Setting Up Penpoint Cloud

Your books live on your computer first. Penpoint Cloud copies them to a secure online backup.

Setup ends with a Recovery Kit: think of it as a spare key, 12 words you save somewhere safe rather than memorize.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Open Settings > Penpoint Cloud and click Set up Penpoint Cloud. Enter your email address and Penpoint sends you a 6-digit code. Check your inbox (and your spam folder, just in case) and enter the code.

Step 2: Choose Your Plan

There are two plans. Penpoint Backup keeps a secure online copy of your books. Penpoint Sync does that and also keeps your books in step across more than one computer. Both are available monthly or yearly (yearly saves around 20-25%). Penpoint then opens checkout in your browser; complete the purchase and it detects it automatically. If it does not show up right away, give it a moment and try again.

See Managing Your Subscription for a full comparison of the two plans.

Tip: You can change or cancel your plan at any time in Penpoint Cloud settings.

Step 3: Create Your Password

This password encrypts your books (it scrambles them into a secret code so no one else can read them) before they leave your computer. It is not a login password. Penpoint never receives this password, so no one, including Penpoint, can reset it for you.

There are two separate secrets: the emailed code signs you in, and this password unlocks your books on this computer.

Choose something you will remember, and save it in a password manager
Minimum 8 characters, no special character requirements
You enter it once per computer, then Penpoint remembers it securely.

Note: Important: if you ever forget this password with no saved Recovery Kit and no computer still signed in, no one can recover your backups, including Penpoint. So save your password now, and your Recovery Kit in the next step. Your books on this computer are never affected either way.

Step 4: Save Your Recovery Kit

Penpoint generates a 12-word Recovery Kit. If you ever forget your password, this is your way back into your backups.

You can download, copy, or print it
Store it somewhere other than this computer, like a password manager or a printout
You must confirm you have saved it before finishing setup
You will only see it once during setup, but you can download a fresh one at any time from Penpoint Cloud settings (a new one replaces the old, so discard old copies)

What Happens Next

Penpoint uploads encrypted copies of your books. You can keep writing. If you close the app or put your computer to sleep, the backup picks up where it left off.

See Your Password and Recovery Kit for more on how encryption works and what to do if you forget your password.