Nextcloud User Manual

Release 34

The Nextcloud developers

Jun 29, 2026

 CONTENTS

1 Nextcloud 34 user manual introduction 1

2 The Nextcloud web interface 3

2.1 Web browser requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 The Dashboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 Navigating the interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.4 Settings and profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.5 Unified search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3 Using the Activity app 7

3.1 Viewing your activity stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Activity in the Files sidebar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3 RSS feed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.4 Notification settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 AI assistant 13
4.1 Personal settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 Running a task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3 Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.4 Task history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.5 Chat with AI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.6 Smart pickers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5 Files & synchronization 21

5.1 Accessing your files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2 Managing your files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.3 Sharing & collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5.4 Security & encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6 Groupware 83
6.1 Using the Contacts app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.2 Using the Calendar app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.3 Using the Mail app . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
6.4 Setting out-of-office messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
6.5 Synchronizing with Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
6.6 Synchronizing with iOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
6.7 Synchronizing with macOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
6.8 Synchronizing with Thunderbird . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
6.9 Synchronizing with KDE Kontact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6.10 Synchronizing with the GNOME desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.11 Synchronizing with Windows 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

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7 Talk 179
7.1 Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.2 Conversations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
7.3 Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
7.4 Federation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
7.5 For moderators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
7.6 Join a call or chat as guest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

8 Collectives 245
8.1 Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
8.2 How to onboard your team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
8.3 Access Markdown files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

9 Desktop Client 249

9.1 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
9.2 Uninstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
9.3 Using the Synchronization Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
9.4 Using the Command-Line Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
9.5 Command-Line Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
9.6 Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
9.7 Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
9.8 The Automatic Updater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
9.9 Update channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
9.10 Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
9.11 FAQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

10 Setting your preferences 287

10.1 Sharing your data in the global address book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
10.2 Restrict who can see your profile data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

11 Universal access 293

11.1 Zoom and responsiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
11.2 Navigating via keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
11.3 Included themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

12 Using two-factor authentication 295

12.1 Configuring two-factor authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
12.2 Recovery codes if you lose your second factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
12.3 Logging in with two-factor authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
12.4 Using two-factor authentication with hardware tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
12.5 Using client applications with two-factor authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
12.6 Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

13 Manage connected browsers and devices 301

13.1 Managing connected browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
13.2 Managing devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
13.3 Device-specific passwords and password changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Index 305

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 CHAPTER

ONE

NEXTCLOUD 34 USER MANUAL INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Nextcloud: A safe home for all your data.

Nextcloud is open source file sync and share software for everyone from individuals operating the free Nextcloud Server
in the privacy of their own home, to large enterprises and service providers supported by the Nextcloud Enterprise Sub-
scription. Nextcloud provides a safe, secure, and compliant file synchronization and sharing solution on servers that you
control.
You can share one or more files and folders on your computer, and synchronize them with your Nextcloud server. Place
files in your local shared directories, and those files are immediately synchronized to the server and to other devices using
the Nextcloud Desktop Sync Client, Android app, or iOS app.
Help translate.

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TWO

THE NEXTCLOUD WEB INTERFACE

Open your Nextcloud server’s URL in any web browser and log in with your account name (or email address) and pass-
word:

You can also log in using a passkey or hardware security key by clicking Log in with a device.

2.1 Web browser requirements

For the best experience, use the latest version of one of these browsers:
• Google Chrome / Chromium
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
• Microsoft Edge

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® Note

Not all versions are supported. Nextcloud targets browsers meeting the minimum usage threshold.

2.2 The Dashboard

After logging in, Nextcloud opens the Dashboard — a customisable overview of your most important activity: upcoming
calendar events, unread messages, recent files, and more.

Use the Customise button at the bottom of the page to add, remove, or rearrange widgets to suit your workflow.

2.3 Navigating the interface

The navigation bar at the top of every page is your main access point:

• The Nextcloud logo (top left) takes you back to the Dashboard.
• App shortcuts are shown next to the logo — click any icon to switch to that app (Files, Calendar, Talk, and so on).
• The search icon on the right opens unified search, which searches across all your apps at once.
• The bell icon shows your notifications.
• The contacts icon lets you quickly look up and contact other users on your server.
• Your profile picture (far right) opens the settings menu.

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Each app also has its own left sidebar with filters and actions specific to that app.

2.4 Settings and profile

Click your profile picture to access your account options:

From this menu you can:

• View and edit your profile
• Set your online status
• Change appearance and accessibility settings
• Open your personal Settings page
• Access help and privacy information
• Log out

2.5 Unified search

Click the search icon in the navigation bar (or press Ctrl+F) to open the unified search modal:
Unified search looks across all your installed apps — files, calendar events, messages, contacts, and more — at once.
Results are grouped by app so you can quickly see where a match was found.
Use the filter chips to narrow results:
• Places — limit the search to a specific app, such as Files or Calendar.
• Date — filter by time period (today, last 7 days, last 30 days, this year, or a custom range).

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• People — show only results related to a specific person.

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THREE

USING THE ACTIVITY APP

The Activity app keeps track of everything happening in your Nextcloud. It records events such as file changes, shares,
calendar updates, and more, giving you a chronological overview of what happened and when.
The Activity app is enabled by default.

Fig. 1: The Activity stream showing all recent activities.

3.1 Viewing your activity stream

To view your activity stream, click on the Activity icon in the top navigation bar or navigate to /apps/activity in
your browser.
The stream shows all events grouped by day. Each entry shows what happened, which file or object was affected, and
how long ago the event occurred. Entries from other apps such as Calendar, Contacts, or Talk also appear in the stream
if those apps are installed.

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3.1.1 Filtering activities

The left sidebar provides filters to narrow down the activity stream:
• All activities shows everything.
• By you shows only activities that you triggered yourself.
• By others shows only activities triggered by other users.
• File changes shows only file and folder events (create, modify, delete, rename, move).
Additional filters may appear depending on which apps are installed on your Nextcloud instance (e.g. Favorites, Calen-
dar, Contacts).

Fig. 2: The activity stream filtered to show only your own activities.

3.2 Activity in the Files sidebar

You can also view activities for a specific file or folder directly from the Files app. Select a file, open the sidebar and
click on the Activity tab. This shows only the events related to that particular file, such as when it was created, modified,
shared, or tagged.

3.3 RSS feed

The Activity app can provide your activity stream as an RSS feed, allowing you to follow your Nextcloud activity from
any feed reader.
To enable the RSS feed:
1. Open the Activity app.
2. Click Activity settings at the bottom of the left sidebar.

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Fig. 3: The activity stream filtered to file changes only.

Fig. 4: The Activity tab in the Files sidebar showing per-file events.

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3. Enable the Enable RSS feed toggle.

4. Copy the RSS feed link that appears.

® Note

The RSS feed link contains a secret token. Do not share it with others, as it provides unauthenticated access to your
activity stream.

3.4 Notification settings

You can choose how you want to be notified about different types of activities. Go to Settings > Personal > Notifications
to configure your preferences.

Fig. 5: Personal notification settings for the Activity app.

The settings are organized by category (e.g. Files, Sharing, Calendar, contacts and tasks). For each activity type you
can choose to receive:
• Mail notifications (email)
• Push notifications (mobile and desktop)
Check or uncheck the corresponding boxes to enable or disable notifications for each activity type.

3.4.1 Email notification frequency

Below the notification matrix you can choose how often email notifications are sent:
• As soon as possible sends an email shortly after each event.
• Hourly batches notifications and sends them once per hour.

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• Daily sends a single email per day.

• Weekly sends a single email per week.

3.4.2 Daily activity summary

You can enable a daily summary email that is sent every morning with an overview of the previous day’s activities. This
option is available as a separate toggle below the notification frequency setting:
• Check Send daily activity summary in the morning to enable it.
The daily summary is independent of the per-event notifications above and provides a convenient digest of all activity.

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 CHAPTER

FOUR

AI ASSISTANT

The Nextcloud AI assistant gives you access to AI-powered tools directly from the web interface. You can run tasks such
as text summarization, image generation, and speech transcription, have back-and-forth conversations with a connected
language model, and insert AI-generated content into documents and messages using smart pickers.

® Note

The AI assistant requires at least one AI backend app to be installed and configured by your administrator. See the
AI assistant administration documentation for details.

4.1 Personal settings

The assistant personal settings are in Personal settings under the Artificial intelligence section. You can disable the
assistant top menu entry there, and enable or disable the AI-related smart pickers.

4.2 Running a task

To open the assistant, click the assistant icon in the top-right navigation bar.

Fig. 1: Figure 1: The assistant icon in the top-right navigation bar.

Choose a task type at the top of the assistant panel, fill in the input form, and click the submit button at the bottom right.
Your task will run immediately if possible, or be scheduled for later execution.

4.3 Notifications
If a task was scheduled, you can request to receive a notification when it finishes. Click the View results button in the
notification to display the task output.

4.4 Task history

The left panel of the assistant shows a task history list filtered to the currently selected task type. You can relaunch, delete,
or cancel previous tasks from this list.

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Fig. 2: Figure 2: The assistant task form.

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Fig. 3: Figure 3: Waiting for task results.

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Fig. 4: Figure 4: Task completion notification.

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Fig. 5: Figure 5: Task history in the left panel.

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4.5 Chat with AI

The Chat with AI tab in the assistant lets you have a back-and-forth conversation with the connected AI. Type a message
into the text field at the bottom and press Enter to send. Click New conversation to start a separate conversation thread.

Fig. 6: Figure 6: Chat with AI interface.

Each conversation has its own context. Toggle Remember this on a conversation to add it to the AI’s long-term memory
so that its context is available in any future conversation. Toggle it off again to remove the conversation from memory.
In the AI assistant section of your Personal settings, you can review all your remembered conversations.

4.6 Smart pickers

The assistant app provides three smart pickers accessible in Talk, Text editor, and any other place where rich text editing
is available. Type / followed by ai to see the filtered provider list.
In Talk:
In Text editor:
Any result generated through the smart picker can be inserted directly into the current context.

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Fig. 7: Figure 7: Remembered conversations listed in personal settings.

Fig. 8: Figure 8: AI smart picker in Talk.

Fig. 9: Figure 9: AI smart picker in the Text editor.

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FIVE

FILES & SYNCHRONIZATION

5.1 Accessing your files

5.1.1 Accessing your files using the Nextcloud web interface
You can access your Nextcloud files with the Nextcloud Web interface and create, preview, edit, delete, share, and re-
share files. Your Nextcloud administrator has the option to disable these features, so if any of them are missing on your
system ask your server administrator.

Navigating your files

The left sidebar lets you switch between different views of your files. Click a folder name in the file list to open it, and
use your browser’s back button or the breadcrumb bar at the top of the file list to return to a previous level.
The sidebar contains the following entries:
All files
The default view, showing every file and folder you have access to.

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Recent
Files you have viewed or modified recently.
Favorites
Files and folders you have starred.
Shares
Files shared with you, by you, or via a public link — all in one view.
Tags
Browse files by system tag. See System tags for details on assigning tags and filtering your files.
Deleted files
Files you have deleted that are still recoverable from the trash bin.
When you navigate into a folder, a breadcrumb trail appears at the top of the file list so you can jump back to any parent
folder with a single click:

File controls
Nextcloud displays thumbnail previews for images, text files, and other supported types — the exact list depends on your
server configuration.
Each file and folder row has a three-dot action menu button. Click it to rename, move, copy, download, delete, or mark
the item as a favorite. Files that have been marked as a favorite display a star icon:

® Note

You can quickly find all your favorites using the Favorites entry in the left sidebar.

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Details sidebar
Select Details from the three-dot action menu to open the details sidebar. The sidebar shows information about the
selected file and provides tabbed access to its activity history, sharing options, and version history:

Activity and comments

The Activity tab in the details sidebar shows a chronological log of changes to the file — uploads, edits, shares, and
comments. You can leave a comment directly in this tab; comments are visible to everyone who has access to the file:

Searching and filtering

Use the search bar at the top of the page to find files by name across all your files, or type in the search field inside the
left sidebar to filter the current view:

Grid view
The Files app defaults to a list view. Click the grid toggle button above the file list to switch to a thumbnail grid, which
is useful for browsing image folders:
Click the button again to return to the list view.

Uploading and creating files

Click the + button near the top of the file list to upload files from your computer or create new items in the current folder:
The menu offers the following options:
Upload file
Opens a file picker to upload one or more files from your computer. You can also drag and drop files directly from
your file manager onto the file list.
Upload folder
Uploads an entire folder, preserving its structure.

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New folder
Creates a new empty folder in the current location.
New document / New spreadsheet / New presentation
Creates a new file using the built-in Nextcloud Text or Office editor, if enabled by your administrator.

Selecting files or folders

Click the checkbox to the left of a file or folder to select it. To select all items in the current folder, click the checkbox in
the column header.
With one or more items selected, action buttons appear at the top of the list. You can delete or download all selected
items at once. Downloading multiple items produces a ZIP archive.

® Note

If the Download button is not visible, your administrator has disabled this feature.

Sharing status icons

Folders and files that have been shared display a Shared badge on their thumbnail or icon. Items shared via a public link
also show a chain-link icon. Items that are not shared have no additional indicator.
See File sharing for instructions on creating and managing shares.

Moving files
Drag any file or folder and drop it onto a destination folder to move it. You can also use Move or copy from the three-dot
action menu to move or copy items to a folder you choose from a picker dialog.

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Previewing files
Click a file name to open a preview directly in Nextcloud. Supported formats include images, plain text, PDF, and —
depending on your server — office documents and audio files. If Nextcloud cannot preview a file format, it downloads
the file to your computer instead.

Video player
You can play videos directly in Nextcloud by clicking the file. Playback depends on your browser and the video codec.
See MDN: Supported media formats for a compatibility reference.

Connecting to a Federation Share

Federated Cloud Sharing lets you mount file shares from remote Nextcloud servers and manage them just like local shares.
See Using federation shares to learn how to create and connect to Federated Cloud shares.

5.1.2 Accessing Nextcloud files using WebDAV

Nextcloud fully supports the WebDAV protocol, and you can connect to and synchronize with Nextcloud Files over
WebDAV. This chapter explains how to connect Linux, macOS, Windows, and mobile devices to your Nextcloud server.
WebDAV stands for Distributed Authoring and Versioning. It is an HTTP extension that makes it easy to create, read,
and edit files hosted on remote Web servers. With a WebDAV client, you can access your Nextcloud Files (including
shares) on Linux, macOS and Windows in a similar way as any remote network share, and stay synchronized.
Before you configure WebDAV, review the recommended way to connect client devices to Nextcloud.

Official Nextcloud desktop and mobile clients

The recommended way to synchronize a computer with a Nextcloud server is by using the official Nextcloud sync clients.
You can configure the client to save files in any local directory and you can choose which directories on the Nextcloud
server to sync with. The client displays the current connection status and logs all activity, so you always know which

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remote files have been downloaded to your PC and you can verify that files created and updated on your local PC are
properly synchronized with the server.
The recommended way to synchronize Android and Apple iOS devices is by using the official Nextcloud mobile apps.
To connect the official Nextcloud apps to a Nextcloud server use the same URL you use to access Nextcloud from your
web browser - e.g.:

[Link]

If Nextcloud is installed in a subdirectory called “nextcloud”:

[Link]

Third-party WebDAV clients

If you prefer, you may also connect your computer to your Nextcloud server by using any third-party client that supports
the WebDAV protocol (including what may be built into your operating system).
You can also use third-party WebDAV capable apps to connect your mobile device to Nextcloud.
When using third-party clients, keep in mind that they may not be optimized for use with Nextcloud or implement
capabilities you consider important to your use case.
Mobile clients that Nextcloud community members have reported using include:
• FolderSync (Android)
• WebDAV Navigator (iPhone)
The URL to use when configuring third-party apps to connect to Nextcloud is a bit lengthier than the one for official
clients:

[Link]

If Nextcloud is installed in a subdirectory called “nextcloud”:

[Link]

® Note

When using a third-party WebDAV client (including your operating system’s built-in client), you should use an ap-
plication password for login rather than your regular password. In addition to improved security, this increases
performance significantly. To configure an application password, log in to the Nextcloud Web interface, click your
avatar, and choose Personal settings. Then choose Security in the left sidebar and scroll to the very bottom. There you
can create an app password (which can also be revoked in the future without changing your main user password).

® Note

In the following examples, you should replace [Link]/nextcloud with the URL of your Nextcloud server
(omit the directory part if the installation is in the root of your domain), and USERNAME with the username of the
connecting user.
You can find the WebDAV URL in Files settings under WebDAV in your Nextcloud account.

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Accessing files using Linux

You can access files in Linux operating systems using the following methods.

Nautilus file manager

When you configure your Nextcloud account in the GNOME Control Center, your files will automatically be mounted
by Nautilus as a WebDAV share, unless you deselect file access.
You can also mount your Nextcloud files manually. Use the davs:// protocol to connect the Nautilus file manager to
your Nextcloud share:

davs://[Link]/nextcloud/[Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/

® Note

If your server connection is not HTTPS-secured, use dav:// instead of davs://:

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® Note

The same method works for other file managers that use GVFS, such as MATE’s Caja and Cinnamon’s Nemo.

Accessing files with KDE and Dolphin

1. Navigate to System Settings -> Networking -> Online Accounts

2. Click “Add Account…”
3. Click Nextcloud
4. Enter your server address
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to log in
6. After logging in, ensure you enable “Storage” in the “Use This Account For” section
7. You can now access your files in Dolphin under “Network” in the sidebar
8. (Optional) To add this location as a shortcut in the sidebar, right-click “Nextcloud Storage”, then click “Add to
Places”
9. (Optional) To customize the shortcut, right-click it in the sidebar, then click “Edit…” and customize the icon and
label

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Creating WebDAV mounts on the Linux command line

You can create WebDAV mounts from the Linux command line. This is useful if you prefer to access Nextcloud the
same way as any other remote filesystem mount. The following example shows how to create a personal mount and have
it mounted automatically every time you log in to your Linux computer.
1. Install the davfs2 WebDAV filesystem driver, which allows you to mount WebDAV shares just like any other
remote filesystem. Use this command to install it on Debian/Ubuntu:

apt-get install davfs2

2. Use this command to install it on CentOS, Fedora, and openSUSE:

yum install davfs2

3. Add yourself to the davfs2 group:

usermod -aG davfs2 <username>

® Note

If the davfs2 group doesn’t exist after installing the package, you may need to create it yourself and, possibly, adjust
the davfs config file to use the group after you’ve created it.

1. Then create a nextcloud directory in your home directory for the mount point, and .davfs2/ for your personal
configuration file:

mkdir ~/nextcloud
mkdir ~/.davfs2

2. Copy /etc/davfs2/secrets to ~/.davfs2:

cp /etc/davfs2/secrets ~/.davfs2/secrets

3. Set yourself as the owner and make the permissions read-write owner only:

chown <linux_username>:<linux_username> ~/.davfs2/secrets

chmod 600 ~/.davfs2/secrets

4. Add your Nextcloud login credentials to the end of the secrets file, using your Nextcloud server URL and your
Nextcloud username and password:

[Link] <username> <password>

or
$PathToMountPoint $USERNAME $PASSWORD
for example
/home/user/nextcloud john 1234

5. Add the mount information to /etc/fstab:

[Link] /home/<linux_
,→username>/nextcloud davfs user,rw,auto 0 0

6. Then test that it mounts and authenticates by running the following command. If you set it up correctly you won’t
need root permissions:

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mount ~/nextcloud

7. You should also be able to unmount it:

umount ~/nextcloud

Now every time you login to your Linux system your Nextcloud share should automatically mount via WebDAV in your
~/nextcloud directory. If you prefer to mount it manually, change auto to noauto in /etc/fstab.

Known issues
Problem

Resource temporarily unavailable

Solution

If you experience trouble when you create a file in the directory, edit /etc/davfs2/[Link] and add:

use_locks 0

Problem

Certificate warnings

Solution

If you use a self-signed certificate, you will get a warning. To change this, you need to configure davfs2 to recognize
your certificate. Copy [Link] to /etc/davfs2/certs/. Then edit /etc/davfs2/[Link]
and uncomment the line servercert. Now add the path of your certificate as in this example:

servercert /etc/davfs2/certs/[Link]

Accessing files using macOS

To access files through the macOS Finder:
1. From the Finder’s top menu bar, choose Go > Connect to Server…:

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2. When the Connect to Server… window opens, enter your Nextcloud server’s WebDAV address in the Server
Address: field, i.e.:

[Link]

3. Click Connect. Your WebDAV server should appear on the Desktop as a shared disk drive.

Accessing files using Microsoft Windows

If you use the native Windows implementation of WebDAV, you can map Nextcloud to a new drive using Windows
Explorer. Mapping to a drive enables you to browse files stored on a Nextcloud server the way you would browse files
stored in a mapped network drive.
Using this feature requires network connectivity. If you want to store your files offline, use the Desktop Client to sync all
files on your Nextcloud to one or more directories of your local hard drive.

® Note

In Windows 10, Basic Authentication is allowed by default when HTTPS is enabled before mapping your drive.
On older versions of Windows, you must permit the use of Basic Authentication in the Windows Registry:

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• launch regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\

WebClient\Parameters.

• Create or edit the BasicAuthLevel (Windows Vista, 7 and 8), or UseBasicAuth (Windows XP and Win-
dows Server 2003), DWORD value and set its value data to 1 for SSL connections. A value of 0 means that Basic
Authentication is disabled, and a value of 2 allows both SSL and non-SSL connections (not recommended).
• Then exit Registry Editor, and restart the computer.

Mapping drives with the command line

The following example shows how to map a drive using the command line. To map the drive:
1. Open a command prompt in Windows.
2. Enter the following line in the command prompt to map to the computer Z drive:

net use Z: [Link] /user:youruser␣

,→yourpassword

with <drive_path> as the URL to your Nextcloud server. For example:

net use Z: [Link] /

,→user:youruser yourpassword

The computer maps the files of your Nextcloud account to the drive letter Z.

« Error

If you get the following error System error 67 has occurred. The network name cannot be found.,
or frequent disconnections, open the Services app and make sure that the WebClient service is running and started
automatically at startup.

® Note

Though not recommended, you can also mount the Nextcloud server using HTTP, leaving the connection unencrypted.
If you plan to use HTTP connections on devices while in a public place, we strongly recommend using
a VPN tunnel to provide the necessary security.
An alternative command syntax is:
net use Z: \\[Link]@ssl\nextcloud\[Link]\dav /user:youruser
yourpassword

Mapping drives with Windows Explorer

To map a drive using Microsoft Windows Explorer:

1. Open Windows Explorer on your MS Windows computer.
2. Right-click on Computer entry and select Map network drive… from the drop-down menu.
3. Choose a local network drive to which you want to map Nextcloud.

