Secret Store

What the Secret Store is

Most of us have too many passwords: the bank, email, the electricity board, the Wi-Fi at home, the school fees website. Writing them in a diary or in a sheet is risky, because anyone who opens it can read them.

The Secret Store is a locked box inside the Flicx Sheet app for exactly these. You open it with one password that only you know, called the master password.

Each thing you keep is called a secret. A secret has:

• A name, such as Bank login.
• One or more keys with their values. The key says what it is, such as Username or Password. The value is the secret part.
• Notes, for anything else to remember.

The Secret Store is separate from the rest of Flicx Sheet. Your secrets are not in your sheets, your notes or your Library. Nobody you share a sheet with can see them, and Flicx Companion cannot read them.

Where it works, and where it does not

The Secret Store needs a real place on your device to keep its locked file, and the device's own lock to guard it. A browser cannot give it these, so it is left out there. To get the apps, see Phone and apps.

Where to find itTop bar›Utilities›Secret Store

In the Windows app, click Utilities in the bar across the top, then Secret Store. In the Android app, tap More in the bar at the bottom, then Secret Store.

Your secrets stay on your device

This is the most important thing to understand, so please read it slowly.

• Your secrets are kept in one locked file on the computer or phone where you made them. They are not kept with your Flicx account.
• Signing in to Flicx Sheet on another device does not bring your secrets there. Each device has its own Secret Store.
• The file is locked with your master password. Without that password the file cannot be read.
• Nobody can reset the master password for you. There is no "Forgot password" link that sends you a new one.

Please noteIf you forget the master password, your secrets cannot be opened again, by you or by anyone else. Choose a password you will remember, and write it down somewhere safe at home.

Set it up the first time

1. Type a Master password. It must have at least 10 characters. The bars under the box show how strong it is. A very common password is refused with the words Too common.
2. Type the same password in Type it again.
3. Tick the box that begins I understand. It reminds you that a forgotten password cannot be brought back.
4. If your device offers it, leave Unlock with fingerprint ticked. In the Windows app this reads Unlock with Windows Hello. You then do not have to type the master password every time.
5. Press Create Secret Store.

If you cannot think of a good password, press Suggest a strong one. It makes one from a few random words. Write it down, or learn it by heart, before you go on.

TipA few unrelated words joined together, such as four words with a number, make a password that is long, strong and easier to remember than a jumble of symbols.

Had a Secret Store before? Press Restore my secrets to bring it back from a backup file. See Backup files.

Locking and unlocking

The Secret Store locks itself, so that a phone left on a table does not give your passwords away.

• It locks when you close it.
• It locks when you leave the app.
• It locks after a while without use. This is 2 minutes unless you change it.
• You can lock it at once with Lock.

1. Unlock with fingerprint opens it with your phone's own lock. In the Windows app the button reads Unlock with Windows Hello.
2. Use master password lets you type the master password instead.
3. More options is for when you cannot get in at all. It offers Restore a backup file and Erase the Secret Store.

If you type the wrong master password, you must wait a little before trying again: 1 second, then 2, then 4, and so on, up to one minute. The button shows Wait and the seconds left. You are never locked out for good.

Please noteFingerprint and Windows Hello unlock are only as safe as your device's own lock. Anyone who can get past your phone's fingerprint or screen lock, or your PC's Windows Hello, can open the Secret Store too. If other people know your phone's PIN, turn this off in Settings and use the master password.

While the Secret Store is open, the app asks the device to keep it out of screenshots.

Add a secret

1. Press Add secret, then type a Name, for example Bank login.
2. In the first box of a row type the key, for example Username.
3. In the second box type its value. The value is hidden as you type. Press the eye to see it.
4. To have a strong password made for you, press Generate, choose one you like, and press Use this password.
5. Press Add another key for each further thing to keep, such as the password or a customer number.
6. Add Notes if you like, then press Save.

A secret needs a name and at least one key with its value. Every value must have a key.

To change a secret later, open it and press Edit. If you try to leave the form with changes not saved, the app asks Leave without saving?

