FAQ
Here are answers to common questions about Stash.
General Questions
Section titled “General Questions”Q: Do my tabs get stored on a server?
Section titled “Q: Do my tabs get stored on a server?”A: No. Stash works entirely in your browser. Tab information is encoded directly into the share link itself. Nothing is sent to or stored on any server. (The optional short link feature stores a copy on a server for at most 7 days, only when you explicitly turn it on; and agents can manage a stash library that lives locally in your browser, never on an external server. See Agents & MCP and Self-Hosting.)
Q: What happens when the link expires?
Section titled “Q: What happens when the link expires?”A: The link stops working and shows an “expired” message. Expired links cannot be used to access the shared tabs. This is enforced client-side in the viewer.
Q: How many tabs can I share?
Section titled “Q: How many tabs can I share?”A: It depends on URL length, but most users can share 50-100 typical tabs. If you select too many, Stash automatically finds the largest subset that fits the 8,000 character limit.
Q: Does it work on mobile?
Section titled “Q: Does it work on mobile?”A: Yes. Anyone with the share link can open it in any mobile browser (iOS Safari, Android Chrome, etc.)—no app installation needed.
Q: Is it open source?
Section titled “Q: Is it open source?”A: Yes. Stash is fully open source and available on GitHub. The code is transparent and anyone can inspect it.
Q: Can I self-host the viewer?
Section titled “Q: Can I self-host the viewer?”A: Yes. The viewer is a static site that can be hosted anywhere. You can configure the extension to use your own viewer URL in settings.
Installation & Setup
Section titled “Installation & Setup”Q: How do I install Stash?
Section titled “Q: How do I install Stash?”A: Get it from the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons. Click “Add to Browser” and follow the prompts.
Q: What browsers are supported?
Section titled “Q: What browsers are supported?”A: Stash works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers. Mobile browsers work for viewing shared links but not for the extension itself.
Q: Do I need to create an account?
Section titled “Q: Do I need to create an account?”A: No. Stash doesn’t require any accounts or registration. It’s completely anonymous and doesn’t track users.
Q: What permissions does Stash need?
Section titled “Q: What permissions does Stash need?”A: Minimal permissions only—access to tab URLs and titles, clipboard access for copying links, and notification permissions for status messages.
Usage & Features
Section titled “Usage & Features”Q: How do I select multiple tabs?
Section titled “Q: How do I select multiple tabs?”A: Use Cmd+Click (Mac) or Ctrl+Click (Windows/Linux) to select individual tabs, or Shift+Click to select a consecutive range.
Q: Can I share tabs from different windows?
Section titled “Q: Can I share tabs from different windows?”A: Not currently. Stash only shares tabs from the current browser window.
Q: What URL types are supported?
Section titled “Q: What URL types are supported?”A: HTTP:// and HTTPS:// URLs are supported. Other protocols like file:// or chrome:// are filtered out for security.
Q: Can I edit shared links after creating them?
Section titled “Q: Can I edit shared links after creating them?”A: No. Share links are static—once created, they cannot be modified or updated.
Q: How do I access my sharing history?
Section titled “Q: How do I access my sharing history?”A: Open the Stash extension popup and click the clock icon (🕐) to view your recent shares and their expiry status.
Privacy & Security
Section titled “Privacy & Security”Q: Is my browsing data safe?
Section titled “Q: Is my browsing data safe?”A: Yes. Stash only accesses the tabs you explicitly choose to share. No browsing history, passwords, or personal data is ever collected.
Q: Can you see what I share?
Section titled “Q: Can you see what I share?”A: No. We don’t have servers that could track this information. All sharing happens privately between you and your recipients.
Q: Are shared links encrypted?
Section titled “Q: Are shared links encrypted?”A: They’re base64 encoded for URL safety, but not encrypted in the traditional sense. Anyone with the link can view the shared tabs.
Q: What if I share something accidentally?
Section titled “Q: What if I share something accidentally?”A: Unfortunately, there’s no way to “unshare” a link once it’s created. Be careful about what you select before sharing.
Q: Do you track who views my links?
Section titled “Q: Do you track who views my links?”A: No. The viewer doesn’t collect any analytics or track link visitors.
Technical Questions
Section titled “Technical Questions”Q: Why is there an 8,000 character limit?
Section titled “Q: Why is there an 8,000 character limit?”A: This limit ensures links work reliably across different platforms, apps, and communication tools. It also prevents performance issues with very large datasets.
Q: What compression method do you use?
Section titled “Q: What compression method do you use?”A: Stash uses pako compression for efficient encoding of tab data into share links.
Q: Why do titles get truncated to 30 characters?
Section titled “Q: Why do titles get truncated to 30 characters?”A: Title truncation helps save space in the URL budget while keeping tabs identifiable. You can hover over truncated titles to see the full name.
Q: Can I change the expiry time after sharing?
Section titled “Q: Can I change the expiry time after sharing?”A: No. Expiry is set when you create the link and cannot be changed later.
Q: What if the viewer site is down?
Section titled “Q: What if the viewer site is down?”A: You can configure a custom viewer URL in extension settings to use your own instance or a backup server.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”Q: “No tabs selected” error
Section titled “Q: “No tabs selected” error”A: Make sure you’ve highlighted at least one tab before trying to share. Try right-clicking on a selected tab instead.
Q: Extension not working in Firefox
Section titled “Q: Extension not working in Firefox”A: Firefox may require additional permissions. Check that Stash has the necessary permissions in about:addons.
Q: Link won’t open on mobile
Section titled “Q: Link won’t open on mobile”A: Make sure you’re opening the full URL (not just the fragment). Some mobile apps may strip URL fragments—paste in a browser address bar.
Q: Can’t find Stash in toolbar
Section titled “Q: Can’t find Stash in toolbar”A: Check your browser’s extension settings to make sure Stash is enabled and pinned to the toolbar.
Q: Popup won’t open
Section titled “Q: Popup won’t open”A: Try refreshing the extension in browser management. If that doesn’t work, reinstall the extension.
Contributing & Support
Section titled “Contributing & Support”Q: How can I contribute to Stash?
Section titled “Q: How can I contribute to Stash?”A: Stash is open source! You can contribute code, report bugs, suggest features, or help with documentation on GitHub.
Q: How do I report a bug?
Section titled “Q: How do I report a bug?”A: Check the GitHub issues page for existing reports, or create a new issue with detailed steps to reproduce the problem.
Q: Is there a community or forum?
Section titled “Q: Is there a community or forum?”A: Yes, you can join discussions on GitHub or check the project README for links to community resources.
Q: Can I request a feature?
Section titled “Q: Can I request a feature?”A: Feature requests are welcome on GitHub. Please search existing issues first to avoid duplicates.
Other Questions
Section titled “Other Questions”Q: Why is it called “Stash”?
Section titled “Q: Why is it called “Stash”?”A: Stash suggests storing or saving things temporarily—perfect for sharing collections of tabs that you want to keep together for a while.
Q: Is there a premium version?
Section titled “Q: Is there a premium version?”A: No. Stash is free and will always remain free. There are no premium features or paid plans.
Q: Will you add more features?
Section titled “Q: Will you add more features?”A: We focus on keeping Stash simple and reliable. Major new features are unlikely, but we’ll improve performance and fix bugs.
If you have a question that’s not answered here, check our privacy policy, getting started guide, or open an issue on GitHub.