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4. Specify the address to your Nextcloud instance, followed by /[Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/.

For example:

[Link]

® Note

For SSL-protected servers, check Reconnect at sign-in to ensure that the mapping is persistent upon sub-
sequent reboots. If you want to connect to the Nextcloud server as a different user, check Connect using
different credentials.

5. Click the Finish button.

Windows Explorer maps the network drive, making your Nextcloud instance available.

Accessing files using Cyberduck

Cyberduck is an open source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, OpenStack Swift, and Amazon S3 browser designed for file transfers
on macOS and Windows.

® Note

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This example uses Cyberduck version 4.2.1.

To use Cyberduck:
1. Specify a server without any leading protocol information.
For example: [Link]
2. Specify the appropriate port.
The port you choose depends on whether or not your Nextcloud server supports SSL. Cyberduck requires that you
select a different connection type if you plan to use SSL.
For example:
• 80 for unencrypted WebDAV
• 443 for secure WebDAV (HTTPS/SSL)
3. Use the ‘More Options’ drop-down menu to add the rest of your WebDAV URL into the ‘Path’ field.
For example: [Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/
Now Cyberduck enables file access to the Nextcloud server.

Accessing public shares over WebDAV

Nextcloud provides the possibility to access public shares anonymously over WebDAV.
To access the public share, open:

[Link]

in a WebDAV client, use the share token as username and the (optional) share password as the password. For example,
with a share link [Link] kFy9Lek5sm928xP will be the username.

® Note

Settings → Administration → Sharing → Allow users on this server to send shares to other servers. This option
also allows WebDAV access to public shares and needs to be enabled to make this feature work, except if cURL is
being used (see below).

Known problems
Problem

Windows does not connect using HTTPS.

Solution 1

The Windows WebDAV Client might not support Server Name Indication (SNI) on encrypted connections. If you en-
counter an error mounting an SSL-encrypted Nextcloud instance, contact your provider about assigning a dedicated IP
address for your SSL-based server.

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Solution 2

The Windows WebDAV Client might not support TLSv1.1 and TLSv1.2 connections. If you have restricted your server
config to only provide TLSv1.1 and above the connection to your server might fail. Please refer to the WinHTTP docu-
mentation for further information.

Problem

You receive the following error message: Error 0x800700DF: The file size exceeds the limit allowed and cannot be
saved.

Solution

Windows limits the maximum size a file transferred from or to a WebDAV share may have. You can increase
the value FileSizeLimitInBytes in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Services\\
WebClient\\Parameters by clicking on Modify.

To increase the limit to the maximum value of 4GB, select Decimal, enter a value of 4294967295, and reboot Windows
or restart the WebClient service.

Problem

Adding a WebDAV drive on Windows with the steps above does not display the correct available Nextcloud space and
instead shows the size and free space of the C: drive.

Answer

Unfortunately, this is a limitation of WebDAV itself, because it does not provide a way for the client to retrieve available
free space from the server. Windows automatically falls back to the size and free space of the C: drive. There is no direct
solution for this limitation.

Problem

Accessing your files from Microsoft Office via WebDAV fails.

Solution

Known problems and their solutions are documented in the KB2123563 article.

Problem

Cannot map Nextcloud as a WebDAV drive in Windows using a self-signed certificate.

Solution

1. Access your Nextcloud instance in your preferred Web browser.

2. Click through until you get to the certificate error in the browser status line.
3. View the certificate, then from the Details tab, select ‘Copy to File’.
4. Save the file to your desktop with an arbitrary name, for example [Link].
5. Go to Start menu > Run, type MMC, and click ‘OK’ to open Microsoft Management Console.
6. Go to File > Add/Remove Snap-In.

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7. Select Certificates, Click ‘Add’, choose ‘My User Account’, then ‘Finish’, and finally ‘OK’.
8. Dig down to Trust Root Certification Authorities, Certificates.
9. Right-Click Certificate, Select All Tasks, and Import.
10. Select the saved certificate from the Desktop.
11. Select Place all Certificates in the following Store, and click Browse.
12. Check the Box that says Show Physical Stores, expand out Trusted Root Certification Authorities, select Local
Computer there, click ‘OK’, and Complete the Import.
13. Check the list to make sure the certificate shows up. You will probably need to Refresh before you see it.
14. Exit MMC.
For Firefox users:
1. Launch your browser, go to Application menu > History > Clear recent history…
2. Select ‘Everything’ in the ‘Time range to clear’ dropdown menu
3. Select the ‘Active Logins’ check box
4. Click the ‘Clear now’ button
5. Close the browser, then re-open and test.
For Chrome-based browsers (Chrome, Chromium, Microsoft Edge) users:
1. Open Windows Control Panel, navigate down to Internet Options
2. In the Content tab, click the Clear SSL State button.
3. Close the browser, then re-open and test.

Accessing files using cURL

Since WebDAV is an extension of HTTP, cURL can be used to script file operations.

® Note

Settings → Administration → Sharing → Allow users on this server to send shares to other servers. If this option
is disabled, the option --header "X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest" needs to be passed to cURL.

To create a folder with the current date as name:

$ curl -u user:pass -X MKCOL "[Link]

,→USERNAME/$(date '+%d-%b-%Y')"

To upload a file [Link] into that directory:

$ curl -u user:pass -T [Link] "[Link]

,→USERNAME/$(date '+%d-%b-%Y')/[Link]"

To move a file:

$ curl -u user:pass -X MOVE --header 'Destination: [Link]

,→[Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/[Link]' [Link]

,→dav/files/USERNAME/[Link]

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To get the properties of files in the root folder:

$ curl -X PROPFIND -H "Depth: 1" -u user:pass [Link]

,→php/dav/files/USERNAME/ | xml_pp

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<d:multistatus xmlns:d="DAV:" xmlns:oc="[Link] xmlns:s="http://
,→[Link]/ns">

<d:response>
<d:href>/nextcloud/[Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/</d:href>
<d:propstat>
<d:prop>
<d:getlastmodified>Tue, 13 Oct 2015 17:07:45 GMT</d:getlastmodified>
<d:resourcetype>
<d:collection/>
</d:resourcetype>
<d:quota-used-bytes>163</d:quota-used-bytes>
<d:quota-available-bytes>11802275840</d:quota-available-bytes>
<d:getetag>"561d3a6139d05"</d:getetag>
</d:prop>
<d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</d:status>
</d:propstat>
</d:response>
<d:response>
<d:href>/nextcloud/[Link]/dav/files/USERNAME/[Link]</d:href>
<d:propstat>
<d:prop>
<d:getlastmodified>Tue, 13 Oct 2015 17:07:35 GMT</d:getlastmodified>
<d:getcontentlength>163</d:getcontentlength>
<d:resourcetype/>
<d:getetag>"47465fae667b2d0fee154f5e17d1f0f1"</d:getetag>
<d:getcontenttype>text/plain</d:getcontenttype>
</d:prop>
<d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</d:status>
</d:propstat>
</d:response>
</d:multistatus>

Accessing files using WinSCP

WinSCP is a free, open-source SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, S3, and SCP client for Windows. Its main function is file transfer
between a local and a remote computer. WinSCP also offers scripting and basic file management functionality.
You can download the portable version of WinSCP and run it on Linux through Wine.
To run WinSCP on Linux, install Wine through your distribution’s package manager, then run: wine [Link].
To connect to Nextcloud:
• Start WinSCP
• Press ‘Session’ in the menu
• Press the ‘New Session’ menu option
• Set the ‘File protocol’ dropdown to WebDAV
• Set the ‘Encryption’ dropdown to TLS/SSL Implicit encryption

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• Fill in the hostname field: [Link]

• Fill in the username field: NEXTCLOUDUSERNAME
• Fill in the password field: NEXTCLOUDPASSWORD
• Press the ‘Advanced…’ button
• Navigate to ‘Environment’, ‘Directories’ on the left side
• Fill in the ‘Remote directory’ field with the following: /nextcloud/[Link]/dav/files/
NEXTCLOUDUSERNAME/
• Press the ‘OK’ button
• Press the ‘Save’ button
• Select the desired options and press the ‘OK’ button
• Press the ‘Login’ button to connect to Nextcloud

® Note

If you use TOTP, use an app password. At the time of writing (2022-11-07), WinSCP does not support TOTP with
Nextcloud.

5.1.3 Desktop and mobile synchronization

For synchronizing files with your desktop computer, we recommend using the Nextcloud Sync Client for Windows,
macOS and Linux.
The Nextcloud Desktop Sync Client enables you to connect to your Nextcloud Server. You can create folders in your
home directory, and keep the contents of those folders synced with your Nextcloud server. Simply copy a file into the
directory and the Nextcloud desktop client does the rest. Make a change on one computer and it flows across the others
using these desktop sync clients. You will always have your latest files with you wherever you are.
Its usage is documented separately in the Nextcloud Desktop Client Manual.

Mobile clients
Visit your Personal page in your Nextcloud web interface to find download links for Android and iOS mobile sync clients.
Or, visit the Nextcloud download page.
Bidirectional sync (two-way sync) has not yet been fully implemented in the Android client. See this issue on GitHub for
the current status.

5.1.4 Large file uploads

When uploading files through the web client, Nextcloud is limited by PHP and Apache configurations. By default, PHP
is configured for only 2 megabyte uploads. As this default upload limit is not entirely useful, we recommend that your
Nextcloud administrator increase the Nextcloud variables to sizes appropriate for users.
Modifying certain Nextcloud variables requires administrative access. If you require larger upload limits than have been
provided by the default (or already set by your administrator):
• Contact your administrator to request an increase in these variables
• Refer to the Administration Documentation for guidance on managing file upload size limits.

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5.1.5 Using external storage

The External Storage application lets your Nextcloud server connect to remote file systems — such as Amazon S3, SFTP
servers, SMB/CIFS shares, or WebDAV servers — and present them as folders inside your Files view. Your administration
team configures which backends are available and which mounts are shared with you.
If your administrator has enabled user-managed external storage, you can also add your own connections under Personal
Settings.

Accessing external storage

External storage mounts appear as regular folders in your Files view. You can browse, upload, download, and delete files
in them just as you would any other folder. Whether sharing is available depends on whether your administrator has
enabled it for each individual mount.
A colored indicator next to the folder name shows the connection status:
• Green — the storage is connected and ready to use.
• Yellow — the storage could not be reached; Nextcloud will retry automatically.
• Red — the storage is unavailable. Contact your administrator if this persists.
When a mount is unavailable, Nextcloud marks it as offline for ten minutes before retrying. You can trigger a manual
recheck by clicking the status indicator.

® Note

Some external storage mounts may be read-only. You will not be able to upload or delete files on a read-only mount.

Sharing files from external storage

Sharing from an external storage mount works the same as sharing any other file or folder — use the share icon in the Files
view. Sharing must be explicitly enabled on each mount by your administrator, so the share icon may not be available on
all mounts.

® Note

Server-side encryption is not available for external mounts pointing to other Nextcloud instances.

Adding your own external storage

If your administrator has enabled user-managed external storage, you can connect your own storage services under Per-
sonal Settings → External Storage.
To add a new mount:
1. Click your profile icon and select Personal Settings.
2. Select External Storage from the left sidebar.
3. Choose a backend from the Add storage dropdown.
4. Fill in the required fields for the backend (server address, path, credentials, etc.).
5. Select an authentication method from the Authentication dropdown.
Required fields are marked with a red border. Once all required fields are filled, the mount is saved automatically.

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A green dot next to the mount confirms a successful connection. A red or yellow icon means Nextcloud could not connect
— check your credentials and network settings.
To remove a mount, open the three-dot overflow menu next to it and select Delete.

® Note

Mounts you add under Personal Settings are visible only to your account.

Supported backends
The following backends may be available, depending on what your administrator has enabled:
• Amazon S3 — Amazon Simple Storage Service buckets and S3-compatible storage.
• FTP — FTP and FTPS servers.
• Nextcloud / ownCloud — Another Nextcloud or ownCloud instance over WebDAV.
• OpenStack Object Storage — OpenStack Swift buckets.
• SFTP — SSH File Transfer Protocol servers.
• SMB / CIFS — Windows file shares and Samba servers.
• WebDAV — Any WebDAV-compatible server.
For backend-specific configuration details, see Configuring External Storage (GUI) in the Administrator’s manual.

File change detection

Files you add or change through Nextcloud are reflected immediately. Files added or changed directly on the external
storage — without going through Nextcloud — may not appear until the next background scan.
If externally added files are not appearing, ask your administrator to run occ files:scan or to configure a periodic
background scan for the mount.

5.2 Managing your files

5.2.1 Managing deleted files
When you delete a file in Nextcloud, it is not immediately deleted permanently, only moved into the trash bin. It is not
permanently deleted until you manually delete it, or when the Deleted Files app deletes it to make room for new files.
Find your deleted files by clicking the Deleted files button on the Files page of the Nextcloud web interface. You can
restore or permanently delete files from there.

Quotas
Deleted files are not counted against your storage quota. Only your personal files count against your quota, not files which
were shared with you. (See Storage quota to learn more about quotas.)

What happens when shared files are deleted

Deleting files gets a little complicated when they are shared files, as this scenario illustrates:
1. User1 shares a folder “test” with User2 and User3
2. User2 (the recipient) deletes a file/folder “sub” inside of “test”

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3. The folder “sub” will be moved to the trash bin of both User1 (owner) and User2 (recipient)
4. But User3 will not have a copy of “sub” in their trash bin
When User1 deletes “sub” then it is moved to User1’s trash bin. It is deleted from User2 and User3, but not placed in
their trash bins.
When you share files, other users may copy, rename, move, and share them with other people, just as they can for any
computer files; Nextcloud does not have magic powers to prevent this.

How the deleted files app manages storage space

To ensure that users do not run over their storage quotas, the Deleted Files app allocates a maximum of 50% of their
currently available free space to deleted files. If your deleted files exceed this limit, Nextcloud deletes the oldest files (files
with the oldest timestamps from when they were deleted) until it meets the memory usage limit again.
Nextcloud checks the age of deleted files every time new files are added to the deleted files. By default, deleted files stay in
the trash bin for 30 days. The Nextcloud server administrator can adjust this value in the [Link] file by setting the
trashbin_retention_obligation value. Files older than the trashbin_retention_obligation value will be
deleted permanently. Additionally, Nextcloud calculates the maximum available space every time a new file is added. If
the deleted files exceed the new maximum allowed space Nextcloud will permanently delete those trashed files with the
soonest expiration until the space limit is met again.

® Note

Your administrator may have configured the trash bin retention period to override the storage space management.
See admin documentation for more details.

5.2.2 Version control

Nextcloud supports a simple version control system for files. Versioning creates backups of files which are accessible
via the Versions tab on the Details sidebar. This tab contains the history of the file where you can roll back a file to
any previous version. A new version is saved only if at least two minutes have passed since the last version was created.
Versions are stored in data/[user]/files_versions.
To restore a specific version of a file, click the circular arrow to the right. Click on the timestamp to download it.
The versioning app expires old versions automatically to make sure that you don’t run out of space. This pattern is used
to delete old versions:
• For the first second we keep one version
• For the first 10 seconds Nextcloud keeps one version every 2 seconds
• For the first minute Nextcloud keeps one version every 10 seconds
• For the first hour Nextcloud keeps one version every minute
• For the first 24 hours Nextcloud keeps one version every hour
• For the first 30 days Nextcloud keeps one version every day
• After the first 30 days Nextcloud keeps one version every week
The versions are adjusted along this pattern every time a new version gets created.
The version app never uses more than 50% of the user’s currently available free space. If the stored versions exceed this
limit, Nextcloud deletes the oldest versions until it meets the disk space limit again.

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Naming a version
You can give a name to a version.

When a version has a name, it will be excluded from the automatic expiration process.

Deleting a version
You can also manually delete a version without waiting for the automatic expiration process.

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5.2.3 Storage quota

Your Nextcloud administrator has the option to set a storage quota on users. Look at your Personal page to see what your
quota is, and how much you have used.

It may be helpful to understand how your quota is calculated.

Metadata (thumbnails, temporary files, cache, and encryption keys) takes up about 10% of disk space, but is not counted
against user quotas. Some apps store information in the database, such as the Calendar and Contacts apps. This data is
excluded from your quota.
When other users share files with you, the shared files count against the original share owner’s quota. When you share a
folder and allow other users or groups to upload files to it, all uploaded and edited files count against your quota. When
you re-share files shared with you, the re-share still counts against the quota of the original share owner.
Encrypted files are a little larger than unencrypted files; the unencrypted size is calculated against your quota.
Deleted files that are still in the trash bin do not count against quotas. The trash bin is set at 50% of quota. Deleted file
aging is set at 30 days. When deleted files exceed 50% of quota then the oldest files are removed until the total is below
50%.

® Note

Your administrator may have configured the trash bin retention period to override the storage space management.
See administrator documentation for more details.

When version control is enabled, the older file versions are not counted against quotas.
If you create a public share via URL and allow uploads, any uploaded files count against your quota.

5.2.4 System tags

System tags are server-wide labels you can attach to files and folders to organise them, filter your file list, and drive
automated workflows such as retention rules and access control.
Tags appear directly on file and folder rows in the Files app so you can see at a glance which labels are assigned:
Tags are created by administrators in the server settings. Depending on your server configuration, regular users may also
be able to create tags — your administrator can restrict tag creation to admins only.

Tag access levels

Every tag has one of three access levels that control what regular users can see and do:

Level Visible to users Users can assign / remove

Public Yes Yes
Restricted Yes No
Invisible No No

Restricted and invisible tags are used by administrators for automated workflows. You cannot work around them by
removing the tag yourself.

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Fig. 1: Figure 1: Tags are shown inline on files and folders.

Browsing files by tag

Click the navigation icon (≡) at the top left of the Files app to open the navigation panel, then click Tags. The view lists
all tags visible to you. Click a tag name to see every file and folder that has that tag assigned.

Assigning tags to files

You can assign or remove tags on one file at a time or across a selection of files in one step.
Single file
1. Click the three-dot action menu (…) next to a file or folder and select Details to open the details sidebar.
2. In the details sidebar, click Add tags.
3. Type a tag name in the search field and select the tag from the list.
4. Click outside the picker to close it. Changes are saved immediately.
To remove a tag, open the same picker and click the × next to the tag name.

® Note

Only public tags appear in the picker for regular users. Restricted and invisible tags can only be assigned by admin-
istrators.

Multiple files
1. Select two or more files by clicking the checkbox to the left of each row.
2. Click ··· Actions in the toolbar above the file list, then select Manage tags.

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Fig. 2: Figure 2: Clicking a tag in the navigation panel filters the file list to files with that tag.

3. Check or uncheck tags in the dialog that appears. An info line shows how the change will be applied across the
selected files.
4. Click Apply.

Creating and managing tags

If your administrator has not restricted tag creation, you can create a new tag directly from the Manage tags dialog or the
single-file tag picker: type a new name in the Search or create tag field and select the Create tag option that appears.
Administrators create, rename, and delete tags under Administration settings ‣ Server. For details on tag management and
command-line tools, see the Automated tagging section of the administration manual.

5.3 Sharing & collaboration

5.3.1 File sharing
Nextcloud users can share files and folders. Possible targets are:
• public links
• users
• groups
• circles
• talk conversations
• users or groups on federated Nextcloud servers

® Note

Some options may not be available due to administrative configuration. See administrator documentation for details.

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Fig. 3: Figure 3: Manage tags lets you apply or remove tags across multiple files at once.

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Public link shares

You can share files and folders via public links.
A random 15-digit token will be created. The link will look like [Link]
yxcFKRWBJqYYzp4.
A number of options are available for public folder shares:

• Read only to allow viewing and downloading

• Allow upload and editing
• With File drop, the sharee can only upload files to a folder without seeing the files that are already in that folder.
• Hide download hides the download buttons and the default browser right-click options in order to make down-
loading for the sharee harder
• Password protect
• Set expiration date will automatically disable the share
• Note to recipient

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• Unshare to revert the share

• Add another link to create multiple public links with different rights
For public file shares, you may allow editing the file with one of Nextcloud’s collaborative editing solutions:

® Note

Password protection and file expiration are also propagated using Federated File Sharing since Nextcloud 22.

Internal shares with users and groups

When sharing with users, groups, circles or members of a Talk conversation, rights for the files or folder contents are
adjustable:
As a sharee, you can configure if you automatically want to accept all incoming shares and have them added to your root
folder, or if you want to be asked each time if you want to accept or decline the share.
For adjusting the acceptance setting, go to Settings > Personal > Sharing:

Á Warning

If the owner renames a shared file or folder, the new name will not be reflected on the recipient’s side. This is needed
to prevent overwriting existing files or folders on the recipient’s end.

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Others with access

In order to find out if a file or folder is accessible to others through sharing of a superior folder hierarchy level, click on
Others with access in the sharing tab:

The list shows all users, groups, chats etc. that the current object has been given access to through sharing of a superior
folder in the hierarchy:
Click on the three dots to:
• see who initiated the share
• see where the share was initiated (click to navigate to the folder, as far as you have access there)
• unshare the initial share (only accessible for the share owner)

® Note

This information is only visible to the owner of a file/folder or sharees with resharing rights.

5.3.2 Federated shares

Federation Sharing allows you to mount file shares from remote Nextcloud servers, in effect creating your own cloud of
Nextclouds. You can create direct share links with users on other Nextcloud servers.

Creating a new federation share

Federation sharing is enabled by default. Follow these steps to create a new share with other Nextcloud or ownCloud
servers:
Go to your Files page and click the Share icon on the file or directory you want to share. In the sidebar enter the username
and URL of the remote user in this form: <username>@<nc-server-url>. In this example, that is bob@cloud.
[Link]:

The sharee is receiving a notification in their Nextcloud, allowing them to either accept or decline the incoming share:

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Adding a public share to your Nextcloud

Nextcloud public link share pages offer an option to add that file or folder as a federated share into your own Nextcloud
instance. Enter your <username>@<nc-server-url> as shown for outbound shares above:

5.3.3 Making anonymous uploads

You may create your own special upload directories so that other people can upload files to you without logging in to the
server or having a Nextcloud account. Uploaders cannot see the contents of the directory or make any changes. This
is an excellent alternative to sending large attachments via email, using an FTP server, or using commercial file-sharing
services.

Setting up your own file drop

In the Files app, create or choose the folder to receive anonymous uploads:

Enable Share Link, Allow editing, and Hide file listing:

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Now you can send the link to the upload folder manually or by using the Nextcloud send function, if your administrator
has enabled it.

