Sync with iCloud

Because a Cozy journal is just a folder, iCloud Drive can keep it in step across your devices, with no separate Cozy account, and your journal never touches our servers. This guide covers the full set-up on Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad.

If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, or another service, the ideas are the same. See Sync across devices for the general version.

Before you start

• Sign in with the same Apple Account on every device.
• Turn on iCloud Drive on each device (steps below).
• Keep your journal in one sync service only. Mixing iCloud with another service on the same folder is what causes duplicated and corrupted files.

The golden rule

Let one device finish syncing before you write on another. iCloud has no way to merge two people editing the same entry at once, so give it a moment to catch up.

Where the journal folder goes

The Cozy app on iPhone and iPad creates a folder called Cozy in your iCloud Drive. Put each journal folder inside that Cozy folder, and it shows up in Cozy on every device signed into the same iCloud:

iCloud Drive/
└── Cozy/
    └── My Journal/     ← your journal folder

Everything Cozy writes, including entries, photos, and the journal’s settings, lives inside that journal folder and syncs together.

Desktop-only sync

On Mac and Windows, desktop Cozy can open a journal from any iCloud Drive folder, so if you only sync between computers the location does not matter. The Cozy folder only matters for iPhone and iPad, which look there for your journals. Keeping everything in iCloud Drive/Cozy/ is the one layout that works on every device.

Mac

1. Open System Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive and make sure it is On.
2. In Cozy, create a journal (or move an existing one) into iCloud Drive/Cozy/.
3. Open Finder → iCloud Drive, right-click your journal folder, and choose Keep Downloaded. Desktop Cozy does not download files itself, so this is what makes sure macOS keeps the whole journal on disk, even offline.

Keep the journal downloaded

macOS can remove local copies of files you have not opened recently to save space. Leaving Keep Downloaded on your journal folder (step 3) protects it from that, so every entry and photo stays on the device.

Windows

1. Install iCloud for Windows from the Microsoft Store and sign in.
2. Open it and tick iCloud Drive, then Apply. An iCloud Drive folder appears in File Explorer.
3. Point Cozy at your journal inside iCloud Drive\Cozy\. Create it there, or move an existing journal into it.
4. Right-click the journal folder in File Explorer and choose Always keep on this device. Without this, Windows keeps files as online-only placeholders and Cozy cannot read entries that have not been downloaded.

iPhone & iPad

1. Open Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive and turn it On.
2. Install Cozy from the App Store and open it.
3. When Cozy asks where to keep a journal, choose iCloud (not On my iPhone). Cozy lists the journal folders it finds in your iCloud Drive → Cozy folder, so any journal your Mac or PC synced up appears here.

Cozy on iPhone and iPad downloads entries on its own as you open the journal, showing a short “Downloading entries…” note while it catches up. Give it a moment on a good connection the first time, and you do not need to change any settings.

“On my iPhone” does not sync

If you pick On my iPhone instead of iCloud when adding a journal, that journal stays only on that device. Choose iCloud for anything you want on your other devices.

Downloading and offline access

iCloud often lists a folder as placeholders first and only pulls each file down when something needs it.

• Mac and Windows: desktop Cozy does not download placeholders itself. If you open a journal before it has finished, Cozy shows a note in the sidebar pointing you at the Keep Downloaded (Mac) or Always keep on this device (Windows) setting. Turn it on for the journal folder and everything comes down for good.
• iPhone and iPad: Cozy downloads what it needs automatically. If you open an entry that has not synced yet, it shows “This entry isn’t downloaded yet” until iCloud fetches it, which usually takes a moment online.

Cozy and iCloud take turns. Cozy waits before reading or writing a file iCloud is busy with, and won’t open an entry that hasn’t finished coming down. An entry still up in the cloud keeps the cover photo it had last time rather than showing up bare.

Renaming a journal or a tracker touches every entry at once. If part of your journal is still in the cloud, Cozy holds off and says so rather than renaming half of them and stranding the rest. Turn on Keep Downloaded, wait for the folder to settle, and try again.

Avoiding conflicts

iCloud is a file syncer, not a merge tool, and Cozy does not try to resolve sync conflicts for you. To keep things clean:

• Wait for sync to settle before writing on a second device. Watch for the iCloud progress indicator to finish.
• Don’t edit the same entry on two devices at once. If iCloud cannot reconcile two versions, it keeps both and adds a copy with a name like My Journal 2.md, which appears in Cozy as a separate entry you would merge by hand.
• Stay signed into one Apple Account across devices.

Troubleshooting

A device isn’t seeing new entries. Check it is signed into the same Apple Account and that iCloud Drive is on. Open Finder or File Explorer to confirm the journal folder is actually inside iCloud Drive/Cozy/ and finished syncing.

A journal doesn’t appear on iPhone or iPad. It has to live inside the iCloud Drive → Cozy folder for the mobile app to find it. Move it there from your Mac or PC and wait for iCloud to sync.

Entries appear but photos don’t (or the other way round). The folder is still downloading. On desktop, turn on Keep Downloaded or Always keep on this device and wait. On mobile, give it a moment to finish fetching.

Duplicate files like My Journal 2.md. That is an iCloud conflict copy from editing the same entry in two places. Open both, keep the text you want, and delete the extra.

Windows shows files as online-only. Right-click the journal folder and choose Always keep on this device.