# Sidenote Cloud Sync Overview

### **Sidenote Overview** 

Sidenote is an encrypted note-taking feature in the Olive Helps desktop application capable of storing PHI safely and securely. You can search for your Sidenotes from the Sidebar to find important information at a glance, as well as set time- or keyword-based reminders to nudge you with relevant notes.

![](https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/BCsacSbySYOWwsLZ0XAKakNHwVi61rA0HVMSWYfq77f5uLb4PYHzaVRf0EShpKaGwAemeUzyJQHHQluAfCuuGudH5XOtRFxu_Xa6vw4JtnmlDdPcdQVxszm2QmBVZNu6S0HlBQMUhglRFofcqw)

### **Cloud Sync Overview** 

With the launch of Sidenote Cloud Sync, all local notes are now backed up to the cloud, meaning they are recoverable if you lose access to your machine, and also follow you between workstations. The sync happens seamlessly in the background, so you won’t notice any changes to your Sidenote experience. If Cloud Sync is enabled and you lose internet connection, you will see the message: *“Sidenote is not syncing. Your content is currently being saved locally.”* Your notes will then be synced to the cloud when you re-establish connection.

![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/2FMnhkIUPxqCsEXpkK2otIytWlH-r_XixfowlnVJYmqrxcq_-j9kLmo7Ddkcp3O-0pUlcokWpU6v_qiSmJsbR45dnY3gwgtHUt1UzmAFW88oDMBCA6j7QL59khbC_qXaIjJxy3q8zdUlK3Pe8Q)

### Technical FAQ

**Q: How are Sidenotes stored?** 

**A:** Sidenotes are first stored locally to a database on your machine that is encrypted at rest. This allows you to work offline without internet connection. With Cloud Sync enabled, Sidenotes will also be backed up to a HIPAA-compliant cloud.

**Q:** **How does Sidenote protect against unauthorized access?** 

**A:** The Sidenote database file is unreadable without a secure and private passphrase, which is used to decrypt the Sidenote contents.

**Q: Are there any other ways that someone could export Sidenotes from an account?** 

**A:** The Sidenote database is encrypted at rest. If a user has logged in to Helps successfully and can already view their Sidenotes, then they can manually back up Sidenotes by exporting the Sidenote database, and setting a unique passphrase used to re-import the Sidenotes back into Helps. This functionality is only available if the user has successfully logged in and authenticated to their Helps account. Further restrictions can be added by enabling Single Sign-On which is tied to an Active Directory, which can be used to impose further restrictions an organization deems necessary.

**Q: How can I turn Sidenote Sync on or off?**

**A:** Organization Admin Users can navigate to the organization menu in Helps, then “Profile & Settings.” Under “Sidenote,” the options are “Enable Cloud Sync” or “Disable Cloud Sync” and will apply to all users.

![Org Admin Panel to manage the CloudSync Sidenote settings](/files/qZzgVibNS2itshtN3aGQ)


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