Uploading files
Using the anonymous upload function is simple. You receive a link to the upload folder, click the link, and then you’ll
see a Nextcloud page with a “Click to upload” button:

This opens a file picker, and you select the file or directory you want to upload. You can also drop files into the window.
When your upload is completed, the filenames are listed:

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5.3.4 Using federation shares

Federation Sharing allows you to mount file shares from remote Nextcloud servers, in effect creating your own cloud of
Nextclouds. You can create direct share links with users on other Nextcloud servers.

Creating a new federation share

Federation sharing is enabled on new or upgraded Nextcloud installations by default. Follow these steps to create a new
share with other Nextcloud or ownCloud 9+ servers:
1. Go to your Files page and click the Share icon on the file or directory you want to share. In the sidebar enter the
username and URL of the remote user in this form: <username>@<oc-server-url>. The form automatically
confirms the address that you type and labels it as “remote”. Click on the label.

2. When your local Nextcloud server makes a successful connection with the remote Nextcloud server you will see a
confirmation. Your only share option is Can edit.
Click the Share button anytime to see who you have shared your file with. Remove your linked share anytime by clicking
the trash can icon. This only unlinks the share, and does not delete any files.

Creating a new federated cloud share via email

Use this method when you are sharing with users on ownCloud 8.x and older.
If you do not know the username or URL, you can have Nextcloud create the link for you and email it to your recipient.
When your recipient receives your email they will have to take a number of steps to complete the share link. First they
must open the link you sent them in a web browser, and then click the Add to your Nextcloud button.
The Add to your Nextcloud button changes to a form field, and your recipient needs to enter the URL of their Nextcloud
or ownCloud server in this field and press the return key, or click the arrow.
Next, they will see a dialog asking to confirm. All they have to do is click the Add remote share button and they’re
finished.
Remove your linked share anytime by clicking the trash can icon. This only unlinks the share, and does not delete any
files.

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5.3.5 Transfer ownership

Users can transfer the ownership of files and folders to other users. Sharing settings and permissions for transferred files
and folders will also be transferred to the new owner.
1. Navigate to Settings > Sharing.
2. In the Files section, click on Choose file or folder to transfer. A file picker opens, showing all files and folders in
the user’s account.
3. Pick a file or folder and click on Choose. The chosen file or folder name gets displayed.
4. Click on Change to change the choice if necessary.
5. Pick a new owner by typing their name into the search field next to New owner.
6. Click on Transfer.

® Note

The username autocompletion or listing may be limited due to administrative visibility configuration. See
administrator documentation for details.

7. The target user receives a notification where they are being asked whether to accept or reject the incoming transfer.
8. If accepted, the target user finds the transferred files and folders in their root under a folder Transferred from [user]
on [timestamp].
9. The source user gets informed about the acceptance or rejection by a notification.

5.4 Security & encryption

5.4.1 Using server-side encryption
Nextcloud includes a server-side encryption app, and when it is enabled by your Nextcloud administrator all of your
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cannot choose to keep your files unencrypted. You don’t have to do anything special, as it uses your Nextcloud login as
the password for your unique private encryption key. Just log out and in and manage and share your files as you normally
do, and you can still change your password whenever you want.
Its main purpose is to encrypt files on remote storage services that are connected to your Nextcloud server. This is an
easy and seamless way to protect your files on remote storage. You can share your remote files through Nextcloud in the
usual way, however you cannot share your encrypted files directly from the remote service you are using, because the
encryption keys are stored on your Nextcloud server, and are never exposed to outside service providers.
If your Nextcloud server is not connected to any remote storage services, then it is better to use some other form of
encryption such as file-level or whole disk encryption. Because the keys are kept on your Nextcloud server, it is possible
for your Nextcloud administrator to access your unencrypted files, and if the server is compromised the intruder may get
access to your files. (Read Encryption in Nextcloud to learn more.)

Encryption FAQ
How can encryption be disabled?

The only way to disable encryption is to run the “decrypt all” script, which decrypts all files and disables encryption.

Is it possible to disable encryption with the recovery key?

Yes, if every user uses the file recovery key, “decrypt all” will use it to decrypt all files.

Can encryption be disabled without the user’s password?

If you don’t have the users password or file recovery key, then there is no way to decrypt all files. What’s more, running
it on login would be dangerous, because you would most likely run into timeouts.

Is it planned to move this to the next user login or a background job?

If we did that, then we would need to store your login password in the database. This could be seen as a security issue,
so nothing like that is planned.

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Is group sharing possible with the recovery key?

If you mean adding users to groups and make it magically work? No. This only works with the master key.

Using encryption
Nextcloud encryption is pretty much set it and forget it, but you have a few options you can use.
When your Nextcloud administrator enables encryption for the first time, you must log out and then log back in to create
your encryption keys and encrypt your files. When encryption has been enabled on your Nextcloud server you will see a
yellow banner on your Files page warning you to log out and then log back in:

When you log back in it takes a few minutes to work, depending on how many files you have, and then you are returned
to your default Nextcloud page.

® Note

You must never lose your Nextcloud password, because you will lose access to your files. Though there is an optional
recovery option that your Nextcloud administrator may enable; see the Recovery Key Password section (below) to
learn about this.

Sharing encrypted files

Only users who have private encryption keys have access to shared encrypted files and folders. Users who have not yet
created their private encryption keys will not have access to encrypted shared files; they will see folders and filenames,
but will not be able to open or download the files. They will see a yellow warning banner that says “Encryption App is
enabled but your keys are not initialized, please log-out and log-in again.”
Share owners may need to re-share files after encryption is enabled; users trying to access the share will see a message
advising them to ask the share owner to re-share the file with them. For individual shares, un-share and re-share the file.
For group shares, share with any individuals who can’t access the share. This updates the encryption, and then the share
owner can remove the individual shares.

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Recovery key password

If your Nextcloud administrator has enabled the recovery key feature, you can choose to use this feature for your account.
If you enable “Password recovery” the administrator can read your data with a special password. This feature enables
the administrator to recover your files in the event you lose your Nextcloud password. If the recovery key is not enabled,
then there is no way to restore your files if you lose your login password.

Files not encrypted

Only the data in your files is encrypted, and not the filenames or folder structures. These files are never encrypted:
• Old files in the trash bin.
• Image thumbnails from the Gallery app.
• Previews from the Files app.
• The search index from the full text search app.
• Third-party app data

Change private key password

This option is only available if the encryption password has not been changed by the administrator, but only the log-in
password. This can occur if your Nextcloud provider uses an external user back-end (for example, LDAP) and changed
your login password using that back-end configuration. In this case, you can set your encryption password to your new
login password by providing your old and new login password. The Encryption app works only if your login password
and your encryption password are identical.

5.4.2 Using end-to-end encryption

If enabled server side, Nextcloud provides the possibility to encrypt your files on your devices. This is called end-to-end
encryption, or E2EE, because the files are encrypted on your device and only decrypted on your device. The server never
sees the unencrypted files, further protecting user privacy and data security.

Enabling E2EE
If your administrator has enabled the End-to-End Encryption app, you can start using it from one of your devices. Open
the settings of the Nextcloud client and look for the E2EE encryption settings.

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Á Warning

It is not possible to enable encryption on a folder in the browser. This must be done on a client app, either a desktop
or mobile client.

Encrypting a folder

Á Warning

You can only enable encryption on empty folders.

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Á Warning

It is not possible to enable encryption on a folder in the browser. This must be done on a client app, either a desktop
or mobile client.

Adding an E2EE device

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In the browser, first enable E2EE in the personal settings. This is needed, as E2EE is less secure in the browser, requiring
you to fully trust the administrator to not alter the source code the browser will execute. E2EE folders are currently
read-only. Therefore, it is not possible to add, remove, edit, or share an E2EE file from the browser.

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Displaying the mnemonic

The mnemonic is a list of words that is used to encrypt and decrypt your files. It is important to keep this mnemonic safe,
as it is the only way to access your files if you lose access to your device. If you lose access to your mnemonic, you will
lose access to your files.

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Á Warning

It is not possible to display the mnemonic in the browser.

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SIX

GROUPWARE

Nextcloud Groupware is a bundle of apps which is consisting of an Mail-client (IMAP/POP3) and a Calendar and
Contacts server (CalDAV/CardDAV) with the respective web interfaces.
We complete those productivity tools with Deck, a project management tool which allows you to create Kanban-style
task boards and share them with your team.
You can find out more about Nextcloud Groupware on our website.

6.1 Using the Contacts app

The Contacts app is not enabled by default in Nextcloud 34 and needs to be installed separately from our App Store.
The Nextcloud Contacts app is similar to other mobile contact applications, but with more functionality. This section
covers the basic features that will help you maintain your address book in the application.
Below, you will learn how to add contacts, edit or remove contacts, upload a contact picture and manage your address
books.

6.1.1 Adding Contacts

When you first access the Contacts app, the system address book containing all users on the instance you are allowed to
see, plus an empty default address book becomes available:
To add contacts into your address book, you can use one of the following methods:
• Import contacts using a Virtual Contact File (VCF/vCard) file
• Add contacts manually
The fastest way to add a contact is to use a Virtual Contact File (VCF/vCard) file.

Importing Virtual Contacts

To Import Contacts Using a VCF/vCard File:
1. An Import contacts button is shown when you have no contacts yet.
2. Find “Settings” at the bottom of the left sidebar, next to the gear button:

3. Click the gear button. The Contacts app “Import” button will appear:

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Fig. 1: Default Address Book (empty)

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® Note

The Contacts app only supports import of vCards version 3.0 and 4.0.

4. Click the “Import” button and upload your VCF/vCard file.

After the import is complete, you will see your new contact in your address book.

Adding Contacts Manually

If you can’t import virtual contacts, the Contacts app enables you to add contacts manually.
To Create a New Contact:
1. Click the + New contact button.
The Edit View configuration opens in the Application View field:

2. Specify the new contact information then click Save.

3. The View mode will be shown with the data you added

Edit or Remove Contact Information

The Contacts app enables you to edit or remove contact information.
To edit or remove contact information:
1. Navigate to the specific contact that you want to modify.

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2. Select the information in the field that you want to edit or remove.
3. Make your modifications or click on the trash bin.
Changes or removals that you made to any contact information are implemented immediately.
Not all contacts will be editable for you. The system address book does not allow you to modify someone elses data, only
your own. Your own data can also be modified in the user settings.

Contact Picture
To add a picture for your new contacts, click on the upload button:

After you have set a contact picture, it will look like this:

If you want to upload a new one, remove it, view it in full size or download it, click on the contacts picture for the following
options to appear:

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If the administrator allows updates from social media in the admin groupware settings, users can also retrieve contact
pictures directly from social networks. In that case the contact needs to have stored a user name in the social media
section. Each entry of a supported social network adds a download entry for the respective network. Currently, the
following social networks are supported:
• Instagram
• Mastodon
• Tumblr
• Diaspora
• Xing
• Telegram
• Gravatar
Social avatars are only retrieved if publicly available without login to the respective social network. In the contact user
settings on the contacts page, you can activate auto-updates from social media. This will update avatars with social profile
data on a weekly basis. Social networks are checked in the order listed above.

6.1.2 Managing multiple Contacts at a time

The Contacts app enables you to select multiple contacts and to perform batch actions on them. To select multiple
contacts, either click on each contacts profile picture individually, or click on the profile picture on the first contact then
while holding the shift key click on another contact in the list to select all contacts in between the first and second one.
This will bring up a menu at the top of the contacts list with various actions you can perform on the selected contacts:
In batch mode, the cross icon button will unselect all selected contacts, while the trash bin icon button will delete all
selected contacts.

® Note

You might not be able to modify or delete certain contacts, for example if they are in a read-only address book. In
that case, relevant actions will be disabled.

Merging duplicate Contacts

To merge contacts, select two contacts then click the “Merge contacts” icon button at the top of the contacts list, this will
open a dialog that helps you merge duplicate contacts. The merging dialog will show the details of both contacts side by
side, and you can choose which details to keep in the merged contact.
Any properties with a Radio (circular) button can only have one value, so one of the two values must be selected (like
the name of the contact, which can only have one value), meanwhile checkboxes (square buttons) allow you to keep both
values if desired (like phone numbers or email addresses, which can have multiple values).
If either of the contacts are part of a group(s), by default the merged contact will be part of all groups that the two contacts
were part of. You can uncheck any groups while merging if you don’t want the merged contact to be part of them.

® Note

Currently you are only able to merge two contacts at a time, and you are naturally only able to merge contacts that can
be modified by you. If the merging action is disabled, check that you selected contacts that match those conditions.

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6.1.3 Organize your Contacts with Contact Groups

Contact Groups help you to organize your contacts into groups.
To create a new contact group, click on the plus sign next to “Contact groups” in the left sidebar.

® Note

Contact groups need to have at least one member to be saved. Please note that you can only add contacts from writable
address books to contact groups. Contacts from read-only address books, such as the system address book, cannot be
added.

6.1.4 Adding and Managing Address Books

Clicking on the “Settings” (gear) button at the bottom of the left sidebar provides access to Contacts app settings. This
field shows all available address books, certain options for each address book, and enables you to create new address
books, simply by specifying an address books name:

The Contacts settings is also where you can share, export and delete addressbooks. You will find the CardDAV URLs
there.

® Note

Contacts in disabled address books are not shown in the Contacts app and the Contact menu.

See Groupware for more details about syncing your address books with iOS, macOS, Thunderbird and other CardDAV
clients.

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6.1.5 Teams
Informal collaboration takes place within organizations: an event to organize for a few weeks, a short ideation session
between members from different entities, workshops, a place to joke around and support team building, or simply in very
organic organizations where formal structure is kept to a minimum.
For all these reasons, Nextcloud supports Teams, a feature embedded in the Contacts app, where every user is able to
create its own team, a user-defined aggregate of accounts. Teams can be used later on to share files and folders, added to
Talk conversations, like a regular group.

Create a team
In the left menu, click on the + next to Teams. Set a team name. Landing on the team configuration screen, you can:
• add members to your team
• clicking on the three dot menu next to a user allow you to modify its role within the team.

Team roles
Teams support 4 types of roles:
• Member
• Moderator
• Admin can configure team options (+moderator permissions)
• Owner
Member
Member is the role with the lowest permissions. A member can only access the resources shared with the team, and view
the members of the team.

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Moderator
In addition to member permissions, a moderator can invite, confirm invitations and manage members of the team.
Admin
In addition to moderator permissions, an admin can configure team options.
Owner
In addition to admin permissions, an owner can transfer the team ownership to another member of the team. There can
be only one single owner per team.

Add members to a team

Local accounts, groups, email addresses or other teams can be added as members to a team. For a group or a team, the
role applies to all members of the group or team.

Team options
Various self-explanatory options are available to configure a team, to manage invites and membership, visibility of the
team, allowance of other team membership and password protection.
Prevent teams from being a member of another team
When this option is enabled, the team can no longer be directly added as a member of another team. However, this
restriction only applies to new direct additions. Existing memberships are kept, and inherited memberships are still
possible if this team belongs to a parent team that gets added elsewhere.

Shared items
Added in version 5.5: Nextcloud 25 or newer
Items that are shared between two contacts will be displayed in the contact app. This includes media, calendar events, chat
rooms, and shared deck cards, all of which will be visible in the contact details. This functionality is limited to contacts
listed in the system address book. Currently, our system only supports shared items between two contacts.

6.2 Using the Calendar app

® Note

The Calendar app comes installed with Nextcloud Hub by default, but can be disabled. Please ask your Administrator
for it.

The Nextcloud Calendar app works similar to other calendar applications you can sync your Nextcloud calendars and
events with.
When you first access the Calendar app, a default first calendar will be created for you.

6.2.1 Managing your calendars

Create a new Calendar
If you plan on setting up a new calendar without transferring any old data from your previous calendar, creating a new
calendar is the way you should go.
1. Click on + New Calendar in the left sidebar.
2. Type in a name for your new calendar, e.g. “Work”, “Home” or “Marketing planning”.

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3. After clicking on the checkmark, your new calendar is created and can be synced across your devices, filled with
new events and shared with your friends and colleagues.

Import a Calendar
If you want to transfer your calendar and their respective events to your Nextcloud instance, importing is the best way to
do so.
1. Click on the Calendar settings icon.
2. After clicking on Import Calendar, found in the General section, you can select one or more calendar files
from your local device to upload.
3. Select a Calendar to import into.
4. The upload can take some time and depends on how big the calendar you import is. A blue progress bar will appear
below “Calendar Settings”.

® Note

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Import an Event/Add .ics Event

Individual events are often distributed as .ics files (sometimes via a button labelled “iCal”, “Apple Calendar” or “Out-
look”). You can import them into Nextcloud Calendar using the same import flow as a full calendar.
1. Click on the Calendar settings icon.
2. After clicking on Import calendar you can select one or more .ics files from your local device to upload.
Single-event files are added to the calendar you select.
3. Select a Calendar to import into.
4. The upload can take some time and depends on how big the calendar/event you import is. A blue progress bar will
appear below “Calendar Settings”.

® Note

The Nextcloud Calendar application only supports iCalendar-compatible .ics-files, defined in RFC 5545.

Edit, Export or Delete a Calendar

Sometimes you may want to change the color or the entire name of a previous imported or created calendar. You may
also want to export it to your local hard drive or delete it forever.

® Note

Please keep in mind that deleting a calendar is an irreversible action. After deletion, there is no way of restoring the
calendar unless you have a local backup.

Click on the “pen” icon of the respective calendar. You will see a new popup that will allow you to change the calendar
name and color, and buttons to delete or export the calendar.

Calendar Transparency
You can toggle the checkbox “Never show me as busy (set calendar to transparent)” to influence if this calendars’ events
are taken into account in Free/Busy calculations. If checked, no events in this calendar will be taken into account, your
schedule will always be free, regardless of an events’ settings.

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Sharing calendars
You may share your calendar with local users, groups or with remote users on federated servers.

Calendars may be shared with write access or read-only. When sharing a calendar with write access, users with whom
the calendar is shared will be able to create new events into the calendar as well as edit and delete existing ones.

® Note

Calendar shares currently cannot be accepted or rejected. If you want to stop having a calendar that someone shared
with you, you can click on the 3-dot menu next to the calendar in the calendar list and click on “Unshare from me”.
To restore a share, the calendar can be reshared again, either for the whole group, resetting all unshares, or for a single
user.

Calendar delegation
In the app settings, you can delegate your calendars to other users so they can manage them for you. You can grant read
access if they should only view the calendar, or write access if they should create, edit and delete events.
Calendar delegation also works with other clients that support calendar delegation.

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Federated calendar sharing

Added in version 32.0.0.
Changed in version 33.0.0: Federated calendar shares support read/write access.
Sharing a calendar with a user on another Nextcloud instance works just like sharing with a local user. The difference is
that you need to use the federated user identifier as the recipient, which has the format <username>@<instance> (e.g.
alice@[Link]).

Starting with Nextcloud 33, federated shares support full read/write access, allowing remote users to create, edit, and
delete events in the shared calendar. In Nextcloud 32, federated shares were read-only.

Publishing a calendar
Calendars can be published through a public link to make them viewable (read-only) to external users. You may create a
public link by opening the share menu for a calendar and clicking on « + » next to « Share link ». Once created you can
copy the public link to your clipboard or send it through email.
There’s also an « embedding code » that provides an HTML iframe to embed your calendar into public pages.
Multiple calendars can be shared together by adding their unique tokens to the end of an embed link. Individual tokens
can be found at the end of each calendar’s public link. The full address will look like [Link]
[Link]/apps/calendar/embed/<token1>-<token2>-<token3>

To change the default view or date of an embedded calendar, you need to provide a URL that looks like https://
[Link]/[Link]/apps/calendar/embed/<token>/<view>/<date>. In this URL you need
to replace the following variables:
• <token> with the calendar’s token,
• <view> with one of dayGridMonth, timeGridWeek, timeGridDay, listMonth, listWeek, listDay. The
default view is dayGridMonth and the normally used list is listMonth,
• <date> with now or any date with the following format <year>-<month>-<day> (e.g. 2019-12-28).
On the public page, users are able to get the subscription link for the calendar and export the whole calendar directly.

Calendar Widget
You can embed your calendars into supported apps like Talk, Notes, etc… by either sharing the public link to make
the embed viewable (read-only) to all users or by using the internal link to make it private.

Subscribe to a Calendar
You can subscribe to iCal calendars directly inside of your Nextcloud. By supporting this interoperable standard (RFC
5545) we made Nextcloud calendar compatible to Google Calendar, Apple iCloud and many other calendar-servers you
can exchange your calendars with, including subscription links from calendar published on other Nextcloud instances, as
described above.
1. Click on + New calendar in the left sidebar
2. Click on + New subscription from link (read-only)
3. Type in or paste the link of the shared calendar you want to subscribe to.
Finished. Your calendar subscriptions will be updated regularly.

® Note

Subscriptions are refreshed every week by default. Your administrator may have changed this setting.

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Subscribe to a Holiday Calendar

Added in version 4.4: Nextcloud 25 or newer
You can subscribe to a read-only holiday calendar provided by Thunderbird.
1. Click on + New calendar in the left sidebar
2. Click on + Add holiday calendar
3. Find your country or region and click Subscribe

6.2.2 Managing Events

Create a new event
Events can be created by clicking in the area when the event is scheduled. In the day- and week-view of the calendar you
just click, pull and release your cursor over the area when the event is taking place.
Clicking on the globe button brings up the timezone selector. You are able to choose different timezones for the start and
end of your event. This is useful when travelling.
The month-view only requires a single click into the area of the target day.
After that, you can type in the event’s name (e.g. Meeting with Linus), choose the calendar in which you want to save
the event to (e.g. Personal, Community Events), check and concretize the time span or set the event as an all-day event.
Optionally you can specify a location and a description.
If you want to edit advanced details such as the Attendees or Reminders, or if you want to set the event as a repeating
event, click on the More button to open the advanced editor.

Add Talk conversation

You can include an existing Talk conversation in your event by clicking “Add Talk conversation”. To view the list of
existing Talk conversations, ensure the Talk app is enabled. If you’d like to create a new Talk conversation, you can do
so directly from the same modal.

® Note

If you always want to open the advanced editor instead of the simple event editor popup, you uncheck the option
Enable simplified editor in the Settings section of the app.

Clicking on the blue Create button will finally create the event.

Edit, duplicate or delete an event

If you want to edit, duplicate or delete a specific event, you first need to click on the event.
After that you will be able to re-set all event details and open the advanced editor by clicking on More.
Clicking on the Update button will update the event. To cancel your changes, click the Close button of the popup or
advanced editor.
If you open the advanced view and click the three dot menu next to the event name, you have an option to export the
event as an .ics file or remove the event from your calendar.

b Tip

If you delete events they will go into your trash bin. You can restore accidentally deleted events there.

