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.
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.