Before replacing your last linked device
Keep the old device available until the replacement is linked and you can read a clip on it. Save the recovery key Pastefrog shows after your first sign-in somewhere private that you can reach without the old device.
Account sign-in and decryption are separate. Google or an email code confirms your identity. A linked device transfers encryption keys during linking, and the recovery key provides the fallback when no linked device is available.
You can export your clips on every plan. An export gives you a separate copy of the content your plan retains. It does not replace the recovery key for linking and decrypting your account.
If a linked device still works
Use that device to link the replacement before removing the old one. When a phone and computer are involved, the computer shows a QR code and the phone scans it, including when you started on the computer first.
- Install Pastefrog on the replacement using the download page.
- Follow the linking flow with your existing account and linked device.
- Complete the platform’s permission prompts.
- Check the linked devices list and test a new short copy in both directions.
If you cannot find your recovery key but a linked device still works, keep that device available and link the replacement first. Do not wipe it on the assumption that an email sign-in can decrypt your clips by itself.
DevicesPaired with you
If you have the recovery key but no linked device
Use Pastefrog’s email-code and recovery-key fallback on the replacement. The email code signs you in. The recovery key lets that device read the encrypted clips belonging to the account.
Follow the prompts in Pastefrog itself. Keep the key and email code out of support messages, recordings, and screenshots. Copies made before setup finishes are never imported. After setup, copied codes or keys can enter encrypted history.
QR linking does not use the clipboard. Use a linked device for QR linking when one is available; the fallback exists for times when you do not have one at hand.
Check which clips can be restored
Pro restores retained cloud history while active, including on a replacement device without the old device. Free and Sync keep only the current clip, so that is what a replacement receives.
A recovery key cannot recreate history that the account did not retain. It also cannot restore paid history after the subscription’s retention period has ended and that history has been deleted.
Read the history guide if a replacement has the current clip but not the older copies you expected.
Unlink a lost or stolen device
Open the devices list on another linked device and unlink the missing one. Unlinking removes its Pastefrog clips, frees its device slot, and stops it receiving new copies.
Only link devices you control. Pastefrog encrypts clips end to end so its servers cannot read them, but linked devices can read the copies they receive. Passwords and codes are kept exactly as copied.
If you switch accounts on a device, the previous account’s history leaves that device. Finish sign-in and linking on the new account before expecting it to save or sync copies.
If every linked device and the key are lost
Your encrypted clips cannot be recovered. Pastefrog does not hold the keys needed to read them. An email code or restored purchase can confirm your account or plan, but cannot replace those encryption keys.
Check whether you saved the recovery key somewhere independent of the missing devices before concluding it is lost. If you contact support about account access, explain which devices remain available without sending any key, code, password, or clip contents.
For your next setup, save the recovery key after first sign-in and keep a way to reach it if all linked devices become unavailable.