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You can also export, duplicate or delete an event from the basic editor.

Invite attendees to an event

You may add attendees to an event to let them know they’re invited. They will receive an email invitation and will be able
to confirm or cancel their participation to the event. Attendees may be other users on your Nextcloud instances, contacts
in your address books and direct email addresses. You may also change the level of participation per attendees, or disable
the email information for a specific attendee.
Changed in version 25.0.0: Attendee email response links no longer offer inputs to add a comment or invite additional
guests to the event.

b Tip

When adding other Nextcloud users as attendees to an event, you may access their free-busy information if available,
helping you determine when the best time slot for your event is. Set your working hours to let others know when you
are available. Free-busy information is only available for other users on the same Nextcloud instance.

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Á Attention

The server administration needs to setup the e-mail server in the Basic settings tab, as this mail will be used to
send invitations.

Invitation status legend (as an attendee):

• Filled in event: You accepted
• Strikethrough: You declined
• Stripes: Tentative
• Empty event: You haven’t responded yet
If you are the organizer and all your attendees declined, the event will be empty with a warning symbol.

Checking attendees’ busy times

After adding attendees to an event you can click on Find a time to bring up the “Free / Busy” modal. It allows you to
see when each attendee has other events, and can help you decide on a time when everyone is free.
Your own busy blocks will be shown in the same color as your personal calendar, your out of office times will be shown
in gray, and other attendees’ busy times will have the same color as their avatar shown in the advanced editor.
You can select a time slot for the event directly on the calendar.

Assign rooms and resources to an event

Similar to attendees you can add rooms and resources to your events. The system will make sure that each room and
resource is booked without conflict. The first time a user adds the room or resource to an event, it will show as accepted.
Any further events at overlapping times will show the room or resource as rejected.

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Rooms and resources are not managed by Nextcloud itself and the Calendar app will not allow you to add or change
a resource. Your Administrator has to install and possibly configure resource back ends before you can use them as
a user.

Room availability
Added in version 5.0: Nextcloud 30 or newer
If the “Calendar Rooms and Resources” app is installed on your instance, you can now find Room availability the
Resources section. It lists all the existing rooms. You can check the availability of each room in a manner similar to
checking the free/busy status of event attendees.

Add attachments to events

You can import attachments to your events either by uploading them or adding them from files

® Note

Attachments can be added while creating new events or editing existent ones. Newly uploaded files will be saved in
files by default in the calendar folder in the root directory.

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You can change the attachment folder by going to Calendar settings and changing default attachments location.

Set up reminders
You can set up reminders to be notified before an event occurs. Currently supported notification methods are:
• Email notifications
• Nextcloud notifications
You may set reminders at a time relative to the event or at a specific date. If you would like all the events in a calendar
to have a default reminder, you can configure that in the settings of that calendar.

® Note

Only the calendar owner and people or groups with whom the calendar is shared with write access will get notifications.
If you don’t get any notifications but think you should, your Administrator could also have disabled this for your server.

® Note

If you synchronize your calendar with mobile devices or other 3rd-party clients, notifications may also show up there.

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Add recurring options

An event may be set as “recurring”, so that it can happen every day, week, month or year. Specific rules can be added to
set which day of the week the event happens or more complex rules, such as every fourth Wednesday of each month.
You can also tell when the recurrence ends.

Trash bin
If you delete events, tasks or a calendar in Calendar, your data is not gone yet. Instead, those items will be collected in
a trash bin. This offers you to undo a deletion. After a period which defaults to 30 days (your administration may have
changed this setting), those items will be deleted permanently. You can also permanently delete items earlier if you wish.
The Empty trash bin buttons will wipe all trash bin contents in one step.

b Tip

The trash bin is only accessible from the Calendar app. Any connected application or app won’t be able to display its
contents. However, events, tasks and calendars deleted in connected applications or app will also end up in the trash
bin.

Automated User Status

When you have a calendar event scheduled that has a “BUSY” status, your user status will be automatically set to “In a
meeting” unless you have set yourself to “Do Not Disturb” or “Invisible”. You can overwrite the status with a custom
message any time, or set your calendar events to “FREE”. Calendars that are transparent will be ignored.

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6.2.3 Responding to invitations

You can directly respond to invitations inside the app. Click on the event and select your participation status. You can
respond to an invitation by accepting, declining or accepting tentatively.
You can respond to an invitation from the advanced editor too.

6.2.4 Availability (Working Hours)

The general availability independent of scheduled events can be set in the groupware settings of Nextcloud. These settings
will be reflected in the free-busy view when you schedule a meeting with other people in Calendar. Some connected clients
like Thunderbird will show this data as well.
You can configure one-time absences on top of your regular availability in the Absence settings section.

6.2.5 Birthday calendar

The birthday calendar is a auto-generated calendar which will automatically fetch the birthdays from your contacts. The
only way to edit this calendar is by filing your contacts with birthday dates. You can not directly edit this calendar from
the calendar-app.

® Note

If you do not see the birthday calendar, your Administrator may have disabled this for your server.

6.2.6 Appointments
As of Calendar v3 the app can generate appointment slots which other Nextcloud users but also people without an account
on the instance can book. Appointments offer fine-granular control over when you are possibly free to meet up. This can
eliminate the need to send emails back and forth to settle on a date and time.
In this section we’ll use the term organizer for the person who owns the calendar and sets up appointment slots. The
attendee is the person who books one of the slots.

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Creating an appointment configuration

As an organizer of appointments you open the main Calendar web UI. In the left sidebar you’ll find a section for appoint-
ments, were you can open the dialogue to create a new one.

One of the basic infos of every appointment is a title describing what the appointment is about (e.g. “One-on-one” when an
organizer wants to offer colleagues a personal call), where an appointment will take place and a more detailed description
of what this appointment is about.
The duration of the appointment can be picked from a predefined list. Next, you can set the desired increment. The
increment is the rate at which possible slots are available. For example, you could have one hour long slots, but you
give them away at 30 minute increments so an attendee can book at 9:00AM but also at 9:30AM. Optional infos about
location and a description give the attendees some more [Link] booked appointment will be written into one of

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your calendars, so you can chose which one that should be. Appointments can be public or private. Public appointments
can be discovered through the profile page of a Nextcloud user. Private appointments are only accessible to the people
who receive the secret URL.

® Note

Only slots that do not conflict with existing events in your calendars will be shown to attendees.

The organizer of an appointment can specify at which times of the week it’s generally possible to book a slot. This could
be the working hours but also any other customized schedule.
Some appointments require time to prepare, e.g. when you meet at a venue and you have to drive there. The organizer can
chose to select a time duration that must be free. Only slots that do not conflict with other events during the preparation
time will be available. Moreover there is the option to specify a time after each appointment that has to be free. To prevent
an attendee from booking too short notice it’s possible to configure how soon the next possible appointment might take
place. Setting a maximum number of slots per day can limit how many appointments are possibly booked by attendees.
The configured appointment will then be listed in the left sidebar. Via the three dot menu, you can preview the appoint-
ment. You can copy the link to the appointment and share it with your target attendees, or let them discover your public
appointment via the profile page. You can also edit or delete the appointment configuration.

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Booking an appointment
The booking page shows an attendee the title, location, description and length of an appointment. For a selected day
there will be a list with all the possible time slots. On days with no available slots, too many conflicts or a reached daily
maximum limit of already booked appointments, the list might be empty.

For the booking, attendees have to enter a name and an email address. Optionally they can also add a comment.
When the booking was successful, a confirmation dialogue will be shown to the attendee.
To verify that the attendee email address is valid, a confirmation email will be sent to them.
Only after the attendee clicks the confirmation link from the email the appointment booking will be accepted and for-
warded to the organizer.
The attendee will receive another email confirming the details of their appointment.

® Note

If a slot has not been confirmed, it will still show up as bookable. Until then the time slot might also be booked by
another user who confirms their booking earlier. The system will detect the conflict and offer to pick a new time slot.

Working with the booked appointment

Once the booking is done, the organizer will find an event in their calendar with the appointment details and the attendee.
If the appointment has the setting “Add time before event” or “Add time after the event” enabled, they will show up as
separate events in the calendar for the organizer.
As with any other event that has attendees, changes and cancellations will trigger a notification to the attendee’s email.

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If attendees wish to cancel the appointment they have to get in contact with the organizer, so that the organizer can cancel
or even delete the event.

Create Talk room for booked appointments

You can create a Talk room directly from the calendar app for a booked appointment. The option can be found on the
‘Create appointment’ modal. A unique link will be generated for every booked appointment and sent via the confirmation
email when you check this option.

6.2.7 Proposals
Added in version 6.0: Nextcloud 32 or newer
Finding a meeting time for a group of participants can be challenging. As of Calendar v6, a new feature was introduced
that allows users to create proposals for meeting times. This means that instead of just booking a time, or searching for
a available time in the free busy view, participants can vote on a set of proposed times for a meeting. The organizer can
then review the participants’ preferences and choose the most suitable time for the meeting.

Managing proposals
The proposal list in the left sidebar shows all the proposals that the user has created. The list shows the title of the
proposal, the number of responded participants and a status of whether all participants have responded.
The user can click on the three dot menu next to a proposal item to edit, delete or view an existing proposal.

Creating a proposal
To create a new proposal a user can click on the plus icon next to the “Meeting Proposals” header at the top of the proposal
list. This will open a modal where the user can enter all the relevant details for the proposed meeting.
The proposal editor has some basic fields that are similar to the event editor, such as title, description, location, duration
and participants selection, that the user can fill out. These details are then used to inform the participants about the
proposed meeting and times.
The key difference is the “Proposed times” selection, where the user can select multiple time slots for a meeting. The
user can add as many time slots as they want, and each time slot can be edited or removed as needed.

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Once the user has filled out all the required details, title, duration, participants and selected the proposed times, they
can click the “Create” button to create the proposal. This will save the proposal and send notifications to all the selected
participants.

Editing a proposal
A user can edit an existing proposal by clicking on the three dot menu next to a proposal item in the proposal list and
selecting “Edit”. This will open the same modal as when creating a new proposal, but with all the existing details filled
out.
After making any necessary changes, the user can click the “Update” button to save the changes. This will also send
notifications to all the participants about the updated proposal.

Viewing a proposal progress

Users can view the progress of a proposal by clicking on the proposal item in the proposal list or clicking “View” in
the three dot menu. This will open a detailed view of the proposal, with all details and a times and participants matrix,
showing all the proposed times and participants’ responses.
In this view, the user can see which participants have responded to the proposal and their preferences for each proposed
time. The user can also see the total number of votes for each proposed time, which can help them decide on the best
time for the meeting.
Once the user has reviewed the participants’ responses, they can select the most popular time for the meeting by clicking
on the “Create” button at the end of the date/participant matrix. This will create a new event in the user’s calendar and
send notifications to all participants about the confirmed meeting time.

Notifications for a proposed meeting

Users will receive email notifications for various events related to a proposed meeting, including:
• When a new proposal is created
• When a proposal is updated

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• When a proposal is deleted

• When the final meeting time is confirmed
These notifications help all participants stay informed and engaged throughout the proposal process.
The notification emails contain the basic details for the proposed meeting, like title, description, location, duration, and
proposed times. They also include a link to the response page, where participants can see all the details and respond to
the proposed times.

Responding to a proposed meeting

Participants can respond to a proposed meeting by clicking on the link in the notification email. This will open the
detailed view of the proposed meeting, where they can see all the proposed times, other participants’ and their responses,
and select their availability/preferences for each proposed time.
Participants can select their availability for each proposed time by selecting their preference on the corresponding line in
the times and participants matrix. They can choose from three options: “Yes”, “No”, or “Maybe”. Once they have made
their selections, they can click the “Submit” button to save their responses.

6.3 Using the Mail app

® Note

The Mail app comes installed with Nextcloud Hub by default, but can be disabled. Please ask your Administrator for
it.

6.3.1 Managing your mail account

Switch layout
Added in version 3.6: Nextcloud 26 or newer

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1. Visit mail settings

2. Choose between List, Vertical split and Horizontal split

Use Compact Mode

Added in version 5.7: Nextcloud 32 or newer
Compact mode offers a cleaner and more efficient way to view your messages. Avatars are hidden, selection checkboxes
are always visible, and the preview of messages is removed. It saves space allowing you to see more emails at once.
1. Visit the mail settings
2. Go to Appearance
3. Toggle the Compact Mode

Message Display / Operation Mode

Added in version 5.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
Mail has the ability to switch between two different message view and operation modes: Threaded and Singleton.

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In Threaded mode, messages are grouped by conversation. In the mailbox message list, related messages are stacked so
only the most recent message is shown, and all relates messages are shown in message display panel after the stacked
message is selected. This is useful for following discussions and understanding the context of replies. In this mode,
message operation like move and delete apply to the entire thread, meaning that when you move or delete a thread, all
messages within that thread are affected.
In Singleton mode, messages are displayed individually, in both the mailbox message list and message display panel and
operation like move and delete apply to only the selected message. This mode is useful when you want to manage messages
separately without affecting the entire conversation.
1. Visit mail settings
2. Choose between Threaded, Singleton

Add a new mail account

1. Enable mail app from the apps
2. Click the mail icon on the header
3. Fill up the login form (auto or manual)

Change sort order

Added in version 3.5: Nextcloud 26 or newer
1. Visit mail settings
2. Go to Sorting
3. You can choose Oldest or Newest mail first

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® Note

This change will apply across all your accounts and mailboxes

Sort favorites up
Added in version 5.7: Nextcloud 31 or newer
This setting allows you to show messages set as favorite in a separate section on top of the message list.
1. Visit mail settings
2. Go to Appearance
3. Enable sorting favorites up

Scheduled messages
1. Click the New message button
2. Click the (…) action menu on the modal composer
3. Click send later

Priority inbox
Priority inbox has 2 section Important and Others. Messages will automatically be marked as important based on which
messages you interacted with or marked as important. In the beginning you might have to manually change the importance
to teach the system, but it will improve over time.
The automatic classification is optional. You can opt-out when setting up an account. The classification can also be turned
on and off in the account settings at any time.

All inboxes
All messages from all the accounts you have logged in, will be shown here chronologically.

Account settings
Your account settings such as:
1. Aliases
2. Signature
3. Default Folders
4. Autoresponder
5. Trusted senders
6. ..and more
Can be found in the action menu of a mail account. There you can edit, add or remove settings depending on your need.

Move messages to Junk folder

Added in version 3.4: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Mail can move a message to a different folder when it is marked as junk.
1) Visit Account settings

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2) Go to Default folders
3) Check that a folder is selected for the junk messages
4) Go to Junk settings
5) Click Move messages to Junk folder

Refresh mailbox
You can manually trigger a sync of your mailbox by clicking the refresh button located at the top of the mailbox list.
Starting from version 5.7 triggering the sync will also refresh the list of folders for the selected account.

Unified search
The Mail app integrates with Nextcloud’s unified search feature (see The Nextcloud web interface for details). You can
search for emails across all your accounts using the search bar in the Nextcloud header.
Mail searches email subjects and sender/recipient fields. To search email bodies, use the mailbox search feature in the
app.

Search in mailbox
Added in version 2.1: Nextcloud 25 or newer
At the top of the envelope list in any mail layout, there is a search field shortcut for searching email subjects. Starting
from version 3.7, this shortcut allows you to search by subject, recipient (to), or sender (from) by default.

Advanced search in mailbox

Added in version 3.4: Nextcloud 26 or newer
You can access our advanced search feature through a modal located at the end of the search shortcut.

Enable mail body search

Added in version 3.5: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Mail bodies can now be searched, this feature is opt-in because of potential performance issues.
To enable it:
1) Visit Account settings
2) Go to Mailbox search
3) Enable mail body search

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Á Warning

If you want to also enable it for unified mailboxes you have to do so in Mail settings

By enabling it the main search box will now search in both subjects and mail bodies, and a separate Body option will
appear in advanced search.

Account delegation
The app allows account delegation so that one user can send emails from the address of another.
1) The delegation has to be configured on the mail server by an admin
2) Add the other email address as an alias for your own email account
3) When sending an email, select the alias as sender

Á Warning

The sent email might not be visible to the original account if it’s stored in your personal Sent mailbox.

Automatic trash deletion

Added in version 3.4: Nextcloud 26 or newer
The Mail app can automatically delete messages in the trash folder after a certain number of days.
1) Visit Account settings
2) Go to Automatic trash deletion
3) Enter the number of days after which messages should be deleted
Disable trash retention by leaving the field empty or setting it to 0.

® Note

Only mails deleted after enabling trash retention will be processed.

6.3.2 Compose messages

1. Click the New message button
2. Start writing your message

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Minimize the composer modal

Added in version 3.2: Nextcloud 26 or newer
The composer modal can be minimized while writing a new message, editing an existing draft or a message from the
outbox. Simply click the Minimize button on the modal or click anywhere outside the modal.

You can resume your minimized message by clicking anywhere on the minimized composer indicator.

Press the Close button on the modal or on the minimized composer indicator to stop editing a message. A draft will be
saved automatically into your draft mailbox.

6.3.3 Recipient info on composer

Added in version 4.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
When you add your first recipient or contact in the “To” field, a right pane will appear displaying the saved profile details
of that contact. Adding a second contact will collapse the list, allowing you to select and expand any contact you added
to view their details. If you prefer to focus solely on writing in the composer, you can hide the right pane by clicking the
Expand icon in the composer toolbar. To show the right pane again, simply click the Minimize icon in the same toolbar.

6.3.4 Mention contacts

Added in version 4.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
You can mention contacts in your message by typing @ and then selecting the contact from the list. By doing so the contact
will be automatically added as a recipient.

® Note

Only contacts with a valid email address will be suggested.

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6.3.5 Text blocks

Added in version 5.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
Text blocks are predefined snippets of text that can be inserted into your email. They can be created and managed in the
mail settings. They can be inserted into the composer by typing ! and then selecting the block from the list or from the
composer actions. Text blocks can be shared with users and user groups.

6.3.6 Outbox
When a message has been composed and the “Send” button was clicked, the message is added to the Outbox, which
appears at the bottom of the left sidebar.
You can also set the date and time for the send operation to a point in the future (see Scheduled messages)- the message
will be kept in the outbox until your chosen date and time arrives, then it will be sent automatically.
The outbox is only visible when there is a message waiting to be handled by the outbox.
You can reopen the composer for a message in the outbox any time before the send operation is triggered.

® Note

When an error occurs during sending, three error messages are possible:
Could not copy to “Sent” mailbox
The mail was sent but couldn’t be copied to the “Sent” mailbox. This error will be handled by the outbox and
the copy operation will be tried again.
Mail server error
Sending was unsuccessful with a state that can be retried (ex: the SMTP server couldn’t be reached). The
outbox will retry sending the message.
Message could not be sent
Sending might or might not have failed. The mail server can’t tell us the state of the message. Since the Mail
app has no way to determine the state of the message (sent or unsent) the message will stay in the outbox and
the account user has to decide how to proceed.

6.3.7 Mailbox actions

Add a mailbox
1. Open the action menu of an account
2. Click add mailbox

Add a submailbox
1. Open the action menu of a mailbox
2. Click add submailbox

Shared mailbox
If a mailbox was shared with you with some specific rights, that mailbox will show as a new mailbox with a shared icon
as below:

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6.3.8 Envelope actions

Create an event
Create an event for a certain message/thread directly via mail app
1. Open action menu of an envelope
2. Click More actions
3. Click Create event

® Note

An event title and agenda are created for you if the administrator has enabled it.

Create a task
Added in version 3.2: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Create an task for a certain message/thread directly via mail app
1. Open action menu of an envelope
2. Click more actions
3. Click create task

® Note

Tasks are stored in supported calendars. If there is no compatible calendar you can create a new one with the calendar
app.

Edit tags
1. Open action menu of an envelope
2. Click Edit tags
3. On the tags modal, set/unset tags

Change color for tags

Added in version 3.5: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Upon creating a tag, a randomly assigned color is automatically chosen. Once the tag is saved, you have the flexibility to
customize its color according to your preferences. This feature can be found on the Tag modal action menu.

Delete tags
Added in version 3.5: Nextcloud 26 or newer
You now have the ability to delete tags that you have previously created. To access this feature:
1. Open the action menu of an envelope/thread.
2. Select Edit tags.
3. Within the tags modal, open the action menu for the specific tag you wish to delete.

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® Note

Please note that default tags such as Work, To do, Personal, and Later cannot be deleted, they can only be renamed.

AI summary
Added in version 4.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
When looking through your mailbox you will see a short AI generated summary of your emails as a preview.

® Note

Please note that the feature has to be enabled by the administrator

6.3.9 Quick actions

Added in version 5.5: Nextcloud 30 or newer
Allows you to group action steps that you would normally perform on envelopes such as tagging, moving, marking as read
… into quick actions that can be executed with a single click. Quick actions are scoped to one mail account and can be
created and managed in the mail settings under “Quick actions” or directly from the envelope action menu.

® Note

Some action steps such as Mark as spam, Move thread and Delete thread are mutually exclusive and cannot be part of
the same quick action, they also can’t be re-ordered and will always be executed last.

® Note

Please note that quick actions will be performed on all messages in a thread when executed on one.

6.3.10 Message actions

Unsubscribe from a mailing list
Added in version 3.1: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Some mailing lists and newsletters allow to be unsubscribed easily. If the Mail app detects messages from such a sender,
it will show an Unsubscribe button next to the sender information. Click and confirm to unsubscribe from the list.

Snooze
Added in version 3.4: Nextcloud 26 or newer
Snoozing a message or thread moves it into a dedicated mailbox until the selected snooze date is reached and the message
or thread is moved back to the original mailbox.
1. Open action menu of an envelope or thread
2. Click Snooze
3. Select how long the message or thread should be snoozed

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Smart replies
Added in version 3.6: Nextcloud 26 or newer
When you open a message in the Mail app, it proposes AI-generated replies. By simply clicking on a suggested reply, the
composer opens with the response pre-filled.

® Note

Please note that the feature has to be enabled by the administrator

® Note

Supported languages depend on the used large language model

Mail translation
Added in version 4.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
You are able to translate messages to your configured languages similarly to Talk.

® Note

Please note that translation features have to be enabled on the server

® Note

Since version 5.3, if LLM is enabled by admin, translations will be suggested

6.3.11 Thread summary

The mail app supports summarizing message threads that contain 3 or more messages.
Added in version 3.4: Nextcloud 26 or newer

® Note

Please note that the feature has to be enabled by the administrator

® Note

Please note that this feature only works well with integration_openai. Local LLMs take too long to respond and the
summary request is likely to time out and still create significant system load.

