🧠 ReMemory User Guide

Learn how to create encrypted recovery bundles and recover your secrets

Overview

ReMemory helps you protect important files (passwords, crypto keys, documents) by:

  1. Encrypting your files with strong cryptography (age encryption)
  2. Splitting the decryption key among trusted friends using Shamir's Secret Sharing
  3. Creating self-contained bundles that friends can use to recover your secrets

The important part: recovery works entirely offline in a browser—no servers, no internet, no need for this website to exist when recovery happens.

Tip: No single friend can access your data alone. They must work together, combining their shares to reach the threshold you set (e.g., 3 of 5 friends).

Creating Bundles

Creating bundles is a 3-step process. Everything happens in your browser—your files never leave your device.

Step 1: Add Friends

Start by adding the friends who will hold pieces of your recovery key. For each friend, provide their name, email, and optionally phone number.

Adding friends in Step 1
Add at least 2 friends who will hold shares of your recovery key

Then choose your threshold—how many friends must cooperate to recover your files.

Choosing the right threshold:
  • 3 friends, threshold 2: Minimum viable setup
  • 5 friends, threshold 3: Good balance of security and availability
  • 7 friends, threshold 4-5: Higher security, requires more coordination
Set threshold high enough that casual collusion is unlikely, but low enough that recovery is possible if 1-2 friends are unavailable.

Step 2: Add Files

Drag and drop files or a folder containing the secrets you want to protect.

Adding files in Step 2
Drag and drop files or folders to protect

Good candidates for ReMemory:

Note: Avoid files that change frequently. ReMemory is designed for static secrets that you set and forget.

Step 3: Generate Bundles

Click "Generate Bundles" to encrypt your files and create personalized bundles for each friend.

Generating bundles in Step 3
Download individual bundles or all at once

Each bundle is approximately 5 MB because it includes the complete recovery tool. This ensures friends can recover your files even if this website no longer exists.

Distributing to Friends

Send each friend their specific bundle using any method you trust:

Tell your friends:
  1. Keep the bundle somewhere safe (cloud backup, USB drive, etc.)
  2. They cannot use it alone—they'll need to coordinate with others
  3. A single share reveals nothing, but they should still keep it private

Recovering Files

What Friends Receive

Each bundle contains everything needed for recovery:

README.txt Instructions + unique share + contact list
README.pdf Same content, formatted for printing
MANIFEST.age Your encrypted secrets
recover.html Browser-based recovery tool (~1.8 MB)

Each bundle is personalized: the recover.html has the friend's share pre-loaded and shows a contact list of other friends who hold shares.

Recovery Process

When your friends need to recover your secrets, here's what they do:

1

Open recover.html

One friend opens the recovery tool from their bundle in any modern browser. Their share is automatically pre-loaded.

2

Load the encrypted manifest

Drag and drop MANIFEST.age from the bundle onto the manifest area.

3

Coordinate with other friends

The tool shows a contact list with other friends' names, emails, and phone numbers. Reach out and ask them to send their README.txt file.

4

Add shares from other friends

Drag and drop their README.txt files onto the page, or paste share text directly. A checkmark appears next to each friend's name as their share is added.

5

Recovery happens automatically

Once the threshold is met (e.g., 3 of 5 shares), decryption starts immediately—no button to click!

Recovery interface - collecting shares
The recovery tool showing collected shares and contact list
Recovery interface - decryption complete
Once threshold is met, files are decrypted and ready to download
Key points about recovery:
  • Works completely offline—no internet required
  • No data leaves the browser
  • Works on Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge
  • Friends can be in different locations; they just share their README.txt files

Best Practices

Choosing Friends

Security Considerations

Rotation

Consider creating new bundles every 2-3 years:

CLI Alternative

ReMemory also offers a command-line tool for advanced users who prefer working in a terminal or need to automate bundle creation.

Download CLI from GitHub

The CLI provides the same functionality plus features like importing contacts from a project.yml file and batch operations.