How to use SimpleX Chat: the complete guide

SimpleX Chat is a messaging app, like WhatsApp or Signal, with one big difference: it has no phone number, no username and no account. Nobody, not even the company, keeps a list of who talks to whom. This guide takes you from installing it to using every important feature. You do not need any computer skills.

The menu names below are from the official SimpleX guide. Apps get updated, so a button may be worded slightly differently or sit one step away. If you cannot find something, look in Settings first.

What makes it different

• No ID. You choose a display name. That name lives only on your phone.
• You connect with a link or QR code, not by searching for a person's number or name.
• Messages go through relay servers that do not know who you are. Your chats are stored on your phone, not on a company server.
• There is no way to be found by strangers. This is good for privacy. It also means you must share a link with each person you want to talk to.

Step 1: Install the app

1. Install SimpleX Chat from the official website simplex.chat, or from Aurora Store. If you use GrapheneOS, see how to install apps on GrapheneOS.
2. Open the app. It asks you to create a profile.

Step 2: Create your profile

1. Type a display name. This is what your friends will see. You can use a nickname rather than your real name.
2. Tap Create.
3. Choose how you want notifications to work. On Android, you choose between faster alerts (uses more battery) and slower alerts (saves battery). On iPhone, faster alerts tell the servers a little more about you. If you are unsure, keep the default.

Your profile exists only on your phone. If you lose the phone and have no backup, the profile is gone (see Step 9).

Step 3: Connect with a friend

You have to give your friend a link, or let them scan a QR code. There are two kinds.

A one-time invitation link (best for one person)

1. Tap the new chat button (the pencil or plus button).
2. Choose Create one-time invitation link.
3. Send the link to your friend in another app, or show them the QR code on your screen in person.
4. Your friend opens SimpleX, taps new chat, then Connect via link / QR code, and pastes the link or scans the code.
5. You are now connected. The link stops working after one use.

Until your friend has connected, anyone who gets hold of the link could connect instead. Send it only to the person it is for, and check with them that it worked.

Tip: you can give the link a nickname (alias) so you remember who it was for.

A long-term contact address (for many people)

This is a link you can use again and again, for example on a website or in an email signature.

1. Open Settings, then your address section, and create a contact address.
2. People who use it send you a request. You choose to accept or reject each one.
3. Be careful: public addresses attract spam requests. If that happens you can delete the address. Your existing contacts are not affected, but new people can no longer use it.

Step 4: Check you are talking to the right person

Someone could, in theory, swap the link you sent for their own. To be sure this has not happened:

1. Open the chat with your contact and tap their name at the top.
2. Tap Verify security code.
3. Compare the code with your contact. Do this by scanning the code on their phone, or by reading it out over a phone call.
4. If they match, tap mark verified.

Do this with people you speak to about sensitive things.

Step 5: Send messages, files and make calls

• Messages: type and send as usual. Press and hold a message (or swipe on it) for more actions such as reply, edit or delete.
• Pictures, files and voice messages: use the paperclip or plus button in the chat.
• Calls: tap the phone or video icon at the top of the chat. Both of you need the app open and an internet connection.
• Disappearing messages: open the chat settings (tap the contact's name) and allow disappearing messages. Messages then erase themselves after the time you choose.

A person you chat with could still take a screenshot or copy a message. Only send what you would be comfortable with them keeping.

Step 6: Groups

1. Tap new chat, then create a secret group.
2. Give the group a name and add your existing contacts.
3. To let others join, share a group link. Be careful with it. Anyone who has the link can ask to join.

Inside a group you can use incognito mode (Step 8) so the other members only see a random name.

Step 7: Lock the app and protect your chats

Open Settings, then Privacy and security, and look for these:

• App lock (SimpleX Lock). Asks for your fingerprint or a PIN when you open the app.
• Self-destruct passcode, if your version has it. Entering a special code erases the app data. Use it only if you understand what it does.
• Hidden profiles. You can keep more than one profile (go to Your chat profiles, then Add profile) and hide some of them behind a password. To show a hidden profile again, type its full password into the search bar.

Step 8: Incognito mode

Incognito mode hides the name and picture of your profile from new contacts. Each new connection gets its own random name, so your contacts cannot tell they are talking to the same person.

1. Open Settings.
2. Turn on the Incognito switch.
3. Create a new link or join a group. The other side sees only a random name.

• It only affects new connections. People you already know keep seeing your normal profile.
• It does not hide your internet address. Read how to use a VPN or how to use Tor if that matters to you.
• Use incognito for public groups and strangers. Use your normal profile with friends and family.

To turn it off, open Settings and switch Incognito off.

Step 9: Back up and move your chats

Your chats live only on your phone, so a lost phone means lost chats unless you made a copy.

1. Open Settings, then Database passphrase & export.
2. Set your own passphrase (a long password you will remember). By default the app picks a random one for you, and you need your own if you want to export.
3. Tap Export database and save the file somewhere safe, such as an encrypted folder (see how to set up Cryptomator).
4. To restore on a new phone, install SimpleX, then use Import database and enter the same passphrase.

If you forget the passphrase, nobody can recover your chats. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe, in a different place from the phone. Do not press Delete database unless you are sure: it erases all your SimpleX data.

You can also set automatic message deletion so old messages are removed from your phone after a time you choose. This only deletes your own copy. Your friends keep theirs.

Step 10: Extra privacy (optional)

• Tor. SimpleX can send its traffic through Tor using the Orbot app. On Android, run Orbot, then turn on Use SOCKS proxy in the SimpleX network settings. This hides your internet address from the relay servers but makes the app slower.
• VPN. Using a VPN has a similar effect and is simpler. See how to use a VPN on GrapheneOS and why a VPN router can be safer.
• Separate connection for each contact. In the network settings, an option called transport isolation gives each contact their own connection. It is marked beta, so use it only if you need it.

If something goes wrong

• A friend cannot connect. Make a fresh one-time link. They must open it on a phone that has SimpleX installed.
• No notifications. Check that the app is allowed to run in the background and that your notification choice (Step 2) suits your phone.
• You lost your phone. Install SimpleX on the new phone and import your backup. If you had none, you will need to connect with everyone again.

Official help: simplex.chat/docs/guide.