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6.3.12 Filtering and autoresponder

The Mail app has a editor for Sieve scripts, an interface to configure autoresponders and an interface to configure filters.
Sieve has to be enabled in the account settings.

Autoresponders
Added in version 3.5: Nextcloud 26 or newer
The autoresponder is off by default. It can be set manually, or follow the system settings. Following system settings means
that the long absence message entered on the Absence settings section is applied automatically.

Filter
Added in version 4.1: Nextcloud 30 or newer
Mail 4.1 includes a simple editor to configure filter rules.

® Note

Importing existing filters is not supported. However, all existing filters will remain active and unchanged. We rec-
ommend backing up your current script through the Sieve script editor as a precaution.

How to Add a New Filter

1. Open your account settings.

2. Verify that Sieve is enabled for your account (see Sieve server settings).
3. Click on Filters.
4. Select New Filter to create a new rule.

How to Delete a Filter

1. Open your account settings.

2. Ensure that Sieve is enabled for your account (see Sieve server settings).
3. Click on Filters.
4. Hover over the filter you wish to delete, then click the trash icon.

Conditions

Conditions are applied to incoming emails on your mail server, targeting fields such as Subject, Sender, and Recipient.
You can use the following operators to define conditions for these fields:
• is exactly: An exact match. The field must be identical to the provided value.
• contains: A substring match. The field matches if the provided value is contained within it. For example, “report”
would match “port”.
• matches: A pattern match using wildcards. The “*” symbol represents any number of characters (including none),
while “?” represents exactly one character. For example, “report” would match “Business report 2024”.

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Actions

Actions are triggered when the specified tests are true. The following actions are available:
• fileinto: Moves the message into a specified folder.
• addflag: Adds a flag to the message.
• stop: Halts the execution of the filter script. No further filters with will be processed after this action.

Create a filter from a message

Added in version 5.2: Nextcloud 30 or newer
To create a filter from a given message, open the message and then open the menu by clicking on the three dots. Next,
click on “More actions” followed by “Create mail filter.”
In the dialog, please select the conditions to match incoming messages and continue by clicking on “Create mail filter.”

6.3.13 Follow-up reminders

Added in version 4.0: Nextcloud 30 or newer
The Mail app will automatically remind you when an outgoing email did not receive a response. Each sent email will be
analyzed by an AI to check whether a reply is expected. After four days all relevant emails will be shown in your priority
inbox.
When clicking on such an email a button will be shown to quickly follow up with all recipients. It is also possible to
disable follow-up reminders for a sent email.

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® Note

Please note that the feature has to be enabled by the administrator.

6.3.14 Security
Phishing detection
Added in version 4.0: Nextcloud 30 or newer
The Mail app will check for potential phishing attempts and will display a warning to the user.
The checks are the following:
• The sender address saved in the addressbook is not the same as the one in the mail account
• The sender is using a custom email address that doesn’t match the from address
• The sent date is set in the future
• Links in the message body are not pointing to the displayed text
• The reply-to address is not the same as the sender address

® Note

Please note that the warning does not mean that the message is a phishing attempt. It only means that the Mail app
detected a potential phishing attempt.

Internal addresses
Added in version 4.0: Nextcloud 30 or newer
The Mail app allows adding internal addresses and domains, and will warn the user if the address is not in the list, when
sending and upon receiving a message.
To add an internal address:
1. Open the mail settings
2. Navigate to Privacy and security section
3. Enable the internal addresses by clicking on the checkbox
4. Click the Add internal address button
5. Enter the address or domain and click Add

6.3.15 Dashboard integration

Added in version 1.8: Nextcloud 20 or newer
The mail app offers two widgets designed for integration with Nextcloud’s dashboard:
• Unread mails: This widget displays unread emails.
• Important mails: This widget shows emails that have been flagged as important.
These widgets utilize the emails from the email accounts that are set up for your account.

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6.3.16 Calendar integration

The Mail app integrates with the Calendar app to help you manage meeting invitations and keep your calendar up to date.

Meeting invitations
When you receive a message containing a meeting invitation, the Mail app automatically detects the attached calendar
file and displays a formatted action section to help you respond.
You can:
• Accept the invitation
• Decline the invitation
• Tentatively accept the invitation
Your response is sent directly from the Mail app, and the event is added to your primary calendar accordingly.
You can also manually add a meeting invitation to a specific calendar:
1. Open the message with the meeting invitation
2. Scroll to the bottom of the message to the attachments section
3. Select the calendar file (usually with a .ics extension), then click the three dots menu.
4. Click “Import in to calendar” and choose the desired calendar.

Meeting invitation automation

When a meeting organizer sends updates to an existing event (such as time changes or location updates), the Mail app
processes these automatically and updates the corresponding event in your calendar.
Added in version 5.7: Nextcloud 32 or newer
You can also configure Mail to automatically add all new meeting invitations to your calendar without requiring manual
acceptance. The invitations will be added to the calendar as tentative.
To enable this feature:
1. Visit account settings of a specific mail account
2. Navigate to Calendar settings section
3. Enable Automatically create tentative appointments in calendar

® Note

With this setting enabled, invitations will still appear in your mail list, but they will be automatically added to your
calendar.

6.3.17 Keyboard shortcuts

The Mail app implements several keyboard shortcuts to speed up your experience.
For a full list of the supported shortcuts, check out the Mail settings in your instance.

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6.4 Setting out-of-office messages

If you are absent for vacation, sick leave or similar, you can add an out-of-office message in the Absence section of the
Availability settings.
The interface asks for the time of absence, a short and a long message and an optional replacement user. This data is used
for the following purposes:
1) Your user status will change to the short message when your absence starts and reset when it ends.
2) An event with status busy will be created in your personal calendar. This allows others to see that you are not
available when they use the free/busy feature.
3) If enabled, the Mail app will apply an autoresponder using the long message.
4) The Talk app will show the long out-of-office message to others when they try to reach you in a 1:1 chat during
your absence as well as the replacement user if set.

6.5 Synchronizing with Android

6.5.1 Files and notifications
1. Install the Nextcloud Android client from Google Play Store or from F-Droid.
2. Start the app. There are two ways of setting it up:
Either: enter your server URL, continue, enter your user name and password and confirm to grant access.
Or: In Nextcloud’s web GUI, go to the user preferences, go to Security. Generate an App password, click “Generate
QR code” and tap the QR scanner icon in the Nextcloud app, point your phone’s camera towards the screen.

6.5.2 Contacts and Calendar

With the Nextcloud mobile app
1. Install DAVx⁵ (formerly known as DAVDroid) on your Android device, from Google Play Store or from F-Droid.
2. In the Nextcloud mobile, go to Settings/More, tap on “Sync calendars & contacts”.
3. Now, DAVx⁵ will open Nextcloud’s Webflow login window, where you will have to enter your credentials and grant
access.
4. DAVx⁵ will open and ask you to create an account. Set the account name to one of your choosing, and set Contact
group method to Groups are per-contact categories.
5. After this, DAVx⁵ will close and the Nextcloud app reappears. In order to finish setup, you have to manually launch
DAVx⁵ again.
6. Tap on the icon for the account DAVx⁵ has just created, when requested grant DAVx⁵ access to your calendars and
contacts.
7. When you tap the icon for the account DAVx⁵ has set up, it will discover the available address books and calendars.
Choose which ones you want to synchronize and finish.

Without the Nextcloud mobile app

If you do not want to install the Nextcloud mobile app, the following steps are required:
1. Install DAVx⁵ (formerly known as DAVDroid) on your Android device, from Google Play Store or from F-Droid.
2. Optionally install OpenTasks (Google Play Store or F-Droid).

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3. Create a new account (“+” button).

4. Select Connection with URL and username and complete the form. Base URL is the URL of your Nextcloud
instance (e.g. [Link] Username is your Nextcloud username, and
for Password use a dedicated App password instead of your account password.
5. Click Register.
6. In Contact group method, choose the option Groups are per-contact categories; then select Create
Account.
7. Select the data you want to sync.
8. When requested, grant access permissions to DAVx⁵ for your contacts, calendars and optionally tasks.

® Note

Enter your email address as DAVx⁵ account name (mandatory if you want to be able to send calendar invitation). If
your email address is registered in your Nextcloud preferences and you have set up your account using the Nextcloud
mobile app, this all should be already the case.

® Note

Using user name and password will not work if 2-Factor-Authentication is enabled and will throw a generic “Unknown
resource” error. Use a dedicated App password instead. If you enabled 2FA after already configuring DAVx⁵, update
your DAVx⁵ account to replace your login password with an app password.

b Tip

DAVx⁵ lists the calendar subscriptions made through the Nextcloud Calendar app, but you need to install the ICSx⁵
(formerly known as ICSDroid) app on your Android device, from the Google Play Store or from F-Droid to sync
them.

6.6 Synchronizing with iOS

6.6.1 Calendar
1. Open the settings application.
2. Select Apps.
3. Select Calendar.
4. Select Calendar Accounts.
5. Select Add Account.
6. Select Other as account type.
7. Select Add CalDAV account.
8. For server, type the domain name of your server i.e. [Link].
9. Enter your user name and password.
10. Select Next.

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11. Open Advanced Settings

12. For server, type the domain name of your server and path, i.e., [Link]/[Link]/dav/principals/
users/username/ (replace [Link] and username).
13. Close Advanced Settings
Your calendar will now be visible in the Calendar application.

® Note

If you get an error message related to SSL, you can try the following: Make sure that you either specify both the proto-
col ([Link] and the port (usually 443) in the Server field, i.e., [Link]
dav/principals/users/username/, or none, like in the step-by-step guide above. Either way, the application
automatically tries to use SSL, which you can confirm in “Advanced Settings” of the account after saving.

® Note

Beginning with iOS 12 an SSL encryption is necessary. Therefore do not disable SSL (For this reason a certificate
is required at your domain, [Link] will do).

® Note

If you select CardDAV only contact syncing will be made available.

6.6.2 Contacts
1. Open the settings application.
2. Select Apps.
3. Select Contacts.
4. Select Contacts Accounts.
5. Select Add Account.
6. Select Other as account type.
7. Select Add CardDAV account.
8. For server, type the domain name of your server and path, i.e., [Link]/[Link]/dav/principals/
users/username/ (replace [Link] and username).
9. Enter your user name and password.
10. Select Next.
You should now find your contacts in the address book of your iPhone.

® Note

Beginning with iOS 12 an SSL encryption is necessary. Therefore do not disable SSL (For this reason a certificate
is required at your domain, [Link] will do).

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® Note

If you select CalDAV only calendar syncing will be made available.

If it’s still not working, have a look at Troubleshooting Contacts & Calendar or Troubleshooting Service Discovery.

6.7 Synchronizing with macOS

6.7.1 Setup your Accounts
In the following steps you will add CalDAV (Calendar) and CardDAV (Contacts) to your macOS integrated Calendar
and Contacts applications. At the time of writing this guide, macOS is at version 26.3.1.
1. Click on the Apple menu and select System Settings… from the dropdown menu.

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2. Navigate to Internet Accounts:

3. Click on the small blue choose from a list.

4. Click on add Other Account…
5. Select CalDAV Account for calendar and CardDAV Account for contacts.

® Note

You can not setup Calendar/Contacts together. You need to setup them separately.

6. Select Manual as Account Type and type in your respective credentials:

Username: Your Nextcloud username or email
Password: Either your password or if you use 2FA your generated app-password/token (Learn more).
Server Address: URL of your Nextcloud server (e.g. [Link]

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7. Click on Sign In.

6.7.2 Troubleshooting
• macOS does not support syncing CalDAV/CardDAV over non-encrypted http:// connections. Make sure you
have https:// enabled and configured on server- and client-side.
• Self-signed certificates need to be properly set up in the macOS keychain.

6.8 Synchronizing with Thunderbird

Thunderbird is a feature-rich and mature mail client that can be turned into a full-fledged Personal Information Manager
(PIM). Since version 102, it supports address book synchronization via CardDAV and automatic discovery of calendars
and address books available on the server.

6.8.1 Recommended method

Since Thunderbird 102, the CardDAV & CalDAV protocols are natively supported.

Contacts
1. On the address book view, click the down arrow near New Address Book and choose Add CardDAV Address
Book.
2. In the next window, type your Username and Location (Server URL).
3. The next window will ask for your username and password for this account.
4. The previous window will be refreshed and ask you which address books you wish to sync.
5. Choose and then click Continue.
If you later want to add a new address book, you can redo all of those steps and only the books not already synchronized
will be suggested.

® Note

If your account uses two-factor authentication, you need a dedicated app password for login rather than your regular
password.

Calendars
1. Go to the calendar view in Thunderbird and select the New Calendar… button at the bottom of the left side panel.
2. Choose On the network:

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3. Type your Username and Location (Server URL), then click on Find Calendars.
4. Choose which calendars you want to add and click Subscribe
Same thing here, if you later want to add more calendars, just redo the procedure.

6.8.2 Alternative: Using the CardBook add-on (Contacts only)

CardBook is an advanced alternative to Thunderbird’s address book, which supports CardDAV.
1. Click the CardBook icon in the upper right corner of Thunderbird:

2. In CardBook:
• Go to Address book > New Address book Remote > Next
• Select CardDAV, fill in the address of your Nextcloud server, your user name and password

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3. Click on “Validate”, click Next, then choose the name of the address book and click Next again:

4. When you are finished, CardBook synchronizes your address books. You can always trigger a synchronization
manually by clicking the Synchronize button in CardBook:

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6.9 Synchronizing with KDE Kontact

KOrganizer, Kalendar and KAddressBook can synchronize your calendar, contacts and tasks with a Nextcloud server.
This can be done by following these steps depending on if you use KOrganizer or Kalendar:
In KOrganizer:
1. Open KOrganizer and in the Calendar list on the left right-click and choose Add Calendar:

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2. In the resulting list of resources, pick DAV groupware resource:

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In Kalendar:
1. Open Kalendar and in the menu bar open the setting and then choose Calendar Sources -> Add Calendar:

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2. In the resulting list of resources, pick DAV groupware resource:

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In KOrganizer and Kalendar:

3. Enter your username. As password, you need to generate an app-password/token (Learn more):

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4. Choose Nextcloud as Groupware server option:

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5. Enter your Nextcloud server URL and, if needed, installation path (anything that comes after the first /, for example
mynextcloud in [Link] Then click next:

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6. You can now test the connection, which can take some time for the initial connection. If it does not work, you can
go back and try to fix it with other settings:

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7. Pick a name for this resource, for example Work or Home. By default, both CalDAV (Calendar) and CardDAV
(Contacts) are synced:

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® Note

You can set a manual refresh rate for your calendar and contacts resources. By default this setting is set to 5 minutes
and should be fine for the most use cases. When you create a new appointment it is synced to Nextcloud right away.
You may want to change this for saving your power or cellular data plan, so that you can update with a right-click on
the item in the calendar list.

8. After a few seconds to minutes depending on your internet connection, you will find your calendars and contacts
inside the KDE Kontact applications KOrganizer, Kalendar and KAddressBook as well as Plasma calendar applet:

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6.10 Synchronizing with the GNOME desktop

The GNOME desktop has built-in support for Nextcloud’s calendar, contacts, and tasks which will be displayed by the
Evolution Personal Information Manager (PIM), or the Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts apps. Similarly, Files integrates
into the Nautilus file manager via WebDAV. The latter works only while the computer is connected.
This can be done by following these steps:
1. In the GNOME settings, open Online Accounts.
2. Under “Add an account” pick Nextcloud:

3. Enter your server URL, username, and password. If you have enabled two-factor authentication (2FA), you need to
generate an application password/token, because GNOME Online Accounts doesn’t support Nextcloud’s WebFlow
login yet (Learn more):

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4. In the next window, select which resources GNOME should access and press the Close button to close the dialog:

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Nextcloud tasks, calendars, and contacts should now be visible in the Evolution PIM, as well as the Task, Contacts, and
Calendars apps.
Files will be shown as a WebDAV resource in the Nautilus file manager, and also be available in the GNOME file open/save
dialogues. Documents should be integrated into the GNOME Documents app.
All resources should also be searchable from anywhere by pressing the Windows key and entering a search term.

6.11 Synchronizing with Windows 10

6.11.1 Calendar
1. In your browser, navigate to the Nextcloud Calendar app. Under “Calendar settings”, copy the address using “Copy
iOS/macOS CalDAV address” into your clipboard.
2. Launch the Windows 10 Calendar app. Then, click the settings icon (gear icon) and select “Manage accounts”.
3. Click “Add account” and choose “iCloud”.
4. Enter an email, username and password. None of this information has to be valid-it will all be changed in the
upcoming steps.
5. Click “Done”. A message should appear indicating the settings were saved successfully.

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6. In the “Manage Accounts” menu, click on the iCloud account created in previous steps, and select “Change settings”.
Then, click on “Change mailbox sync settings”.
7. Scroll to the bottom of the dialog box, select “Advanced mailbox settings”. Scroll once more to the bottom of the
dialog box and paste your CalDAV URL in the field labelled “Calendar server (CalDAV)”.
8. Click “Done”. Enter your Nextcloud username and password in the appropriate fields, and change the account
name to whatever you prefer (e. g. “Nextcloud Calendar”). Click “Save”.

6.11.2 Contacts
1. Repeat steps 1–7 from the Calendar instructions. If you already have set up the Calendar synchronization, you can
use the same account for this.
2. From the “Advanced mailbox settings” screen, scroll to the bottom of the dialog box and paste your CardDAV
URL in the field labelled “Contacts server (CardDAV)”.
3. Replace the path “principals” within the URL with “addressbooks”.
4. Click “Done”. Enter your Nextcloud username and password in the appropriate fields, and change the account
name to whatever you prefer (e. g. “Nextcloud”). Click “Save”.

6.11.3 Troubleshooting: 2FA

NOTE: You will not be able to synchronize your calendar if you have two-factor authentication enabled. Follow
the steps below to get an app password that can be used with the Calendar client app:
1. Log into Nextcloud. Click on your user icon, then click on “Settings”.
2. Click on “Security”, then locate a button labeled “Create new app password”. Next to this button, enter “Windows
10 Calendar app”. Then, click the button, copy and paste the password. Use this password instead of your Nextcloud
password when prompted for credentials during setup, for example in Calendar step 8 or Contacts step 4.

6.11.4 Troubleshooting: TLSv1.2

• For Windows 10 your Nextcloud https server must support TLSv1.2. This is apparent if no connection attempts
are seen on the server, and the Windows client Event Viewer will display Schannel TLS errors under “Windows
Logs -> System”.

6.11.5 Credits
Special thanks to this Reddit user for their post: [Link]
windows_10_calendar_application_with/

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SEVEN

TALK

Nextcloud Talk offers audio/video and text chat integrated in Nextcloud. It is available as a web interface, desktop client,
and mobile apps for Android and iOS.
You can find out more about Nextcloud Talk on our website. Download the desktop and mobile clients from
[Link]/install.

7.1 Chat
7.1.1 Sending messages
Using Markdown
You can enhance your messages using Markdown syntax. Supported elements:

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Headings and dividers

# Heading 1
## Heading 2
### Heading 3
#### Heading 4
##### Heading 5
###### Heading 6

Heading
===
Normal text
***
Normal text

Inline decorations

**bold text** __bold text__

*italicized text* _italicized text_
`inline code` ``inline code``
```
.code-block {
display: pre;
}
```

Lists

1. Ordered list
2. Ordered list

* Unordered list
- Unordered list
+ Unordered list

Quotes

> blockquote
second line of blockquote

Task lists

- [ ] task to be done
- [x] completed task

Tables

Column A | Column B
-- | --
Data A | Data B

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Inserting emoji
You can add emoji using the picker on the left of the text input field.

Smart Picker
The smart picker makes it easier to insert links, files, or other content into your conversations. Just choose the type of
content you want to insert (files, Talk conversations, Deck cards, GIFs, etc.). You can also type / in the chat input to open
the selector.

Several integration apps can extend the Smart Picker with additional content types, such as GitHub and GitLab issues,
Giphy GIFs, and more. Ask your administrator which integrations are available on your instance.

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Replying to messages and more

You can reply to a message using the arrow that appears when you hover a message.

In the ... menu you can also choose to reply privately. This will open a one-to-one conversation.

Here you can also create a direct link to the message or mark it unread so you will scroll back there next time you enter
the chat. When it is a file, you can view the file in Files.

Silent messages
If you don’t want to disturb anyone in the middle of the night, there is a silent mode for chatting. While it is enabled,
other participants will not receive notifications from your messages.

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Scheduling messages
If you want to send a message not right now, but at a specific time, you can schedule it. Just select the desired date and
time in the quick actions next to the input field.

You can find all your scheduled messages by clicking on the clock icon next to the input field. There you can edit,
reschedule or delete currently prepared messages.

Chat summary
When AI assistant is enabled, a summary can be generated for a conversation if there are more than 100 unread messages.
You can generate it by pressing the button that is visible in chat above the first unread messages.

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7.1.2 Interacting with messages

Editing messages
You can edit messages and captions to file shares up to 6 hours after sending.

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Pinning messages
A moderator can pin important messages in a conversation, for a certain period of time or until it’s no longer relevant.

Pinned messages are highlighted and accessible above the chat or in the Shared items tab of the content sidebar. If
you no longer need a pinned message, you can unpin it for everyone or only yourself from quick actions.

Setting reminder on messages

You can set reminders on specific messages. If there’s an important message you want to be notified about later, simply
hover over it and click on the reminder icon.

In the submenu, you can select an appropriate time to receive a notification later.

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You can also forward a message to another conversation using the ... menu, or send it to your Note to self conversation
for personal reference.

Messages search in a conversation

In addition to global unified search, you can search for messages within a specific conversation. In the content sidebar of
a conversation, click the search icon to open the search tab.

You can narrow down your search by using filters such as date range, and sender.

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Threaded messages
You can create threads in conversations to keep discussions organized. The thread creation option is available in the new
message additional actions.

Then, you can add a title and description for the thread and start the discussion.

You can view all replies in a thread either from the replies button on the message or from Shared items tab in the
content sidebar.

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You can subscribe to a thread to receive notifications about new replies. It is possible to subscribe from the thread itself
or from the sidebar.

Subscribed threads are easily accessible from the navigation bar in Threads navigation.

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You can edit the thread title from the thread itself or from the sidebar.

7.1.3 Apps integrating with messages

Several apps integrate with Talk messages, allowing you to turn messages into actionable items or share content directly
in conversations.

Deck
Create tasks from chat message

If Deck is installed, you can use the ... menu of a chat message and turn the message into a Deck card.

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Share card into a chat

From within Deck, you can share cards into a chat.