Find, show, copy and remove

1. Search finds a secret as you type. It looks at the names of secrets and the names of their keys. It never looks inside the values.
2. Add secret starts a new one.
3. The list shows each secret's name and the names of its keys, in alphabetical order. Click one to open it.
4. Show shows one value. It hides itself again after 30 seconds. Press Hide to hide it sooner.
5. Copy copies the value so you can paste it where it is needed. The app clears the copied value after 30 seconds.
6. Lock locks the Secret Store at once.

Values are always shown as the same row of dots, so even the length of a password is not given away.

To remove a secret, open it and press Delete. The app asks you to confirm, because this cannot be undone.

On a phone the list fills the screen. Tap a secret to open it. Press and hold a secret to get Open, Edit and Delete. The round + button at the bottom adds a secret.

TipPaste a copied password soon after copying it. After 30 seconds it is gone from the clipboard, and you will have to copy it again.

The password generator

A good password is long and not used anywhere else. The Password generator makes one for you whenever you need it.

• Characters makes a jumble of letters, numbers and symbols. Set its Length, and choose what goes in: Upper case (A-Z), Lower case (a-z), Digits (0-9) and Symbols (!@#).
• Words joins a few random words. Set how many Words, what goes Between the words, and whether to use Capital letters and Add a number.
• Copy copies the password. Like other copied values, it is cleared after 30 seconds.

A generated password is not saved anywhere unless you put it in a secret.

Send one secret to your other device

Each device has its own Secret Store. To pass a single secret from one to the other, for example from your phone to your PC, use a code on the screen.

1. On the device that has the secret, open it and press Send. On a phone this is the small button with a square code on it. A large square code appears.
2. On the other device, open the Secret Store and unlock it.
3. In the Windows app press Scan a code from my phone. On a phone, tap the scan button at the top of the Secret Store.
4. Point the camera at the code. The secret is saved on the second device and opens.

• Both devices must be signed in to the same Flicx Sheet account.
• A code works once, and runs out after 3 minutes. Press New code to make another.
• The secret is locked inside the code. The second device can open it only when it is signed in to your account.

Please noteShow the code only to your own device. Do not send a photo of it to anyone.

Settings

In the Windows app, the bottom of Settings also shows the folder where the locked file is kept, after the words Kept on this PC.

The quick open shortcut is Win+Alt+S unless you change it. The small window lets you search, copy a value or add a secret. It locks and closes by itself after 3 minutes without use, or when you press Esc.

Backup files

Because your secrets live on one device, a backup file is your only protection if that device is lost, stolen or broken. Please make one.

1. Open the Secret Store and go to Settings.
2. Press Save a backup file.
3. Choose where to keep it. A pen drive, or another computer of yours, is a good place.

• A backup file is locked. It opens only with the master password that was in use when the backup was made.
• A backup holds your secrets as they were on that day. Secrets added later are not in it. Save a new backup now and then.
• After you change the master password, save a new backup at once. Older backups still open with the old password.

To bring a backup back, press Restore a backup file, choose the file, and type Master password of that backup. The app shows the date the backup was saved.

Please noteRestoring replaces the Secret Store on that device. Anything in it that is not in the backup is lost. If you want to keep what is there, save a backup file of it first.

If you lose the device or forget the password

Here is exactly what happens in each case.

To erase, the app makes you type the word ERASE first, so that it cannot happen by accident.

Common questions

I cannot find Secret Store in the menu. You are using Flicx Sheet in a browser. The Secret Store is only in the Windows app and the Android app.

I added passwords on my phone. Why are they not on my PC? Each device has its own Secret Store. Pass them across one at a time with Send, or restore a backup file from the phone on the PC. Restoring replaces whatever the PC's Secret Store held.

Can the people I share sheets with see my secrets? No. The Secret Store is not part of any sheet, project or team.

Can Flicx Companion read my secrets? No. It is told only that the Secret Store is open.

Search does not find a password I typed. Search looks only at names and key names, never at values. Search for the name of the secret instead.

Fingerprint unlock stopped working. The app says it needs to be turned on again. Unlock with your master password. On a phone this can happen after a new fingerprint is added to the phone.

Should I keep my bank PIN here? That is your choice. The Secret Store keeps what you put in it locked on your device. Remember that anyone who knows your master password can open all of it.