Privacy — the app
This page is about the Pyxils desktop application. The browser extension has its own policy, because browser stores require one.
Last updated 4 November 2026
The short version
Pyxils respects your privacy. We count how much is sent through Beam and how many files are downloaded each day and their size, to understand how Pyxils is used, to improve it, and to help protect it from abuse and cracked copies. We never count who you are or what the files are: no ID, no names, no file types. Your files are encrypted between the two computers — even when passing through a Bridge — so we cannot read their contents.
Beam transfer totals cover Pyxway, other direct connections, the local network and Bridges. The app reports combined byte totals by route, with no file contents, filenames, messages, contacts or recipient identities in these reports. Downloads are counted the same way: once a day Pyxils reports how many files finished downloading, as a single number with a random one-time code that is not tied to you or your PC. Files you receive through Beam are not part of that number. This counting is automatic and cannot be switched off. Reporting these totals will begin with an upcoming app update; earlier versions do not send them.
We also count how many devices use Pyxils each day and each month — once a day, Pyxils tells us it is in use, with no ID of any kind, so we can count devices but never tell them apart or follow one. We count them by country too, looked up from the network's address and never kept. And we count how much you send through Pyxils Bridge against your Pyxils ID, because the Bridge allowance is measured in it.
The table below explains when the app talks to our servers and what it sends. Problem reports are sent only when you choose to send one; there is no automatic crash reporting.
When it talks to us
| When | What is sent | Can it be turned off? |
|---|---|---|
| Checking for an update every 2 hours, and when the internet comes back or the PC wakes |
Nothing about you. Pyxils fetches a small file listing the current version, and says which version it is. If there is a new one, it is downloaded and checked, and a card in the corner offers it. Your address is visible to the server, as it is to any website you open. | No. It carries nothing about you, and if you block it Pyxils keeps working as it is. |
| Getting Pyxils’ latest settings, and being counted at the same moments |
Pyxils asks whether there are newer settings for how it downloads and saves video (a small file signed by us; it holds numbers and lists, never programs). It says which version it is and which settings it has. The first time each day it adds one mark, “in use today”, and the first time each month “in use this month”, with the month Pyxils was installed. That is all: no identifier, no name, nothing about your computer and nothing about your files. So we can count devices, but we cannot tell them apart or follow any one of them. We keep only the totals, and each mark adds one to its country's total: the country your network is in, looked up from its address the moment it arrives. The address itself is not kept. (IP Geolocation by DB-IP.) | No. It carries nothing about you, and if you block it Pyxils keeps the settings it has. |
| Report a problem Settings › Advanced |
Only what is shown on screen before you press send: what you wrote, the app version, the Windows version, the site involved if there was one, and the recent part of the log — which you can read in full and switch off. Your email only if you type one. | It only happens when you press the button. |
| Asking for 3 free months opened from our website |
Only what the form shows, when you press send: your name, your country, what you wrote, and your email only if you type one. With it go your computer’s name, your Pyxils ID if you use Beam (so our answer can reach Pyxils the moment we write it), and a code for this computer — a one-way hash of Windows’ own installation id — so the gift can be made for this PC and no other. While a request is open, and while a gift runs, Pyxils asks our server now and then whether there is an answer or a message for you. We keep the request so that asking again is quick to answer, and a one-way hash of your network (never your address) so one network cannot ask a hundred times. We also note which country your network is in, looked up from your address the moment it arrives; the address itself is not kept. (IP Geolocation by DB-IP.) | It only happens when you ask. |
| Checking a licence | Your licence key, its number, your computer’s name (so your licence can list your PCs by a name you recognise), and a code that identifies this computer. That code is a one-way hash — it cannot be turned back into anything about your machine. The key goes so our server can hand back a renewed one, which is how a renewal reaches Pyxils without you typing anything, and so that knowing a licence’s number is never enough for somebody else to use its seats. Once you have used Beam, your Pyxils ID goes too, so the Bridge gives that ID the Pro allowance, and so do the Pyxils IDs of your own phone or PC that you linked in My devices. This happens about once a day while Pyxils is open, and hourly in the last two days before a licence renews. Our server answers with a note, signed by us, saying when this PC last checked in; it stays on your PC. Pro needs to check in at least once every 30 days. If it cannot, Pro pauses — Pyxils itself carries on as the free version, nothing is removed and no download stops — and Pro comes back the moment it reaches us. A new licence always has its first month. | Only relevant if you buy Pro. |