7.1.4 Attachments
Sharing files in a chat
You can share files in a chat in three ways.
First, you can simply drag’n’drop them on the chat.

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Second, you can select a file from your Nextcloud Files or a file manager by choosing the little paperclip and selecting
where you’d like to pick the file from.

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You can add more files until you are done and decide to share the files. You can also add a text caption to your shared
files, providing a brief description or context.

All users will be able to click the files to view, edit or download them, regardless of whether they have a Nextcloud
account. Users with an account will have the file automatically shared with them while external guest users will get them
shared as a public link.

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Polls in chat
You can create a poll in groups chats from the new message additional actions.

A poll has two settings:

• Anonymous polls: Participants cannot see who voted for which option.
• Allow multiple choices: Participants can select more than one option.
You can also import polls for auto-fill and export polls as JSON files to save them locally.

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You can close a poll from the poll dialog.

As a moderator, you can create the poll directly or you can save it as a draft to edit it later.

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You can find poll drafts in Shared items tab or next to the poll title input field.

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7.2 Conversations
7.2.1 Conversations
Chats and calls take place in conversations. You can create any number of conversations. There are different types of
conversations:

1. Private (one-to-one) conversations

This is where you have a private chat or call with another Talk user.
In the content sidebar, you can find additional information about the person you are chatting with, such as their email
address, phone number, or other details they have shared in their profile.

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Nobody except you and the other person can see this conversation or join a call in it. You can extend an ongoing call to
a new group conversation by adding more people. Call will be continued there without interruption.

If a user becomes unavailable and has set an out-of-office status in Personal settings > Availability, you will
find additional information in this conversation, such as provided description, absence date, or their replacement person.

2. Group conversations
A group conversation can have any number of people in it. You can add internal users, email guests, groups or teams to
a group conversation upon creation, or when it already exists, via the Participants tab.
A group conversation can be shared with a public link, so guests can join a chat and a call. It can also be opened to
registered users (or users from ‘Guests’ app), so they can discover and join this conversation.

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3. Note to self
This is a special conversation with yourself. Messages here do not have a limit for editing or deletion. You can use it to:
• Take notes: write down ideas, reminders, or important information you want to keep handy.
• Create to-do lists: use Markdown syntax to create checklists for tasks you need to complete.
• Forward messages from other chat: use the message menu to forward important messages from other conversa-
tions to your Note to self.

4. Disposable conversations
These conversations cover some special cases and exist for a limited period of time. Retention period can be configured
by an instance administration:
• Instant meetings: these conversations can be created for quick, ad-hoc meetings. They can be started instantly
from the Talk Dashboard.
• Event conversations: these are created when set as an event location by Calendar app.
• Phone conversations: these are dedicated for SIP dial-in & dial-out phone calls (requires a SIP gateway).
• Video verification: these are created, when someone tries to access a public link, protected by password with
video verification (deleted instantly after call ends).

Talk Dashboard

The Talk Dashboard is your central hub for managing and accessing your conversations. It provides an overview of your:
• Unread mentions and messages in private chats;
• Message reminders, scheduled to be tackled on later;
• Scheduled meetings, with event details and shortcut buttons to join them;

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• Shortcut actions to create new conversations, join open ones, or quickly check your media devices.

Creating a conversation

You can create a private (one-to-one) chat by searching for the name of a user, a group or a team and clicking it. For
a single user, a conversation is immediately created and you can start your chat. For a group or circle you get to pick a
name and settings before you create the conversation and add the participants.

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If you want to create a custom group conversation, click the button next to the search field and filters button and then on
Create a new conversation.

You can then pick a name for the conversation, put a description, and set up an avatar for it (with uploaded photo or
emoji), and select if the conversation should be open to external users and if other users on the server can see and join
the conversation.

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In the second step, you get to add participants and finalize the creation of the conversation.

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After confirmation you will be redirected to the new conversation and can start communicating right away.

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Filter your conversations

You can filter your conversations using the filter button next to the search field. There are several options for filtering:
1. Unread mentions: view unread private conversations, or group conversations, where you have been mentioned. 2.
Unread messages: view unread messages in all conversations you are a part of. 3. Event conversations: view all
conversations, created for upcoming or past events.

You can then clear the filter from the filters menu.

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Archive conversations

You can archive conversations that you no longer need to see in your main conversation list. When a conversation is
archived, it will be moved to the Archived conversations section. An archived conversation will not appear in your
main conversation list, but it will still align with notification level set in its settings.

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The list is accessible from the button at the bottom of the navigation bar.

Managing a conversation

You are always moderator in your new conversation. In the participant list you can promote other participants to mod-
erators using the ... menu to the right of their user name, assign them custom permissions or remove them from the
conversation.
Changing permissions of a user that joined a public conversation will also permanently add them to the conversation.

Moderators can configure the conversation. Select Conversation settings from the ... menu of the conversation
on the top to access the settings.

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Here you can configure the description, guest access, if the conversation is visible to others on the server and more.

Ban participants

To help keep discussions safe and under control, moderators can ban participants from conversations. This applies to
internal users and guests alike; for guests, their IP address will also be banned.
In the participants list, select the user or guest, and click Remove participant.

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There, toggle checkbox Also ban from this conversation and provide a reason for the ban. The banned user
will be removed and prevented from rejoining.

You can later find the list of banned users in the Moderation section of conversation settings. Here, you can see the
reason for the ban and revert it if needed.

Messages expiration

A moderator can configure message expiration under the Conversation settings within the Moderation section.
Once a message reaches its expiration time, it is automatically removed from the conversation. The available expiration
durations are 1 hour, 8 hours, 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, or never (which is the default setting).

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Notifications and privacy

By default, Nextcloud Talk will notify you about:

• New messages in private conversations;
• Replies to messages you sent;
• Messages mentioning you or group/team you are member of;
• Started calls in conversations you are part of.
You can change this behavior in the conversation settings. Additionally, you can configure:
• Important conversations: you will be always notified about new messages, even if you are in “Do Not Disturb”
mode;
• Sensitive conversations: content of messages will not be shown in the conversation list and obscured from noti-
fications.

To have more control over your privacy, you can also configure the visibility of your typing and read indicators in Talk
settings:

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7.2.2 Open conversations

Creating an open conversation
You can create an open conversation that any registered user on this server can discover and join.

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View all open conversations

You can view all the conversations that you can join by clicking the button next to the search field, then clicking Join
open conversations.

7.2.3 Appearance
Compact view of conversations list
Compact view hides last message preview in the conversation list, providing a more focused interface.

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Chat messages
Chat appearance settings allow you to customize the look of your conversation chats. You can choose between classic list
or message bubbles, with your own messages on the side.
You can change both settings from the Talk settings dialog in the Appearance section.

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7.2.4 Files integration

Talk from Files
In the Files app, you can chat about files in the sidebar, and even have a call while editing the file. You first have to join
the chat.

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You can then chat or have a call with other participants, even when you start editing the file.

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In Talk, a conversation will be created for the file. You can chat from there, or go back to the file using the ... menu at
the top of the conversation.

7.2.5 Calendar integration with Talk

Meetings and events
If calendar events have a Talk conversation set as event location, you will see information about upcoming events inside
of this conversation. That way you can stay informed about scheduled meetings or activities directly within your chat. If
Calendar app is enabled, you can click on an event to view details.

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It is possible to schedule a meeting directly from a conversation. In the dialog, you can set meeting details such as title,
date, time and description. You can also choose to invite all participants including email guests, or select specific ones.

Schedule from Calendar

When creating a new event in Calendar, you can set a Talk conversation as event location. This will create a new conver-
sation if one does not exist yet.

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When the event is created, you will see a link to the conversation in the event details. The conversation will also appear
in the list of conversations (discoverable by Events filter).

Like instant meetings, event conversations will be automatically deleted after configured period of inactivity (by default
28 days).

7.3 Calls
7.3.1 Joining a call
Starting or joining a call
Browser and Talk Desktop client

When you are part of a conversation and have permission to do so, you can start a call at any time by clicking Start
call in the top bar. When a call is already in progress, join it by clicking the green Join call button in the chat area
or the top bar.

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® Note

If you have not yet given permission to the browser or the Talk Desktop client to use your microphone and camera,
you will be prompted to do so when you click Start call or Join call. Choose the microphone and camera
you would like to use and click Allow to grant access to your devices.

You will see Media settings, where you can customise your call experience:

Controlling audio and video

Use the microphone and camera icons at the bottom of the video preview to mute or unmute your microphone and enable
or disable your camera before joining.

® Note

If one or both of your icons are greyed out, you either do not have a microphone or camera installed, or you did
not give permission to the browser or Talk Desktop client to use your microphone or camera. Check that you have
granted permission to the browser or Talk Desktop client, and make sure your microphone and camera are not in use
by another application.

Device settings allow you to choose which microphone and camera you want to use. This is useful if you have more than
one microphone or camera available:

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Backgrounds

Backgrounds let you replace your video background with one of the predefined images. You can also upload your own
image or choose one already in Nextcloud Files. Alternatively, choose the blur option to blur your live video background.

Immediately join a call

If you wish to skip Media settings in the future, toggle the Skip device preview before joining a call
switch in app settings. For future calls in this conversation, you will join directly, skipping the preview dialog.

Record a call

If you started the call and wish to record it, check the Start recording immediately with the call checkbox.
The call recording option might not be available to you, depending on whether your system administrators have enabled
this option and whether you have Moderator permission for the conversation. If you are joining and the call is being
recorded, you might be required to consent before being allowed to join. For more information, see Call recording.

Start the call

Click the Start call button at the bottom of Media settings to notify all conversation participants of the call. If
you do not want to notify the other participants, start a silent call by opening the three-dot menu to the left of the Start
call button and choosing Call without notification.

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® Note

Other participants can modify notifications on a per-conversation level, including whether they want to receive call
notifications.

Your user status will be set to In a call and your user status icon will display the speech bubble emoji.

Mobile clients

When you are part of a conversation and have permission to do so, you can start a call at any time by tapping the Phone
or Video icon in the top bar. The Phone icon starts a voice-only call; the Video icon starts a video call.
A voice call uses the device microphone and earpiece, like a regular phone call. A video call uses the loudspeaker in
hands-free mode and enables your front-facing camera by default; you can disable it at any time.
If someone else starts a call, you may receive a notification and your device may ring or vibrate, depending on your
notification settings. Tap Phone or Video to join, or tap the red button to decline. Declining dismisses the call notification
on that device.
You can control your microphone and camera (if in a video call) with the options shown at the bottom of the screen.
Your user status will be set to In a call and your user status icon will display a speech bubble.

During a call
After you join a call, you will see the call view. It shows the video feeds of all participants currently in the call, with
additional information and controls.

The leftmost element shows the elapsed call time.

Next to it, you will see the number of participants that have joined the current call. Clicking the number opens the right
sidebar and shows the list of participants. Participants that have joined the call will be listed first.
You will also see each participant’s talking time if they have spoken during the call:

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You can access additional call options and settings from the three-dot menu in the top bar.

Set up breakout rooms

Breakout rooms allow you to divide a call into smaller groups for more focused discussions. Depending on your permis-
sions and how your instance is configured, this option may not be available to you. For more information, see Breakout
rooms.

Download call participants list

You can download the list of participants in a call from the three-dot menu in the top bar. This downloads a CSV file
with the names and email addresses of all participants.

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The CSV file contains the following columns:

• Name: The name of the participant.
• Email: The email address of the participant.
• Type: Indicates whether the participant is a registered user or a guest.
• Identifier: Unique identifier for the participant.

Controlling audio and video

Bottom bar of the call view offers media controls, layout settings and other features you can use during a call.

Use the microphone and camera icons to mute/unmute your microphone and enable/disable your camera. You can also
use the keyboard shortcuts M to mute/unmute your microphone and V to enable/disable your camera. Use the space bar
for push-to-talk: holding space temporarily unmutes you while muted, or temporarily mutes you while unmuted.

Reactions

The reactions button lets you send an emoji reaction to all participants in the call.

Every participant will see the emoji rising from the bottom of their call screen. The emoji disappears after two seconds.

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Raise hand

Clicking Raise hand will notify moderators and show an icon next to your name. This is also available via the keyboard
shortcut R.

Full screen

Resizes your browser window or the Talk Desktop client to full-screen mode. Also available via the keyboard shortcut F.
Press ESC to return to the regular view.

7.3.2 Screen sharing

Click the monitor icon in the toolbar to share your screen.

® Note

If you have not yet given permission to the browser or the Talk Desktop client to share your screen, you might be
prompted to do so when you click Share screen. Please click on Allow to grant the browser or Talk Desktop
client access to your screen.

Depending on your browser or the Talk Desktop client, you will get the option to share a monitor, an application window,
or a single browser tab. If video from your camera is also available, other participants will see it in a small presenter view
next to the screen share.

To stop sharing your screen, click the Share screen button again and choose Stop screensharing.
You can zoom in and out of the shared screen with the mouse wheel, double-click, or touchpad gestures.

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7.3.3 Call layout

You can switch between grid view and speaker view using the toggle icon in the three-dot menu or the bottom bar.

Grid view
Grid view shows all participants as tiles. Use the navigation buttons on the left and right to scroll through participants
when they do not all fit on the screen.

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Speaker view
Speaker view (also called promoted view) centres the active speaker in a large tile and places the other participants in a
row below. Use the navigation buttons on the left and right to scroll through participants when the row overflows.

7.3.4 Transcription and translation

Call live transcription
Call live transcription transcribes speech in real-time during a call. It is set up by the system administration (High-
performance backend and Live Transcription App are required). Moderators need to set the transcription language in the
conversation settings. All participants can then enable or disable the transcription for themselves in the call bottom bar.
When enabled, the transcription appears at the bottom of the screen and is updated in real-time.

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Live translation
With the live_transcription provider app enabled, you can also use live translation. Instead of receiving the transcription
in the original language, it will be translated to the language of your choice.

7.4 Federation
With the Federation feature, users can create conversations across different federated Talk instances and use Talk features
as if they were on the same server.
This feature must be enabled by a system administrator.

7.4.1 Sending an invitation

To receive an invitation, the other party needs your CloudID — your federated identity across Nextcloud instances. You
can find your CloudID in Personal settings under Sharing — it looks like user@[Link].
The moderator of the conversation can send an invite to a participant on a different server:

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7.4.2 Accepting an invitation

When receiving a notification, the user will see a counter of pending invites above the conversations list.

Upon clicking it, more information will be provided about the inviting party, and the user can either accept or decline the
invitation.

By accepting the invite, the conversation will appear in the list as any other one.

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You can use it to chat with participants from other federated servers, join calls, and use other available Talk features.

7.5 For moderators

As a moderator you can create and configure conversations, manage participants, run webinars with a lobby, record calls,
set up breakout rooms, and integrate external chat services.

® Note

Moderator-only actions inside conversations and calls are also described in the general Conversations and Calls pages
— look for sections marked moderator.

7.5.1 Webinar and lobby

The lobby feature allows you to show guests a waiting screen until the call starts. This is ideal for webinars with external
participants, for example.

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You can choose to let the participants join the call at a specific time, or when you dismiss the lobby manually.
You can configure the lobby in Conversation settings under the Webinar section.

7.5.2 Call recording

The recording feature lets you:
• Start and stop recordings during a call.
• Record the video and audio stream of the speaker, as well as screen share.
• Access, share and download recorded files for future reference or distribution.
Enabling this feature requires the recording server to be set up by the system administration.

Manage a recording
The moderator of the conversation can start a recording together with a call start or anytime during a call:
• Before the call: tick the checkbox “Start recording immediately with the call” in “Media settings”, then click on
“Start call”.
• During the call: click on the top-bar menu, then click “Start recording”.

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The recording will start shortly, and you will see a red indicator next to the call time. You can stop the recording at any
time while the call is still ongoing by clicking on that indicator and selecting “Stop recording”, or by using the same action
in the top-bar menu. If you do not manually stop the recording, it will end automatically when the call ends.

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After stopping a recording, the server will take a few seconds to prepare and save the recorded file. The moderator, who
started the recording, receives a notification when the file is uploaded. From there, it can be shared in the chat.

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Recording consent
For compliance with privacy regulations, it is possible to ask participants for consent to be recorded before joining the
call. Administrators can configure this feature in several ways:
• Disable consent completely.
• Enable mandatory consent system-wide, requiring consent for all conversations.
• Allow moderators to configure this option on a conversation level. In such cases, moderators can access the con-
versation settings to configure this option accordingly:

If recording consent is enabled, every participant, including moderators, will see a highlighted section in the “Media
settings” before joining a call. This section informs participants that the call may be recorded. To give explicit consent
for recording, participants must check the box. If they do not give consent, they will not be allowed to join the call.

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After a call ends, the recording is processed and saved to the chat as a shared file. Participants can play it back directly
from the chat or download it from the conversation’s shared items.

7.5.3 Breakout rooms

Breakout rooms allow you to divide a Nextcloud Talk call into smaller groups for more focused discussions. The moderator
of the call can create multiple breakout rooms and assign participants to each room.

® Note

Breakout rooms are currently not available in conversations that are joinable by guests (public conversations).

Configure breakout rooms

To create breakout rooms, you need to be a moderator in a group conversation. Click on the top-bar menu and click on
Setup breakout rooms.

A dialog will open where you can specify the number of rooms you want to create and the participants assignment method.
You have three options:
• Automatically assign participants: Talk will automatically assign participants to the rooms.

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• Manually assign participants: You’ll go through a participants editor where you can assign participants to rooms.
• Allow participants to choose: Participants will be able to join breakout rooms themselves.

Manage breakout rooms

Once the breakout rooms are created, you will be able to see them in the sidebar.

From the sidebar header, you can:

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• Start and stop the breakout rooms: this will move all the users in the parent conversation to their respective
breakout rooms.
• Broadcast a message to all the rooms: this will send a message to all the rooms at the same time.
• Make changes to the assigned participants: this will open the participants editor where you can change which
participants are assigned to which breakout room. From this dialog it’s also possible to delete the breakout rooms.

From the breakout room element in the sidebar, you can also join a particular breakout room or send a message to a
specific room.

7.5.4 Bots and commands

Bots
Bots can respond to chat messages, provide automated replies, and integrate with external services. Your administrator
can enable bots for your Talk instance.
Some examples of available bots:
• Call summary — Posts an overview message after a call ends, listing all participants and outlining any tasks that
were mentioned.
• Agenda bot — Helps manage meeting agendas with time monitoring and permission-based access control.
• Roll a dice — Type /roll in a conversation to roll dice.
A full list of available bots and installation instructions can be found in the Talk administration documentation.

Commands

Á Warning

Commands have been removed in favor of Bots.

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Nextcloud allows users to execute actions using commands. A command typically looks like:
/wiki airplanes

Administrators can configure, enable and disable commands. Users can use the help command to find out what com-
mands are available.
/help

7.5.5 Matterbridge
Matterbridge integration in Nextcloud Talk makes it possible to create ‘bridges’ between Talk conversations and conver-
sations on other chat services like MS Teams, Discord, Matrix and others. You can find a list of supported protocols on
the Matterbridge github page.

® Note

The Matterbridge app must be installed by an administrator before this feature is available. See the Talk administration
documentation for setup instructions.

A moderator can add a Matterbridge connection in the chat conversation settings.

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Each bridge has its own configuration requirements. Information for most is available on the Matterbridge wiki and can
be accessed behind more information menu in the ... menu. You can also access the wiki directly.

7.6 Join a call or chat as guest

If you received a link to a Nextcloud Talk conversation, you can join as a guest without a Nextcloud account.

7.6.1 Joining a chat

If you received a link to a chat conversation, you can open it in your browser to join the chat. Here, you will be prompted
to enter your name before joining.

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You can also change your name later by clicking the Edit button in the top bar.

Your camera and microphone settings can be found in the Settings menu. There you can also find a list of shortcuts
you can use.

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7.6.2 Joining a call

You can start a call any time with the Start call button. Other participants will get notified and can join the call. If
somebody else has started a call already, the button will change in a green Join call button.

Before joining, you will see a device check where you can select your camera and microphone, enable background blur,
or join without any devices.

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During a call, you can find the Camera and Microphone settings in the ... menu in the top bar.

During a call, you can mute your microphone and disable your video with the mute and camera toggle buttons in the
call toolbar, or using the shortcuts M to mute audio and V to disable video. You can also use the space bar to toggle
mute. When you are muted, pressing space will unmute you so you can speak until you let go of the space bar. If you are
unmuted, pressing space will mute you until you let go.
You can hide your video (useful during a screen share) with the little arrow just above the video stream. Bring it back
with the little arrow again.

7.6.3 Starting a screen share

You can click the monitor icon on your video stream to share your screen. Depending on your browser, you will get the
option to share a monitor, an application window or a single browser tab.

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7.6.4 Full-screen and other settings

In the conversation menu you can choose to go full-screen. You can also do this by using the F key on your keyboard. In
the conversation settings, you can find notification options and the full conversation description.

7.6.5 Joining as an email guest

A guest can be invited to a conversation via email. The email contains a link to join the conversation. If the guest clicks
the link, they will be redirected to the conversation with an individual access token.

An invitation can be done via inserting the email address in Participants tab search field.

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You can bulk invite email participants by uploading a CSV file. The option is available in the conversation settings under
Meeting section.

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EIGHT

COLLECTIVES

Your space to collaboratively write and organize. Collectives is designed for groups and communities to structure shared
knowledge.

8.1 Getting started

Think of Collectives as your space to take notes together and collaborate online. You and your peers can write docu-
ments collaboratively and structure your shared knowledge. You can even embed task boards, whiteboards and calendars.
Collectives emphasizes horizontal and non-hierarchical workflows.

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8.1.1 Why use Collectives?

• You need a tool to collaborate, cowork or organize with others.
• You want all your shared knowledge in one place.
• You want a quick and easy overview of your pages and subpages.
• You want to share parts of the knowledge with external people.
• You already use Nextcloud.

8.1.2 First steps

You will create your first collective with two pages and a link from one to the other. It expects that you open Collectives
in a desktop browser (i.e. not on mobile).
1. Select the Collectives app in the app menu on the top:

2. Click on “New collective”.

3. Enter the name My first collective and choose an emoji (or keep the preselected one).
4. Select “Create without members”. We’ll learn how to add other members later.
5. In the page list on the left, click the ➕ button next to the landing page. Congratulations, you just created a first
page in your collective.
6. Give the page a title by typing My first page.
7. Now press Enter and the cursor will jump to the (still empty) page content.
8. Type ## My first heading to insert a second-level heading. Alternatively you can open the headings menu in
the editor toolbar, select “Heading 2” and then type My first heading. You just learned that there’s more than
way to format text
9. Create a subpage of “My first page” by clicking the ➕ button next to “My first page” in the page sidebar. The button
will only appear once you hover the mouse cursor over the entry in the page list.
10. Give the subpage a title by typing “My subpage”.
11. Add a link from to the first page by opening the link menu in the editor toolbar and selecting “Link to page”. A
dialogue to select the page will open. Type first in the search field and “My first page” will appear. Click on it
and it will be added as a link preview to the subpage.
Congratulations, you learned two important basics when working with Collectives: how to create and link between pages
and how to format content in a page.

