Frequently Asked Questions

No, not for day-to-day use. Chronicle Vault is built to work fully offline: your projects live as files on your own computer, and nothing about writing, organizing, or saving your work requires a connection. The one exception is the very first time you activate a license on a new device, that one step needs internet to confirm your license is valid. After that, the app checks in periodically in the background when you do have a connection, but a temporary lack of internet won't lock you out of your own work. Chronicle Vault also checks for new versions when it starts up, but it never downloads or installs anything without you choosing to, and it works normally whether or not that check succeeds.

The trial gives you full access to Chronicle Vault for 7 days, no feature restrictions. Anything you write or build during the trial is saved as a normal Lockbox file on your computer, and stays exactly as it is. If you decide to buy, those same files keep working with no extra steps. If the trial ends before you've purchased, the app will ask you to buy a license to continue.

Yes. We offer a 30-day refund window from the date of purchase, no detailed justification required. Just email support@chronicle-vault.com within 30 days and we'll take care of it.

A single license covers up to 2 devices. It's a one-time purchase, not a subscription, so there's no recurring fee to keep those installs active.

If you've reached your device limit and need to free one up (after replacing a laptop, for example), you can manage your device activations directly through Lemon Squeezy's customer portal, the same place that handled your purchase. You don't need to contact us for this, though we're happy to help if you run into trouble.

No. Chronicle Vault doesn't have a cloud sync feature, doesn't require an account to write, and never transmits the contents of your Lockboxes anywhere. Everything stays on your own computer. The only things that ever reach the internet are a brief license check and a check for app updates — neither one includes anything about your projects or your writing. See our Privacy Policy for the full detail.

It checks for a new version when you start the app, and you can also check any time from the Help menu. If an update is available, it lets you know — but nothing downloads or installs unless you choose to. You can update right away, be reminded later, or skip a version entirely. Updates replace the application only and never touch your Lockbox files. The update check contacts our releases page to see what the latest version is; it doesn't send anything about you or your writing.

Locking a Lockbox with a PIN protects it with real AES-256 encryption, the same standard used by password managers and financial software, not a cosmetic lock. The PIN itself is run through a deliberately slow key-derivation process, so it's resistant to brute-force guessing even if someone got hold of the file. There's no backdoor: if you lose the PIN, there's no way for us to recover it for you, which is the tradeoff for it being real encryption in the first place.

It depends on whether you've set a PIN. An unlocked Lockbox stores its data as plain, readable text inside the file, technically accessible with general-purpose tools, just not conveniently formatted. A PIN-locked Lockbox is properly encrypted and requires the PIN to read, by design. Either way, you can export your manuscript to PDF, Word, or EPUB at any time directly from the app, so your actual writing is never permanently locked to one piece of software.

PDF, Word (DOCX), and EPUB, with an optional configurable title page. You can export a single chapter or your full manuscript.

Not at all. Anyone with a long project full of recurring people, places, sources, or terms can use it, novelists and worldbuilders, sure, but also journalists tracking sources, researchers and students working on a thesis, nonfiction and history writers, and memoirists. If your project has enough moving parts that you've ever lost track of a detail, Chronicle Vault is built for that.

No, updating is always your call, the app never updates itself without you choosing to, so you're free to stay on a version that's working well for you. One thing worth knowing: our support focuses on the current version and the one right before it, so if you're several versions behind and run into a problem, the first thing we'll usually suggest is updating to the latest version. We can't realistically support every older release forever, but you'll never be forced to update on our schedule.