| Using Pro with your email Settings › Plan & usage |
The email you type, your computer’s name and the same one-way code for this computer. We send a six-digit code to that address, through our email provider Resend, to prove the inbox is yours; the code itself is never kept, and it works once for 10 minutes. The email stays on your licence, and we write to it whenever a PC signs in or Pro moves to another PC, so you can say “not you”. | Yes. A licence key works without an email. Free needs neither. |
| Linking your own devices My devices |
Each device’s Pyxils ID, its public key, what kind of device it is and when it joined, so your devices and your friends can check that they belong together. Your friends list is kept on our server as well so a new device can get it; it is sealed, and we cannot read it. If you add a rescue email, we keep it to send a code if you ever lose your main device. It is never handed to an app. | It only happens if you link a device. The rescue email is optional. |
| Your picture only if you set one |
A small picture travels to your friends and your own devices sealed like a message, so our server carries it and cannot see it. Nobody who is not your friend gets it. Choosing from our pictures fetches them from our server, which sees your address as any website does. | Yes. No picture is sent unless you set one, and you can remove it. |
| Sending a file to someone | Files go directly between the two computers whenever that is possible. When it is not, they cross Pyxils Bridge, our server, encrypted — we carry the bytes and cannot read them. We count how many bytes you send through the Bridge each month, against your Pyxils ID, because that is what the Bridge allowance is measured in. | You choose whether to send files or use a Bridge. Bridge allowance counting is part of using a Bridge. |
| Counting Beam transfers starting with an upcoming app update |
Pyxils periodically reports the combined number of file bytes transferred through Beam, grouped by route: Pyxway, other direct connections, the local network and Bridges. We use these totals to understand usage, plan capacity and improve our service. These reports contain no file contents, filenames, messages, contacts or recipient identities. Your files remain encrypted between the two computers; we cannot read their contents. | No. Counting is automatic when you transfer files through Beam. |
| Counting downloads | Pyxils reports how many files finished downloading and their size, for each day. That is a count and a size, sent with a random one-time code that belongs to that report only. No file names, links, websites or file types, and no ID. The country your network is in is looked up from its address as it arrives and the address is not kept. We use it to understand usage and to help protect Pyxils from abuse and cracked copies. | No. Counting is automatic. |
| A few words for the website only if you write one |
If you choose to write a note about Pyxils (from Settings, the Me panel, or the card on the Downloads page), Pyxils sends exactly what the sheet shows: your words, the name you typed, your country if you left it ticked, whether to show your Pro badge, and the optional line “Anything we should fix?”. It goes over the Beam connection described below, signed by this PC’s key, so we know it comes from a real copy of Pyxils; your Beam ID is used only to check that, to keep one note per copy, and so you can change or take it down, and it is never shown. The server also works out, from what it already knows, whether that ID is on Pro (bought or a free gift) or free, and how long it has known the ID, and prints both beside your name. We read every note before it shows. On pyxils.com we show your words, name, country, whether you use Pro, a free gift or a free copy, and how long you have used Pyxils; the “Anything we should fix?” line is read only by us and never shown. You can change your note, or take it down, at any time in Settings: taking it down removes it from the website at once and deletes the words we held. If we decline or remove a note ourselves we keep it, with the reason, so there is a record of what was decided. | Yes. Nothing is sent unless you write a note and press Send. The card on the Downloads page can be dismissed, or turned off for good with “Never ask”. |