8.1.3 What’s next

• To learn how to use Collectives in your team, see How to onboard your team.
• For an overview over features, see here.

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8.2 How to onboard your team

8.2.1 Our first project: Introductions
Step 1: Create an “Introductions” parent page
1. Click on the ➕ button next to the collective name in the sidebar on the left hand side of Collectives.
2. A new page is created. We can use this page as a parent page for our introductions! Let’s fill it with some nice
introductory words for visitors and give it the title Introductions.

Step 2: Create an “Introduction”-template together

1. It can be nice and more accessible, when all introductions follow the same format! Everyone should add a picture,
a brief description and answer what they like about collective organizing. Collectives makes this very easy. We
quickly create a template with exactly this content, so that everyone who onboards can answer easily.
2. Click the … button next to your collective. Choose “Manage templates”, then “Add a template”. Collectives now
adds a page for you to fill, which later can be easily and accessibly copied for everyone who wants to create an
introduction.
3. Give your template the title Introduction. Now add your fields as simple text to your document - don’t forget
to decide on them collectively! By pressing on the Tt button in the formatting toolbar, you can format your new
text as headings!
4. When you’re finished, just press the Close button - your template will be automatically saved and you should be
back in your template manager.
5. Let’s add a fun emoji for our new template last. Click the … button next to your new template and click choose
emoji…. Afterwards you can close the template manager.

Step 3: Everyone creates their own!

1. This is where the magic happens ! Everyone on their own computers now! Click the ➕ button next to your
“Introductions” page that we created in step one. Select the “Introductions” template. Title the page with your
name or nick and fill out the fields your decided on!
2. Wow! We just quickly created a cohesive und unifying “Introductions” page in our collective. Becoming part of
your collective will be much less scary now for new members! Congratulations!

8.3 Access Markdown files

The pages of your collectives are stored in Markdown files. You can access them via the Files app. Per default, the folder
is hidden as it’s called .Collectives (or a translated version of it). To access the hidden folder, enable “Show hidden
files” in the Files app settings.
You can also change the name of the folder in the Collectives app settings. The setting is located in the Collectives app at
the bottom of the collectives list. If you want the folder to be visible permanently without showing other hidden files, set
the folder setting to a name without leading dot (e.g. Collectives). Please note that this is a per-user setting, it only
affects the Collectives user folder for the current user.

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NINE

DESKTOP CLIENT

The Nextcloud desktop client for Windows, macOS, and Linux keeps files synchronized between your computer and your
Nextcloud server.

9.1 Installation
9.1.1 Download
You can download the latest version of the Nextcloud Desktop Synchronization Client from the Nextcloud download
page. Clients are available for Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows.
You will also find links to source code archives and older versions on the download page.

9.1.2 Supported server versions

Each desktop client release supports the latest three stable Nextcloud server major versions at the time of release. See
the Nextcloud Server release schedule for supported major versions.

9.1.3 System Requirements

• Windows 10+ (64-bits only)
• macOS 12.0+ (64-bits only)
• Linux (Ubuntu 24.04 or openSUSE 15.5 or Alma 8 or …) (64-bits only)
For Linux distributions, we support, if technically feasible, the current LTS releases. For BSD, we support them if
technically feasible, but we do not test them.

® Note

We do not support Citrix.

• We will do our best to advise Citrix users from the desktop client point of view.
• We will fix issues that are also reproducible on the standard supported systems.
• Everything else is outside of our scope.

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9.1.4 Install on macOS and Windows

Installation on macOS and Windows is the same as for any other software application: download the program and then
double-click it to launch the installation, and then follow the installation wizard. After it is installed and configured the
desktop client will automatically keep itself updated; see The Automatic Updater for more information.
For administrator-focused deployment options such as advanced Windows MSI configuration, non-interactive account
provisioning, and command-line wizard preconfiguration, see the Admin Manual chapter on desktop client deployment
and setup.

9.1.5 Install on Linux

For Linux, Nextcloud officially provides the desktop client as an AppImage on the Nextcloud download page.
Some Linux distributions also provide the Nextcloud desktop client through their package managers. These packages are
maintained by the distribution or community, not by Nextcloud. If you prefer a package-managed installation, refer to
your distribution’s documentation.
Linux users must also have a password manager enabled, such as GNOME Keyring or KWallet, so that the desktop client
can log in automatically.

9.1.6 Initial Setup

After installation, the initial setup wizard is triggered. In the setup wizard, you can log in to your server, create an
account with a provider, and configure which folders to sync. The wizard will guide you step-by-step through the essential
configuration options and basic account setup.
First, you need to enter the URL of your Nextcloud server.

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If you already have an account on a Nextcloud instance, click Login to your Nextcloud. If you do not yet have a
Nextcloud instance or an account, you may need to create one first. Alternatively, you might want to register an account
with a provider. Press Create account with Provider in that case.

® Note

The desktop client build you are using may have been built without provider support. In that case, you won’t see this
page and will immediately see the next page.

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Enter the URL for your Nextcloud instance. The URL is the same URL that you type into your browser when you try to
access your Nextcloud instance.

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Now your web browser should open and prompt you to log in to your Nextcloud instance. Enter your username and
password in your web browser and click Grant access when prompted. After you do that, go back to the wizard.

® Note

You might not need to enter your username and password if you are already logged in to your web browser.

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On the local folder options screen, you may sync all of your files on the Nextcloud server, or select individual folders.
The default local sync folder is Nextcloud, in your home directory. You may change this as well.
When you have completed selecting your sync folders, click the Connect button. The client will attempt to connect to
your Nextcloud server. If it is successful, the wizard will close itself. You can then observe the sync activity and open
the main dialog by clicking on the tray icon.

9.2 Uninstallation
It is safe to uninstall the files desktop client by using the built-in tools within your operating system.

9.2.1 General instructions

In each operating system:
1. Make sure to quit the desktop client before removing it.
2. Uninstall the desktop client.
3. You may also need to take into consideration that uninstalling the desktop client will not remove the user’s config-
uration file and synced data.

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For data removal (sync folders), consider using the server feature remote wipe. This feature is available
across all clients.
Below are platform specific instructions.

Windows
There are two ways of removing the desktop client:
1. Using Add or Remove Programs.
2. You can use the msiexec command line options:

msiexec /uninstall [Link] /quiet``

3. The user’s configuration is located at %APPDATA%\Nextcloud\[Link].

macOS
Beyond deleting the desktop client from the Applications folder, you may also need to remove all related data, specially
if you are using virtual files.
1. To simply uninstall the software: you can do this from the Launchpad or the Finder.
2. For the complete removal of all related data, the following commands can be used:

rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Application Scripts/[Link]"*

rm -f "$HOME/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/Nextcloud_"*
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Nextcloud"
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Caches/Nextcloud"
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Containers/[Link]"*
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/[Link]"
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Group Containers/[Link]"
rm -f "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/[Link]"
rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud"
rm -f "$HOME/Library/Preferences/[Link]"

3. From version 33.0.0 the user’s configuration is located at $HOME/Library/Containers/[Link].

desktopclient/Data/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud/[Link]. On older versions it is lo-
cated at $HOME/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud/[Link].

Linux
It depends on how you installed the desktop client:
1. If you are running the Nextcloud AppImage, you can simply delete the AppImage file.
2. If you have used your package manager to install the desktop client, you can use it to uninstall the desktop client
as well. For example, on Ubuntu you can use the following command:

sudo apt remove nextcloud-desktop

3. The user’s configuration is located at $HOME/.config/Nextcloud/[Link].

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9.3 Using the Synchronization Client

The Nextcloud Desktop Client remains in the background and is visible as an icon in the system tray (Windows, KDE),
menu bar (macOS), or notification area (Linux).

The status indicator uses icons to indicate the current status of your synchronization. The green circle with the white
checkmark tells you that your synchronization is current and you are connected to your Nextcloud server.

The blue icon with the white semi-circles means synchronization is in progress.

The grey icon with the parallel lines tells you your synchronization has been paused. (Most likely by you.)
The gray icon with three white dots means your sync client has lost its connection with your Nextcloud server.
When you see a yellow circle with the sign “!” that is the informational icon, so you should click it to see what it has to
tell you.
The red circle with the white “x” indicates a configuration error, such as an incorrect login or server URL.

9.3.1 Systray Icon

A right-click on the systray icon opens a menu for quick access to multiple operations.
This menu provides the following options:
• Open main dialog
• Pause sync/Resume sync
• Settings
• Exit Nextcloud, logging out and closing the client
A left-click on your systray icon opens the main dialog of the desktop client.
The main dialogs show recent activities, errors and server notifications.
When clicking on the main dialog and then clicking on the avatar of the user, the Settings can be opened.

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9.3.2 Configuring Nextcloud Account Settings

At the top of the window are tabs for each configured sync account, and two others for General and Network settings. On
your account tabs you have the following features:
• Connection status, showing which Nextcloud server you are connected to, and your Nextcloud username.
• Used and available space on the server.
• Current synchronization status.
• Add Folder Sync Connection button.
The little button with three dots (the overflow menu) that sits to the right of the sync status bar offers additional options:
• Open Folder
• Choose What to Sync (This appears only when your file tree is collapsed, and expands the file tree)
• Pause Sync / Resume Sync
• Remove folder sync connection
• Availability (Only available if virtual files support is enabled)
• Enable virtual file support/Disable virtual file support

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Open Folder opens your local Nextcloud sync folder.

Pause Sync pauses sync operations without making any changes to your account. It will continue to update file and folder
lists, without downloading or updating files. To stop all sync activity use Remove Folder Sync Connection.

® Note

Nextcloud does not preserve the mtime (modification time) of directories, though it does update the mtimes on files.
See Wrong folder date when syncing for discussion of this.

9.3.3 Adding New Accounts

You may configure multiple Nextcloud accounts in your desktop sync client. Simply click the Account > Add New button
on any account tab to add a new account, and then follow the account creation wizard. The new account will appear as a
new tab in the settings dialog, where you can adjust its settings at any time. Use Account > Remove to delete accounts.

9.3.4 File Manager Overlay Icons

The Nextcloud sync client provides overlay icons, in addition to the normal file type icons, for your system file manager
(Explorer on Windows, Finder on Mac and Nautilus on Linux) to indicate the sync status of your Nextcloud files.
The overlay icons are similar to the systray icons introduced above. They behave differently on files and directories
according to sync status and errors.
The overlay icon of an individual file indicates its current sync state. If the file is in sync with the server version, it displays
a green checkmark.
If the file is ignored from syncing, for example because it is on your exclude list, or because it is a symbolic link, it displays
a warning icon.
If there is a sync error, or the file is blacklisted, it displays an eye-catching red X.
If the file is waiting to be synced, or is currently syncing, the overlay icon displays a blue cycling icon.
When the client is offline, no icons are shown to reflect that the folder is currently out of sync and no changes are synced
to the server.
The overlay icon of a synced directory indicates the status of the files in the directory. If there are any sync errors, the
directory is marked with a warning icon.
If a directory includes ignored files that are marked with warning icons that does not change the status of the parent
directories.

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9.3.5 Set the user status

If you have the user status app installed on your Nextcloud server, you can set your user status from the desktop client.
To do so, open the main dialog. Then click on your avatar and then click on the three dots. In the menu that opens click
on Set status.

In the dialog that opens, you can set your online status if you click on either Online, Away, Do not disturb or Invisible.
You can also set a custom status message with the text field below or choose one of the predefined status messages below.
It is also possible to set a custom emoji if you click on the button with the emoji beside the text input field. The last thing
you might want to set is when your user status should be cleared. You can choose the period after which the user status
will be cleared by clicking on the button on the left hand side of the text Clear status message after.
If you are happy with the status you have created you can enable this status with the button Set status message. If you
had already a status set, you can clear the status by clicking the cutton Clear status message.

9.3.6 Sharing From Your Desktop

The Nextcloud desktop sync client integrates with your file manager. Finder on macOS and Explorer on Windows. Linux
users must install an additional package depending on the used file manager. Available are e.g. nautilus-nextcloud
(Ubuntu/Debian), dolphin-nextcloud (Kubuntu), nemo-nextcloud and caja-nextcloud. You can create share
links, and share with internal Nextcloud users the same way as in your Nextcloud Web interface.
In your file explorer, click on a file and in the context menu go to Nextcloud and then click on Share options to bring
up the Share dialog.
From this dialog you can share a file.

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9.3.7 General Window

The General window has configuration options such as Launch on System Startup, Use Monochrome Icons, and Show
Server Notifications. This is where you will find the Edit Ignored Files button, to launch the ignored files editor, and
Ask confirmation before downloading folders larger than [folder size].

9.3.8 Using the Network Window

The Network settings window enables you to define network proxy settings, and also to limit download and upload band-
width.

9.3.9 Using the Ignored Files Editor

You might have some local files or directories that you do not want to backup and store on the server. To identify and
exclude these files or directories, you can use the Ignored Files Editor (General tab).
For your convenience, the editor is pre-populated with a default list of typical ignore patterns. These patterns are contained
in a system file (typically [Link]) located in the Nextcloud Client application directory. You cannot modify
these pre-populated patterns directly from the editor. However, if necessary, you can hover over any pattern in the list to
show the path and filename associated with that pattern, locate the file, and edit the [Link] file.

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® Note

Modifying the global exclude definition file might render the client unusable or result in undesired behavior.

Each line in the editor contains an ignore pattern string. When creating custom patterns, in addition to being able to use
normal characters to define an ignore pattern, you can use wildcards characters for matching values. As an example, you
can use an asterisk (*) to identify an arbitrary number of characters or a question mark (?) to identify a single character.
Patterns that end with a slash character (/) are applied to only directory components of the path being checked.

® Note

Custom entries are currently not validated for syntactical correctness by the editor, so you will not see any warnings
for bad syntax. If your synchronization does not work as you expected, check your syntax.

Each pattern string in the list is followed by a checkbox. When the check box contains a check mark, in addition to
ignoring the file or directory component matched by the pattern, any matched files are also deemed “fleeting metadata”
and removed by the client.
In addition to excluding files and directories that use patterns defined in this list:
• The Nextcloud Client always excludes files containing characters that cannot be synchronized to other file systems.
• Files are removed that cause individual errors three times during a synchronization. However, the client provides
the option of retrying a synchronization three additional times on files that produce errors.

9.3.10 Virtual Files on macOS

For information about using virtual files integration on macOS, see:

macOS Virtual Files Client

On macOS, our client can also seamlessly integrate Nextcloud files into macOS as a file provider extension. Any newly
configured Nextcloud account will have the integration enabled by default.

Supported features

• Keeping files or whole folders available offline

• Freeing up local disk space by evicting local copies without deleting items
• Intelligent and automatic local data eviction
• File previews within Finder for files which are not downloaded yet
• Support for Apple-specific formats, for example Pages, Numbers or Keynote bundles
• Support for server-side file locking (if supported by the connected server)
• “Edit locally” support
• Sharing with other users
• Server-side actions integrated directly in Finder’s context menu
• Automatic discovery of server-side changes

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Configuration

Virtual files-related settings can be adjusted on a per-account basis via the Nextcloud desktop client’s settings window.

Here the integration into Finder can be enabled or disabled.

When disabling the file provider extension while still having unsynchronized changes, macOS will save the unsynchronized
items in a folder that is automatically revealed after the integration is disabled.

Finder integration

On macOS, remote storage like a Nextcloud files account appears like a dedicated location in the Finder sidebar. The
actual location of the content on disk is defined by macOS.

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® Note

To accelerate server-side change detection, we recommend enabling the notify_push app on your Nextcloud server.
This app will notify the desktop client of changes on the server as soon as they happen, reducing the time it takes
for changes to appear in Finder. Otherwise the client needs to poll the server which will result in an increased delay
between a change on the server and its local visibility.

Sync status indicators

Similar to classic synchronization folders, Finder displays status indicators next to items. Unlike the custom indicators in
classic synchronization folders, these standardized indicators are provided by macOS to ensure a consistent appearance
across all cloud storage apps which a user may use on their system.
• Cloud with downward arrow: The item and its descendants are not downloaded yet. They can be downloaded,
assuming a network connection is available.
• Outlined cloud: The item is not fully uploaded yet in its current local state.
• Strikethrough cloud: The item is excluded from synchronization.
• Pie chart: The item is currently being uploaded or downloaded, and the progress is visualized.
• Filled circle with a pin: The item is available offline and will be kept locally.
• No icon: The item is available offline and up to date.

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Context menu actions

The file provider extension also provides special Nextcloud features through the context menu in Finder.

Keep Downloaded

Files and folders can be marked to be kept downloaded and available offline permanently. If this is chosen on folders, it
will also apply to all their contents. This is especially useful for users with limited or no network access, as it ensures that
they can always access their important files without needing to worry about connectivity. macOS will not free up local
disk space by evicting items which are marked to be kept downloaded, even if they have not been accessed for a long
time.
This can be undone by selecting “Allow automatic freeing up space” on the same items.
To always keep everything in an account available locally, you can select “Always keep downloaded” on the location root
in the Finder sidebar.

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Locking

If the server supports file locking, the client will offer manual locking and unlocking of files in Finder.

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Sharing

When the server supports sharing and the item is allowed to be shared, then you can create new shares or manage existing
shares for an item directly from the context menu in Finder, as in the Nextcloud web interface.

File actions

If the server has apps installed which provide file actions for the selected file types, these actions will also be available
in the context menu in Finder. This allows you to use server-side features of your Nextcloud instance directly from the
Finder.

Known issues

macOS Extensions conflict

Due to technical limitations in macOS which are imposed by Apple, it is not possible to have the Finder integration for
classic sync folders running in parallel to an enabled virtual files integration. This means that item decorations and context

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menu options will be unavailable for classic sync folders while the file provider extension is enabled.

Alias files

When opening a macOS alias file stored on Nextcloud for the first time on a device where it has not yet been downloaded,
the file may open as a binary document in a text editor instead of jumping to its target. This happens because macOS
decides how to open a file before downloading it, and alias files carry no recognisable file extension or type information
on the server — the only way to identify them is by reading their content. Once the file has been opened or downloaded
once, Nextcloud Desktop learns that it is an alias and stores that information locally, so all subsequent opens will work
correctly. To avoid the issue entirely, right-click the alias file in Finder and choose Keep Downloaded before opening it
for the first time.

9.4 Using the Command-Line Client

The Nextcloud Client packages contain a command line client, nextcloudcmd, that can be used to synchronize
Nextcloud files to client machines.
nextcloudcmd performs a single sync run and then exits the synchronization process. In this manner, nextcloudcmd
processes the differences between client and server directories and propagates the files to bring both repositories to the
same state. Contrary to the GUI-based client, nextcloudcmd does not repeat synchronizations on its own. It also does
not monitor for file system changes.

9.4.1 Install

OS Package
Alpine [Link]
Debian [Link]
nextcloud-desktop-cmd
Fedora [Link]
Ubuntu [Link]
Ubuntu [Link]
(PPA)
Windows [Link]

9.4.2 Usage
To invoke nextcloudcmd, you must provide the local and the remote repository URL using the following command:

nextcloudcmd [OPTIONS...] sourcedir nextcloudurl

where sourcedir is the local directory and nextcloudurl is the server URL.
Other command line switches supported by nextcloudcmd include the following:
--path
Overrides default remote root folder to a specific subfolder on the server(e.g.: /Documents would sync the Docu-
ments subfolder on the server)
--user, -u <user>
Use user as the login name.
--password, -p <password>
Use password as the password.

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-n
Use netrc(5) for login.
--non-interactive
Do not prompt for questions and tries to read $NC_USER and $NC_PASSWORD from the environment.
--silent, --s
Inhibits verbose log output.
--trust
Trust any SSL certificate, including invalid ones.
--httpproxy [Link]
Uses server as HTTP proxy.
--exclude <file>
Exclude list file
--unsyncedfolders <file>
File containing the list of unsynced folders (selective sync)
--max-sync-retries <n>
Retries maximum n times (defaults to 3)
-h
Sync hidden files,do not ignore them

9.4.3 Credential Handling

nextcloudcmd requires the user to specify the username and password using the standard URL pattern, e.g.,

$ nextcloudcmd /home/user/my_sync_folder [Link]

To synchronize the Nextcloud directory Music to the local directory media/music, through a proxy listening on port
8080, and on a gateway machine using IP address [Link], the command line would be:

$ nextcloudcmd --httpproxy [Link] --path /Music \

$HOME/media/music \
[Link]

nextcloudcmd will prompt for the user name and password, unless they have been specified on the command line or
-n has been passed.

9.4.4 Exclude List

nextcloudcmd requires access to an exclude list file. It must either be installed along with nextcloudcmd and thus
be available in a system location, be placed next to the binary as [Link] or be explicitly specified with the
--exclude switch.

The required file content is one exclude item per line where wildcards are allowed, e.g.:

~*.tmp
._*
][Link]
][Link]
System Volume Information

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9.4.5 Example
• Synchronize a local directory to the specified directory of the nextcloud server

$ nextcloudcmd --path /<Directory_that_has_been_created> /home/user/<my_sync_folder> \

[Link]

9.5 Command-Line Options

You have the option of starting your Nextcloud desktop client with the nextcloud command. The following options are
supported:
nextcloud -h or nextcloud --help
Displays all command options.
The other options are:
--logwindow
Opens a window displaying log output.
--logfile <filename>
Write log output to the file specified. To write to stdout, specify - as the filename.
--logdir <name>
Writes each synchronization log output in a new file in the specified directory.
--logexpire <hours>
Removes logs older than the value specified (in hours). This command is used with --logdir.
--logflush
Clears (flushes) the log file after each write action.
--logdebug
Also output debug-level messages in the log (equivalent to setting the env var
QT_LOGGING_RULES=”qt.*=true;*.debug=true”).
--confdir <dirname>
Uses the specified configuration directory.
--background
Launch the application in the background (i.e. without opening the main dialog).

9.6 Configuration File

The Nextcloud Client reads a configuration file. You can locate this configuration file as follows:
On Linux distributions:
$HOME/.config/Nextcloud/[Link]

On Microsoft Windows systems:

%APPDATA%\Nextcloud\[Link]

On macOS systems:
Starting with version 33.0.0:
$HOME/Library/Containers/[Link]/Data/
Library/Preferences/Nextcloud/[Link]

On older versions: $HOME/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud/[Link]

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® Note

In a Citrix workspace, the user’s Roaming profile need to be persisted between sessions. The failure on doing so will
result in users having to set up their account again in every new session.

