Sync is a copy, and it stays off

Snippets already expand on this computer. Cloud is a copy you add later, not a new source of truth.

Sync my snippets stays off. Signing in is not Pro and not the library. Pasting a key does not flip the switch for you. A permanent key bound to an account does not grant CE Cloud. There is no login wall: no account, offline, or an expired cloud plan, and the free local tier still types.

Which column to buy — Lifetime, Personal yearly, Team — is Buyout or yearly. Amounts live on Pricing. This post is only where the copy sits. It does not reprint that table.

You bought a second laptop over the weekend. Whether the signature is there depends on whether you ever opened a channel. If you did not, abbreviations still expand on the first machine and the new one is empty. That is not a sync bug. That machine never received a copy.

This computer

Always on

Works offline and signed out.

My cloud copy

Opt-in

“Sync my snippets” is off by default. When on, another computer and the website see the same library.

Team library

View on desktop

After you share, coworkers can expand. Edit the text on the website, not the desktop.

Abbreviations use snippets on this computer. Sync is separate: turn it on for another device or the team.

Where a copy can live

CE Cloud

Sign in to pull shared groups, or turn on “Sync my snippets”. Shared groups are view-only on this device. Personal cloud sync cannot run with GitHub / Gitee / WebDAV.

you@example.com

Sync nowOpen web libraryLog out

Shared groups

View-only on this device; they still expand by abbreviation. Sign-in, opening the main window, or Sync now pulls the latest.

Last synced: just now

Sync my snippets

Keep the same private snippets on up to 3 devices. Only changes are uploaded. Up to 2000 snippets.

Signed-in devices (max 3)

This deviceWindows

Settings → License → CE Cloud card: sign-in, Sync now, Open web library, shared-group hint, Sync my snippets, device slots.

Start with Cloud and sync. You want one of these, not all three at once.

Official personal cloud. Personal yearly or a Team seat. Sign into CE Cloud on the license page, then turn on Sync my snippets. The first enablement says the quiet part: we keep a readable copy so the web library can render it. Typing an abbreviation does not go to the network. Personal cloud.
Your Gist or disk. GitHub, Gitee, GitLab, WebDAV. Bodies stay in your account; we do not see them. This cannot run at the same time as official Sync my snippets. Gist / WebDAV.
A folder on this machine. Local backup is for the slip of a delete. It can run with either path above. It does not back up organization shared groups.

Clipboard history, capture files, and plugin install trees do not ride these pipes. A group can opt out of sync and stay on this machine.

If two computers edit the same snippet, believe the in-app prompt. Do not let another disk tool “merge” the same library. Turning the switch off stops uploads; local snippets remain. Cancelling a plan does not remote-wipe the library.

Coworkers sharing one pack of replies is not “turn on personal cloud and the company can see it.” That is organization groups, a different post.

A second laptop without a copy is not a sync bug. It is a machine that never received one. Expansion on the first machine does not wait for that decision. That is the whole point of a default-off switch: you can live on one computer for a year, then open a single channel when a second one appears.

Do not

Do not read “I have an account” as “I am syncing.” The desktop switch stays off.
Do not expect a lifetime key to include official cloud. Buy Personal yearly for transfer, or use your own disk.
Do not run official personal sync and Gist / WebDAV together. The app blocks it.
Do not build a login wall. Expansion does not depend on cloud.

Next: decide whether you need the same private library on a second device. If yes, open one channel. Do not sign in first and then hunt for a library.