| Being reachable for Beam | Once you have used Beam, Pyxils keeps a connection to our server while it runs, so your friends can see you are online and a transfer can start. It sends your Pyxils ID and the public half of its key, the IDs of the friends you have added (so the server can tell you which of them are online, and tell them about you), and the network addresses your PC can be reached on, so a friend can connect to you directly. The server also sees your internet address. No file names, no file contents, and nothing about what you download goes over this connection. While you are connected the server notes only the country your network is in, so we can count how many people are online in each country; it is forgotten when you disconnect. To find the best direct path, Pyxils also asks a few public address-check (STUN) servers, run by Cloudflare, Google and Xiaomi, which internet address and port they see — the same standard question video-call apps ask. They learn your internet address and nothing else. Pyxils may also ask your own router to open a port for Pyxway, its direct connection. When a transfer starts, Pyxils tells our server what it knows about reaching that friend — for example, whether a direct connection to them failed a moment ago — and the server says which way to try first; this is not kept. When Pyxils closes to install an update, your friends see “Updating, back in a moment” for up to three minutes instead of you simply going offline. | It never starts if you never use Beam. Appear offline hides you from your friends. |
| Sharing a file with a Pyxlink | When you make a Pyxlink, Pyxils asks our server for a room for it and stays connected to that room while the link is open, so whoever opens the link can download the file from your PC. The file, its name and its size travel encrypted end to end: the key is in the part of the link after #, which browsers never send, so our server cannot read any of them. The server keeps the room — your name as the sender, when the link opens and closes, and a random number for each person who opens the page, so a dropped download can be picked up again — until 30 days after the link ends, so you can open it again. When someone opens your link, the server tells your Pyxils which country they are in, looked up from their address (the address itself is not kept), and which browser they use, so you can see who is downloading. |
Nothing is sent until you make a link. Stop sharing closes it; Remove has the server forget it. |
What stays on your computer
- Every file you download, and where you put it.
- The list of downloads, their addresses, and their progress.
- Your settings.
- The log. Plain text, in
%APPDATA%\Pyxils, and you can open it. - Any site passwords you asked Pyxils to remember, protected by Windows so only your account can read them.
- Your Pyxlinks: each link, its code and where its file is, the secret parts protected by Windows in the same way.
- Your licence key — also sent when a licence is checked, as described above.
None of the rest is uploaded. Deleting the folder deletes all of it.
What a problem report contains, exactly
This matters enough to be specific. Before anything is sent, the app shows you the finished report in a box you can scroll through — not a summary of it, the actual text. It contains what you typed, the app version, the Windows version, the site's domain if a failure is attached, and the log excerpt if you left that switched on.
The log is the part worth reading before you send. It lists the addresses Pyxils has handled recently, which can include pages you visited. If any of that is private, switch the log off — the report still goes, it is just less useful for finding the fault.
Reports are kept for 90 days so a fault can be traced and fixed, then deleted. Web addresses in the log excerpt have their passwords, tokens and signatures removed before anything is sent. Your reference number returns the status only; nobody who guesses a reference can read what you wrote.
Save or share the log, beside the report button, makes the same kind of text as a plain file on your PC. It goes nowhere unless you save it somewhere or send it to a friend in Beam yourself.
What we never do
- No automatic crash reporting. Usage counting is limited to the device-use, transfer-byte and daily download counts described above; Beam transfer reports contain no file contents, filenames, messages, contacts or recipient identities.
- No advertising, and no advertising identifiers.
- No selling or sharing data with third parties.
- No password, ever, and nothing to sign up for to use Pyxils. Pro can use your email and a one-time code if you choose, as described above. Pyxils itself works with no internet at all; Pro needs to reach us once a month.
- No scanning of your files, and no index of what you have downloaded.
Optional components
If you ask Pyxils to set up video support, it downloads ffmpeg and yt-dlp from their own official sources. Those requests go to those projects, not to us, and their operators can see your address in the ordinary way.
This website
When a page on pyxils.com opens, it tells our own server that it was shown: which page, the name of the site that sent you here (for example instagram.com, never the address on it), and the campaign word if the link had one. The Download links count a download the same way. We keep only daily totals. To count each visitor once a day, the server makes a code from your network address and browser that changes every day and is never written down; your address is not kept, only the country it is in. No cookies, nothing stored in your browser, and no Google Analytics or any other company.
Children
Pyxils is not aimed at children and collects nothing that would identify anyone.
Changes
The date at the top says when this last changed. If the app ever starts sending something it does not send today, this page changes first and the release notes say so. A change of this kind will not be made quietly.