.
• When a version is ready, click "Install now" or "Later". If you do nothing, it installs itself within 24 hours, never during a backup in progress.
• You can also click "Check for updates" at any time.
• The new version replaces the AppImage file in the same place, then Mon Écrin restarts. The file name keeps the number of the first version installed: that's normal, the actual version is shown in "About".

Uninstall

1. Quit Mon Écrin from its icon ("Quit"), then delete the AppImage file.
2. Delete the menu entry and automatic startup: ~/.local/share/applications/monecrin.desktop, ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps/monecrin.png and ~/.config/autostart/monecrin.desktop.
3. To erase its settings too, delete the ~/.local/share/monecrin-sync folder then, in your desktop's password manager ("Passwords and Keys" or KWalletManager), the "Mon Écrin — clé maîtresse" item. Your files and your online vault aren't affected.

Common problems