Where Does Session Store Messages and Data?
Session Desktop keeps its encrypted database in the Electron userData folder per OS, guarded by your recovery phrase.
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Session Desktop follows Electron conventions. Settings, the SQLCipher database, and cached attachments live in the platform userData folder under its own name. No email or phone number anchors the account.
The recovery phrase is the real backup. It regenerates identity and contacts anywhere, while file copies merely carry message history and media. Onion routing hides metadata in transit, but the local database decrypts for anyone holding the disk. Guard both halves.
Mobile apps keep the same design in sandboxed storage with no browsable path. Desktop migrants should copy with Session quit and verify the phrase first.
Where Session stores this, by platform
%APPDATA%\Session
Encrypted database plus cached attachments here. Recovery phrase recreates the account anywhere. Quit Session fully before copying.
~/Library/Application Support/Session
Same database layout as Windows. Reach it through Go to Folder in Finder. File copies carry history, the phrase carries identity.
~/.config/Session
Same interior under the XDG config home. Snap and Flatpak builds may sandbox this path, so check those roots when the default looks empty.
Frequently asked questions
What actually backs up my Session account?
Write down the recovery phrase from Settings before touching any files. The phrase recreates identity and contacts on any device. File copies without the phrase restore nothing usable, and the phrase without files still restores the account.
How do I move Session Desktop to a new computer?
Quit Session everywhere and copy the whole userData folder to the same path on the new machine. Expect to re-link some media, since attachments download on demand. Keep the recovery phrase handy in case the copy refuses to open.
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