The configuration file contains settings using the Microsoft Windows .ini file format. You can overwrite changes using
the Nextcloud configuration dialog.

® Note

Use caution when making changes to the Nextcloud Client configuration file. Incorrect settings can produce unin-
tended results.

Some interesting values that can be set on the configuration file are:

[Nextcloud] section
Variable Default Meaning
remotePollInterval 30000 (30 Specifies the poll time for the remote repository in milliseconds.
sec)
forceSyncInterval 7200000 The duration of no activity after which a synchronization run shall be
(2 hr) triggered automatically.
fullLocalDiscovery- 3600000 The interval after which the next synchronization will perform a full
Interval (1 hr) local discovery.
notificationRefresh- 60000 (1 Specifies the default interval of checking for new server notifications in
Interval min) milliseconds.

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[General] section
Variable Default Meaning
chunkSize 10000000 Specifies the chunk size of uploaded files in bytes. The client will dynamically adjust this
(10 MB) size within the maximum and minimum bounds (see below).
forceL- false If the client should force the new login flow, even though some circumstances might need
oginV2 the old flow.
minChunk- 5000000 Specifies the minimum chunk size of uploaded files in bytes.
Size (5 MB)
maxChunk- Specifies the maximum chunk size of uploaded files in bytes.
5000000000
Size (5000
MB)
tar- 60000 Target duration in milliseconds for chunk uploads. The client adjusts the chunk size until
getChunkU- (1 each chunk upload takes approximately this long. Set to 0 to disable dynamic chunk
ploadDu- minute) sizing.
ration
prompt- false If a UI prompt should ask for confirmation if it was detected that all files and folders were
DeleteAll- deleted.
Files
timeout 300 The timeout for network connections in seconds.
moveTo- false If non-locally deleted files should be moved to trash instead of deleting them completely.
Trash
showEx- false Whether to show experimental options that are still undergoing testing in the user inter-
perimen- face. Turning this on does not enable experimental behavior on its own. It does enable
talOp- user interface options that can be used to opt in to experimental features.
tions
showMain- false Whether the main dialog should be shown as a normal window even if tray icons are
DialogAs- available.
Normal-
Window

[Proxy] section
Variable Default Meaning
host [Link] The address of the proxy server.
port 8080 The port where the proxy is listening.
type 2 0 for System Proxy.
1 for SOCKS5 Proxy.
2 for No Proxy.
3 for HTTP(S) Proxy.

9.7 Environment Variables

The behavior of the client can also be controlled using environment variables. The value of the environment variables
overrides the values in the configuration file.
The environment variables are:
• OWNCLOUD_CHUNK_SIZE (default: 5242880; 5 MiB) – Specifies the chunk size of uploaded files in bytes.
Increasing this value may help with synchronization problems in certain configurations.
• OWNCLOUD_TIMEOUT (default: 300 s) – The timeout for network connections in seconds.

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• OWNCLOUD_CRITICAL_FREE_SPACE_BYTES (default: 512*1000*1000 bytes) - The minimum disk space

needed for operation. A fatal error is raised if less free space is available.
• OWNCLOUD_FREE_SPACE_BYTES (default: 1000*1000*1000 bytes) - Downloads that would reduce the free
space below this value are skipped. More information available under the “Low Disk Space” section.
• OWNCLOUD_MAX_PARALLEL (default: 6) - Maximum number of parallel jobs.
• OWNCLOUD_BLACKLIST_TIME_MIN (default: 25 s) - Minimum timeout for blacklisted files.
• OWNCLOUD_BLACKLIST_TIME_MAX (default: 24*60*60 s; one day) - Maximum timeout for blacklisted files.
• OWNCLOUD_HTTP2_ENABLED (default: false) - If the client should communicate with the server using HTTP/2.
(This may not be compatible with all server setups)

9.7.1 Low Disk Space

When disk space is low the Nextcloud Client will be unable to synchronize all files. This section describes its behavior in
a low disk space situation as well as the options that influence it.
1. Synchronization of a folder aborts entirely if the remaining disk space falls below 512 MB. This threshold can be
adjusted with the OWNCLOUD_CRITICAL_FREE_SPACE_BYTES environment variable.
2. Downloads that would reduce the free disk space below 1 GB will be skipped or aborted. The download will
be retried regularly and other synchronization is unaffected. This threshold can be adjusted with the OWN-
CLOUD_FREE_SPACE_BYTES environment variable.

9.8 The Automatic Updater

The Automatic Updater ensures that you always have the latest features and bug fixes for your Nextcloud synchronization
client.
The Automatic Updater updates only on macOS and Windows computers; Linux users only need to use their normal
package managers. However, on Linux systems the Updater will check for updates and notify you when a new version is
available.

9.8.1 Basic Workflow

The following sections describe how to use the Automatic Updater on different operating systems.

Windows
The Nextcloud client checks for updates and downloads them when available. You can view the update status under
Settings -> General -> Updates in the Nextcloud client.

If an update is available, and has been successfully downloaded, the Nextcloud client starts a silent update prior to its next
launch and then restarts itself. Should the silent update fail, the client offers a manual download.

® Note

Administrative privileges are required to perform the update.

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macOS
The macOS client has an autoupdater which uses the Sparkle framework. This autoupdater is bundled into the client App
Bundle and checks for updates on launch, notifying you if an update is available. This will present a pop-up that can let
you automatically download and install the latest client update with one click.
In versions of the client where the Sparkle-based autoupdater is not bundled, a clickable notification will appear informing
of an update being available. Upon clicking on said notification, the download page for the latest version of the client will
be opened in the system’s web browser.
Like on other systems, you can view the update status under Settings -> General -> Updates in the Nextcloud
client.

Linux
Linux distributions provide their own update tools, so Nextcloud clients that use the Linux operating system do not
perform any updates on their own. The client will inform you (Settings -> General -> Updates) when an update
is available.

9.8.2 Preventing Automatic Updates

In controlled environments, such as companies or universities, you might not want to enable the auto-update mechanism,
as it interferes with controlled deployment tools and policies. To address this case, it is possible to disable the auto-updater
entirely. The following sections describe how to disable the auto-update mechanism for different operating systems.

Preventing Automatic Updates in Windows Environments

Users may disable automatic updates by adding this line to the [General] section of their [Link] files:

skipUpdateCheck=true

Windows administrators have more options for preventing automatic updates in Windows environments by using one
of two methods. The first method allows users to override the automatic update check mechanism, whereas the second
method prevents any manual overrides.
To prevent automatic updates, but allow manual overrides:
1. Edit this Registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Nextcloud GmbH\Nextcloud

2. Add the key skipUpdateCheck (of type DWORD).

3. Specify a value of 1 to the machine.
To manually override this key, use the same value in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
To prevent automatic updates and disallow manual overrides:

® Note

This is the preferred method of controlling the updater behavior using Group Policies.

1. Edit this Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Nextcloud GmbH\Nextcloud

2. Add the key skipUpdateCheck (of type DWORD).

3. Specify a value of 1 to the machine.

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® Note

Branded clients use a different key in place of Nextcloud GmbH\Nextcloud that matches the branded application
vendor and name.

Preventing Automatic Updates in Linux Environments

Because the Linux client does not provide automatic updating functionality, there is no need to remove the automatic-
update check. However, if you want to disable it edit your desktop client configuration file, $HOME/.config/
Nextcloud/[Link]. Add this line to the [General] section:

skipUpdateCheck=true

9.9 Update channels

Whether you want the latest features, want to help with testing, or just want to wait until everything is perfectly ready to
go, we’ve got options for you.
The desktop client has 4 update channels: Enterprise, Stable, Beta and Daily.

Channels
Enterprise Special version for enterprise customers for the best possible experience.
Stable Latest feature releases ready for most users at minimal risk.
Beta Short-term versions created in preparation for testers to report bugs against before a stable release.
Daily Daily versions to reproduce bugs and to follow the development of the next stable version.

References:
• Enterprise deployment options
• Latest stable release
• Pre-releases
• Daily builds

9.10 Conflicts
9.10.1 Overview
The Nextcloud desktop client uploads local changes and downloads remote changes. When a file has changed on the local
side and on the remote between synchronization runs the client will be unable to resolve the situation on its own. It will
create a conflict file with the local version, download the remote version and notify the user that a conflict occurred which
needs attention.

9.10.2 Example
Imagine there is a file called [Link] in your synchronized folder. It has not changed for a while and contains the
text “contents” locally and remotely. Now, nearly at the same time you update it locally to say “local contents” while the
file on the server gets updated to contain “remote contents” by someone else.
When attempting to upload your local changes the desktop client will notice that the server version has also changed. It
creates a conflict and you will now have two files on your local machine:

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• [Link] containing “remote contents”

• mydata (conflicted copy 2018-04-10 093612).txt containing “local contents”
In this situation the file [Link] has the remote changes (and will continue to be updated with further remote
changes when they happen), but your local adjustments have not been sent to the server (unless the server enables conflict
uploading, see below).
The desktop client notifies you of this situation via system notifications, the system tray icon and a yellow “unresolved
conflicts” badge in the account settings window. Clicking this badge shows a list that includes the unresolved conflicts
and clicking one of them opens an explorer window pointing at the relevant file.
To resolve this conflict, open both files, compare the differences and copy your local changes from the “conflicted copy”
file into the base file where applicable. In this example you might change [Link] to say “local and remote contents”
and delete the file with “conflicted copy” in its name. With that, the conflict is resolved.

9.10.3 Uploading conflicts (experimental)

By default the conflict file (the file with “conflicted copy” in its name that contains your local conflicting changes) is not
uploaded to the server. The idea is that you, the author of the changes, are the best person for resolving the conflict and
showing the conflict to other users might create confusion.
However, in some scenarios it makes a lot of sense to upload these conflicting changes such that local work can become
visible even if the conflict won’t be resolved immediately.
In the future there might be a server-wide switch for this behavior. For now it can already be tested by setting the
environment variable OWNCLOUD_UPLOAD_CONFLICT_FILES=1.

9.11 FAQ
9.11.1 How the “Edit locally” functionality works
This functionality depends on the desktop client ability to register the nc:// protocol handler. That is the handler used by
the server to open a file locally. This will allow the desktop client to open a document with the local editor when you click
on the option “Edit locally” in your Nextcloud instance.

® Note

Without properly registering the mime, independent of the browser and distro being used, the desktop client will fail
to open a document with the local editor when you click on the option “Edit locally” in your Nextcloud instance.
The browser will warn you of the failure: “Failed to launch ‘nc://…’ because the scheme does not have a registered
handler.”

How to enable it
In order to do that, you need to install the desktop client with the MSI installer on Windows or use a third party software
to integrate the AppImage in your system on Linux.

On Linux
We use AppImage due to its universal compatibility but to take full advantage of the desktop client features you will need
a third part software to integrate the AppImage in your system: we have tested AppImageLauncher and alternatively there
is Go AppImage.

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On Windows
The MSI installer will alter your system registry to register the nc:// protocol handler.
Alternatively, you can manually register the nc:// protocol handler:
1. Save the following content to a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\nc\shell\open\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\Nextcloud\\[Link]\" \"%1\""

2. Double click on the .reg file to import it into the registry.

See [Link]
for more information.

9.11.2 Some Files Are Continuously Uploaded to the Server, Even When They Are
Not Modified.
It is possible that another program is changing the modification date of the file. If the file is uses the .eml exten-
sion, Windows automatically and continually changes all files, unless you remove \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers from the windows registry. See
[Link] for more in-
formation.

9.11.3 Syncing Stops When Attempting To Sync Deeper Than 100 Sub-directories.
The sync client has been intentionally limited to sync no deeper than 100 sub-directories. The hard limit exists to guard
against bugs with cycles like symbolic link loops. When a deeply nested directory is excluded from synchronization it
will be listed with other ignored files and directories in the “Not synced” tab of the “Activity” pane.

9.11.4 There Was A Warning About Changes In Synchronized Folders Not Being
Tracked Reliably.
On linux when the synchronized folder contains very many subfolders the operating system may not allow for enough
inotify watches to monitor the changes in all of them.
In this case the client will not be able to immediately start the synchronization process when a file in one of the unmonitored
folders changes. Instead, the client will show the warning and manually scan folders for changes in a regular interval (two
hours by default).
This problem can be solved by setting the [Link].max_user_watches sysctl to a higher value. This can usually be done
either temporarily:

echo 524288 > /proc/sys/fs/inotify/max_user_watches

or permanently by adjusting /etc/[Link].

9.11.5 I Want To Move My Local Sync Folder

The Nextcloud desktop client does not provide a way to change the local sync directory. However, it can be done, though
it is a bit unorthodox. Specifically, you have to:
1. Remove the existing connection which syncs to the wrong directory
2. Add a new connection which syncs to the desired directory

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To do so, click the “Account” drop-down menu and then click “Remove”. This will display a “Confirm Account Re-
moval” dialog window.

If you’re sure, click “Remove connection”.

Then, click the Account drop-down menu again, and this time click “Add new”.
This opens the Nextcloud Connection Wizard but with an extra option. This option provides the ability to either: keep
the existing data (synced by the previous connection) or to start a clean sync (erasing the existing data).

ǩ Important

Be careful before choosing the “Start a clean sync” option. The old sync folder may contain a considerable amount
of data, ranging into the gigabytes or terabytes. If it does, after the client creates the new connection, it will have to
download all of that information again. Instead, first move or copy the old local sync folder, containing a copy of the
existing files, to the new location. Then, when creating the new connection choose “keep existing data” instead. The
Nextcloud client will check the files in the newly-added sync folder and find that they match what is on the server and
not need to download anything.

Make your choice and click “Connect…”. This will then step you through the Connection Wizard, just as you did when
you setup the previous sync connection, but giving you the opportunity to choose a new sync directory.

9.11.6 I would like to change the language of the user interface

To do this, the configuration file [Link] must be changed. A line with the desired language must be added to
the General section.

[General]
language=de

For additional information, see:

• Admin manual

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TEN

SETTING YOUR PREFERENCES

As a user, you can manage your personal settings.

To access your personal settings:
1. Click your profile picture to open the menu.

2. Click Settings in the dropdown menu to open your personal settings.

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® Note

If you are an administrator, you can also manage users and administer the server. These links do not appear to a
non-administrator user.

The options listed in the Personal Settings Page depend on the applications that are enabled by the administrator. Some
of the features you will see include the following:
• Usage and available quota
• Manage your profile picture
• Full name (You can make this anything you want, as it is separate from your Nextcloud login name, which is unique
and cannot be changed)
• Email address
• List of your Group memberships
• Change your password
• Using two-factor authentication
• User preferences
• Choose the language for your Nextcloud interface
• Choose your preferred first day of the week
• Links to desktop and mobile apps
• Manage your Activity stream and notifications
• Default folder to save new documents to

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• Your Federated sharing ID

• Social sharing links
• Nextcloud version

® Note

Available options and settings depend on your administrator’s configuration. If you are not able to change the password
or the display name in your personal settings, please contact your administrator for help.

10.1 Sharing your data in the global address book

Some administrators share their global address book with other Nextcloud instances (so-called Trusted Servers) or even
with the wider world. This is helpful when two instances want to work closely together, or when people want to use
Nextcloud as a virtual telephone book for others to browse. It also allows searching for contacts, creating shares, and
much more.
You can change what personal data is shared by setting the scope of your data. Click the lock icon to open the following
dropdown next to each entry:

If you set your data to Private, nobody but you will be able to see it.
If you set your data to Local, all logged-in users within your Nextcloud instance will be able to see the information, but
no one outside of it.
If you set your data to Federated, the trusted server(s) added by your administrator will be able to see this data, in
addition to all logged-in users.
If you set your data to Published, anyone can see your data. This is useful in some cases. Someone with a public-facing
role such as marketing or sales might want to share their contact details with a wide variety of connections who might not
be using Nextcloud.

10.2 Restrict who can see your profile data

If the profile is enabled by your administrator, your profile data can be read by other users and guests. To control who
can see which information, adjust the scopes mentioned above:
• Private will only allow you and users you have added to your phone book to see the data.
• Local and above will also allow guests to see your data.
To restrict the visibility further, you can prevent guests from seeing your profile data by changing the profile visibility to
logged-in users. In your personal settings, find the profile visibility button:

This allows you to configure the visibility for each profile attribute:

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ELEVEN

UNIVERSAL ACCESS

Universal access is very important to us. We follow web standards and ensure everything is usable with a keyboard and
assistive software such as screen readers. We aim to be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 on
AA level, with the high contrast theme even on AAA level. We also follow the German BITV 2.0 guidelines.
If you find any issues, don’t hesitate to report them on our issue tracker. And if you want to get involved, come join our
design team!

11.1 Zoom and responsiveness

The Nextcloud interface is fully responsive and usable on any size of screen. You can zoom in and out to fit the text and
element size to your liking. The navigation and sidebar can be expanded or collapsed.

11.2 Navigating via keyboard

You can navigate the web interface with a keyboard, just as you would with a mouse:
• Tab and Shift + Tab to move between elements
• Enter or Space to activate or open the element (depending on the type of element)
• Escape to be used to close modals, popover menus, and file viewers
• Left arrow and Right arrow to navigate between photos in the viewer
• Ctrl + F to focus the search field
• Ctrl + S to save changes in editors like Nextcloud Text
For quicker navigation, we offer two “skip links” at the beginning of the document which allow you to:
• Skip to main content
• Skip to navigation of app
Nextcloud Talk has shortcuts which are also documented inside the settings of the app itself:
• C to focus the message input field
• Escape to unfocus the message input field to be able to use shortcuts
• F to fullscreen the chat or call
• While in a call:
– M to toggle the microphone on and off
– V to toggle video on and off

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– Space for push to talk or push to mute

– R to raise or lower hand
Nextcloud Mail has shortcuts as well, also documented inside the settings of the app itself:
• C to compose a new message
• Left arrow to switch to a newer message
• Right arrow to switch to an older message
• S to toggle a message as favorite
• U to toggle a message unread
• Del to delete a message
• Ctrl + Enter to send
• R to refresh and load new mails

11.3 Included themes

We offer several themes you can activate to aid accessibility:
• High contrast theme: A high contrast mode to ease your navigation. Visual quality will be reduced but clarity
will be increased.
• Dark theme: A dark theme to ease your eyes by reducing the overall luminosity and brightness. It is still under
development, so please report any issues you may find.
• Dyslexia font: OpenDyslexic is a free typeface/font designed to mitigate some of the common reading errors
caused by dyslexia.
To reach the accessibility settings:
1. Open the settings menu at the end of the header
2. Pick Settings
3. In the navigation, pick Accessibility

® Note

Contrast of elements can vary based on custom theming. For example, the primary theming color is used as back-
ground color by the header, log in page, and primary buttons. If this causes contrast issues, please contact your
administrator for help.

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TWELVE

USING TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a way to protect your Nextcloud account against unauthorized access. It works by
requiring two different ‘proofs’ of your identity. For example, something you know (like a password) and something you
have like a physical key. Typically, the first factor is a password like you already have and the second can be a text message
you receive or a code you generate on your phone or another device (something you have). Nextcloud supports a variety
of 2nd factors and more can be added.
Once a two-factor authentication app has been enabled by your administrator, you can enable and configure it in Setting
your preferences.

12.1 Configuring two-factor authentication

In your personal settings, look up the Second-factor Auth setting. In this example this is TOTP, a Google Authenticator
compatible time-based code:
You will see your secret and a QR code which can be scanned by the TOTP app on your phone (or another device).
Depending on the app or tool, type in the code or scan the QR and your device will show a login code which changes
every 30 seconds.

12.2 Recovery codes if you lose your second factor

You should always generate backup codes for 2FA. If your second factor device gets stolen or stops working, you can use
one of these codes to unlock your account. It effectively functions as a backup second factor. To get the backup codes,
go to your personal settings and look under Second-factor Auth settings. Choose Generate backup codes:
You will then see a list of one-time-use backup codes:
Store these codes somewhere safe where you can find them. Do not keep them with your second factor (such as your
mobile phone), but store them separately so that losing one does not mean losing the other.

12.3 Logging in with two-factor authentication

After you log out and log in again, you will see a prompt to enter the TOTP code in your browser. If you have enabled
more than one second factor, you will see a selection screen where you can choose which method to use for this login.
Select TOTP:
Now, just enter your code:
If the code was correct you will be redirected to your Nextcloud account.

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® Note

Since the code is time-based, it is important that your server’s and your smartphone’s clock are almost in sync. A time
drift of a few seconds won’t be a problem.

12.4 Using two-factor authentication with hardware tokens

You can use two-factor authentication based on hardware tokens. The following devices are known to work:
• TOTP based:
– Nitrokey Pro
– Nitrokey Storage
• FIDO2 based:
– Nitrokey FIDO2
– Nitrokey FIDO U2F

12.5 Using client applications with two-factor authentication

Once you have enabled 2FA, your clients will no longer be able to connect with just your password unless they also have
support for two-factor authentication. To solve this, you should generate device-specific passwords for them. See Manage
connected browsers and devices for more information on how to do this.

12.6 Considerations
If you use WebAuthn to log in to your Nextcloud, be sure to not use the same token for 2FA, as this would mean you are
again only using a single factor.

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THIRTEEN

MANAGE CONNECTED BROWSERS AND DEVICES

The personal settings page gives you an overview of the connected browsers and devices.

13.1 Managing connected browsers

The list of connected browsers shows which browsers have connected to your account recently:

You can use the trash icon to disconnect any of the browsers in the list.

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13.2 Managing devices

The list of connected devices shows all the devices and clients you generated a device password for and their last activity:

You can use the trash icon to disconnect any of the devices in the list.
At the bottom of the list, you can create a new device-specific password. You can choose a name to identify the token
later. The generated password is used for configuring the new client. Ideally, generate individual tokens for every device
you connect to your account, so you can disconnect those individually if necessary:

® Note

You only have access to the device password when creating it. Nextcloud does not save the plain password, so enter
the password on the new client immediately.

® Note

If you use Using two-factor authentication for your account, device-specific passwords are the only way to configure
clients. The server will then deny connections from clients using your login password.

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13.3 Device-specific passwords and password changes

When a password changes in an external user backend, all device-specific passwords are marked as invalid. Once you log
in with the main password, all device-specific passwords are updated and work again.

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 INDEX

B
bandwidth, 263

E
exclude files, 263

I
ignored files, 263

L
limiting, 263

P
pattern, 263
proxy settings, 263

S
SOCKS, 263

T
throttling, 263

305