How to lock your journal, step by step

Five minutes now protects years of your most private writing.

1. Add a passkey (your face or fingerprint)

A passkey lets you sign in with the same face, fingerprint, or PIN that unlocks your device — nothing to remember, nothing that can be guessed or phished.

  1. Go to Security in the top menu.
  2. Under Your face or fingerprint, click Set up face or fingerprint.
  3. Confirm your password when asked (that's normal).
  4. Give it a name like “my laptop” or “my phone”, click Add, and approve with your face, fingerprint, or PIN.

Add a passkey on every device you use — one for your computer, one for your phone.

2. Add an authenticator app (backup codes)

An authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Aegis, 1Password…) generates 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds. It works even without a passkey device.

  1. Go to SecurityAuthenticator AppActivate.
  2. Scan the QR code with your authenticator app — the entry will appear as Solous.
  3. Type the 6-digit code it shows to confirm.

3. Save your recovery codes — this one matters most

If you lose your passkey device and your phone, recovery codes are the only way back into your journal. We cannot reset your account for you — that's a promise, not a limitation: it's what keeps your journal yours alone.

  1. Go to SecurityRecovery CodesGenerate.
  2. Print them, or write them down, and keep them somewhere physically safe — with your passport, in a drawer, in a safe.
  3. Each code works once. When you've used most of them, generate new ones.

Things Solous does for you automatically