De-encrypt downloaded journal backup

thoroughmas

Hi there,

I have an encrypted journal on Journey, and I've made a backup and downloaded it, but it seems all the files are still encrypted. What's the process of removing the encryption?

Thanks.

John

thoroughmas Hi, you will be prompted to input the passphrase in the web app before you can export your encrypted entry into zip file. The passphrase will be the one you used when you set up the encrypted drive. Once you have managed to unzip successfully, the content within it will be shown unencrypted.

thoroughmas

Ah that makes sense.
It looks like Peazip and Archive Manager on Linux simply aren't asking me for a password. So they just export the files as a jumbled code. I'll find another app to try soon.

John

thoroughmas Sorry for the confusion. There are two scenarios when you export from an encrypted drive:

Export a single entry
Go to Journey web app > input passphrase > select an entry in timeline > export to zip.

When you open the content in the zip file on your computer, it should appear unencrypted since it was decrypted in your browser (client-side).
Bulk export entries
Go to Journey web app > settings > cloud > select an encrypted Journey Cloud Sync drive > backups > new backup.
When you open the content in the zip file on your computer, it should appear encrypted since it was not decrypted on our server.

The only way to decrypt is by importing the encrypted zip file into Journey. You will be prompted for the passphrase before you can import into Journey.

Hope this clarifies!

thoroughmas

That does clarify, thank you!

I'll add that I hope at some point you can provide a way to easily decrypt the latter version. I think it's important to be able to export my entire unencrypted journal to save on my personal storage.

John

thoroughmas Thanks for the feedback! For E2EE to function properly, both encryption and decryption need to occur on the client side (in the browser). As such, it is possible to implement single-entry export. However, for bulk export, the client may not be able to handle large archive sizes. As such, the bulk export is implemented on the backend, and it cannot be decrypted there.

But do not worry, I have already sent this feedback to my team.

thoroughmas

Thanks so much.
One further question -- are there any plans to allow transferring an encrypted journal to a non-encrypted one? I've got a big encrypted journal that I've decided I really need to un-encrypt (I miss the search function too much! 😛)

John

thoroughmas Yes, it is possible. Auto-migration will be a feature that we're currently developing. At the moment, you can archive or backup your encrypted drive to a ZIP file. Then create a new Journey Cloud Sync drive (unencrypted) and import the encrypted ZIP file into it.