Cloud Storage
Connect your own Google Drive to store a vault’s files and documents — your account, your storage, available on personal plans and unshared vaults.
Cloud Storage connects PulsVault to your own cloud storage provider so your vault's files, documents, and media have somewhere to live. Today this is a secure cloud storage hub built around Google Drive, with OneDrive marked as coming soon. You manage it all from App settings → Cloud Storage.
This is your storage, not ours, and it is not a backup. Files you put here go to the Google Drive account you connected, under your own Google login. Two things follow, and both matter:
- PulsVault does not encrypt these files. Unlike vault items and their attachments — which are encrypted on your device before they ever reach a server — a file placed in your Drive is stored as-is, protected by Google's security and your Google account, not by your vault key.
- It is not the same thing as a vault backup. Nothing PulsVault backs up is ever written to your Drive. See Backups.
Availability#
Cloud Storage is available on the Free, Premium, Family and Developer plans, and only on vaults that are not shared with anyone.
The folder behind the Files tab lives in one person's cloud account. Once a vault has more than one member, that stops having a clear meaning — the other members are signed in to their own cloud accounts, not yours — so the Files tab is hidden for everyone on a shared vault, including the owner.
Sharing a vault that already has a linked folder does not delete anything: the folder stays in your Drive exactly as it is, it simply stops being shown inside PulsVault.
One active provider at a time#
PulsVault keeps things simple and predictable: only one cloud storage provider can be active at a time. You can connect to a provider, and its files stay safe, but a single provider is enabled as your active storage. If you enable a second provider — or start connecting one while another is active — PulsVault asks you to confirm the switch first, so you never end up with your files split ambiguously across two backends.
| Provider | Status |
|---|---|
| Google Drive | Available — connect and enable as your active storage. |
| OneDrive | Shown as Coming Soon in the add-integration picker. |
Connecting a provider#
- Open App settings → Cloud Storage and choose Connect a provider. The Connect Services picker lists the providers.
- Select a provider. PulsVault sends you through the provider's own OAuth sign-in, where you grant access with your provider account — your provider credentials are never typed into or seen by PulsVault.
- After you authorize, the provider shows as connected, with the connected account and a last-sync time on its card.
Each integration card shows a status at a glance: Active (connected and enabled), Connected · Inactive (connected but not the active provider), Connecting…, or Not Connected.
Connecting uses OAuth: you authenticate on the provider's site and PulsVault receives a delegated authorization, not your provider password. Disconnecting revokes PulsVault's stored authorization for that provider.
Managing a connected provider#
Each connected provider has a card with three controls:
- Details opens Connection details: the app name, its Client ID, a masked Client Secret and the authentication base URI. These are read-only; the OAuth app belongs to PulsVault, not to you.
- The switch enables or disables the provider as your active storage. Turning one on while another is active opens a Switch cloud storage provider? confirmation. Confirming makes the new provider active; your existing connections and files remain intact.
- The ⋮ menu has Disconnect Drive. Confirm and PulsVault's stored authorization for that provider is removed.
What integrations do — and don't — change#
Connecting a storage provider does not change how your vault is protected. Vault items and their attachments stay with PulsVault, with their secrets encrypted on your device — the boundary described in How PulsVault works. Files you place in your connected Drive are a different thing: as the top of this page says, PulsVault does not encrypt them, and your provider can read them.
The provider's own Client ID / Client Secret are configured by PulsVault, not entered by you, so connecting is a one-tap OAuth flow rather than a developer setup.
Troubleshooting#
| Symptom | Cause & fix |
|---|---|
| OneDrive can't be added | It's listed as Coming Soon and disabled in the picker; use Google Drive for now. |
| A provider shows Connected · Inactive | It's authorized but not your active storage. Toggle it on (and confirm the switch) to make it active. |
| Nothing connected yet | The page shows Secure Cloud Storage Hub with a Connect a provider button. |
| Prompted to confirm a switch | Only one provider can be active at once — confirm to move your active storage, or cancel to keep the current one. |
| Files aren't appearing | Confirm the intended provider shows Active, then check the last-sync time on its card. |
Related#
- Files & attachments — what gets stored in your provider
- Backups — a different feature: PulsVault's own vault snapshots, which never touch your Drive
- How PulsVault works — how vault data is encrypted, and why files placed in your own Drive are not