When the Bramble desktop app and the browser extension are on the same computer, link them. Then:
- They share one vault and keep it in sync on your computer, not over the internet.
- The browser fills and unlocks through the desktop app, so you don’t unlock twice.
Before you start
- Install the desktop app and the browser extension on the same computer.
- The desktop app’s vault needs a master password. If you unlock it with only a security key, turn on a master password in Settings → Security first.
- Installed the browser after the desktop app? Quit and reopen the desktop app so it can find the browser.
Link them
- In the desktop app, open Settings → Sync. Under Browser extension, choose Connect next to Connect a browser.
- Enter your master password and choose Continue. Leave this window open: it waits 3 minutes.
- In the browser extension:
- Setting up the extension for the first time? Choose Link on the Using Bramble desktop? banner.
- Already using it? Open Settings → Sync and find Desktop app. In the toolbar popup, choose Continue in a window first.
- If the browser asks for permission, choose Allow and continue and accept the browser’s prompt.
- Choose Link.
- Both screens show a row of symbols. If they’re the same, choose They match in the extension and Approve in the desktop app. If they differ, choose They don’t match.
- If the extension asks for a master password, enter the one for the desktop app’s vault.
What happens to the browser’s vault
It depends on what’s already in the browser:
| In the browser | What happens |
|---|---|
| Nothing yet (first setup) | The browser copies the desktop app’s vault. Keep the desktop app open until it finishes. |
| An empty vault | The browser switches to the desktop app’s vault and removes the empty one. |
| Entries, while the desktop vault is empty | The browser’s entries and files move into the desktop app’s vault. |
| Entries on both sides | You choose: combine them or keep them separate. |
Whenever the browser ends up on the desktop app’s vault, it unlocks with the desktop app’s master password.
Fill from the desktop app
Press ⌘ Shift Space on a Mac, or Ctrl Shift Space on Linux, to open the desktop app’s quick panel. On a Wayland desktop, choose Quick Access from the tray icon instead. Pick an entry and choose Fill on … to fill it on the page open in your linked browser.
Disconnect
- In the extension: open Settings → Sync → Desktop app, choose Disconnect, then Stop using the app. The vault keeps syncing with the desktop app, and nothing is deleted. To take this browser out of the vault entirely, remove it from the device list.
- In the desktop app: open Settings → Sync and choose the trash icon next to the browser in the device list, then Remove. The browser stops syncing and is disconnected. Its copy of the vault stays on it.