Cloud Sync & Projects

Cloud Sync changes where a project can live, not whether you can use Wonderthrough at all. You can keep a project only on one device, or you can let Wonderthrough mirror it so it is available from your account on other devices and on the web.

What Cloud Sync does

Cloud Sync gives a project a cloud copy in addition to its local copy on a device. That is what lets the same project show up elsewhere when you sign in.

Having an account is not the same thing as turning Cloud Sync on. Your account holds things like access, billing, and settings, while Cloud Sync controls whether a specific project is mirrored beyond the current device.

What stays local vs what can sync

When a project is only on one device, that project is effectively “on this device only.” You can still write, edit, and use Wonderthrough normally there, but the project will not appear automatically on your other devices or on the web.

When Cloud Sync is on for a project, Wonderthrough can mirror the project structure and the project context that make it usable as a Wonderthrough project elsewhere. For the privacy and data-policy side of that, see Privacy & Data.

Master Cloud Sync vs per-project sync

Wonderthrough has two levels because they answer two different questions.

The master Cloud Sync setting in Privacy & Data answers: “Can this device use cloud sync at all?” The per-project sync control on the Projects page answers: “Should this particular project be mirrored?”

If the master setting is off, individual projects cannot sync from that device. If the master setting is on, you still choose project by project whether a given project should stay local-only or be mirrored.

What “Working offline” means

“Working offline” does not mean the project is broken. It means the project is still on this device, but current changes are not being pushed out to your other devices or to the web right now.

You can keep working. The main difference is that newer changes stay local until sync resumes.

Projects across devices

If a project is synced, signing in on another device lets Wonderthrough show that project as part of your account. A project can appear in your cloud before it exists on a specific machine, which is why the Projects page can show something that is “in your cloud” but not yet “in your hands” on that device.

If a project is local-only, another device will not see it automatically. In that case, moving it is usually a job for a .wt archive. See Export & Backup.

What “Bring to this device” means

When you see a cloud project that is not yet stored locally on the current machine, Bring to this device downloads it so it becomes a normal local project there too.

That is different from merely seeing that the project exists in your account. Until you bring it down, the device knows about the project, but does not yet have the full local working copy.

Turning sync off for a project

Turning sync off stops new changes on that project from being mirrored from this device. It does not delete the project from your computer, and it does not erase the work you already have locally.

If you turn it off while there are still unsynced changes, those changes stay on this device only until you turn sync back on again.

The cloud copy that existed when you turned sync off does not get deleted automatically. It stays in Wonderthrough’s cloud until you remove it explicitly.

Removing a project from the cloud

Removing a project from the cloud is stronger than simply turning sync off. It deletes the cloud copy, automatically turns sync off for that project, and stops other devices from syncing that project too. Your local copy on this device stays.

If you turn sync back on for the project later, the local copy uploads fresh. Anything you removed from the cloud is gone for devices that had not already pulled it. Some billing records associated with the project may still be retained for compliance and are not cleared by this action.

That can matter if you want a project to remain only on your device going forward, or if you are intentionally clearing the cloud version. If you are not sure which action you want, treat turn sync off as the safer first step and remove from cloud as the deliberate deletion step.

Can I recover a deleted project?

No. Deleting a project is immediate and permanent — there is no undo, and a deleted project cannot be recovered. If the project had a cloud copy and you did not also delete that, the cloud copy stays and you can bring it back to this device; otherwise your only fallback is a .wt archive you exported yourself. This is different from turning sync off or removing a project from the cloud, which both leave your local copy in place.

What to expect if you use more than one device

The simplest workflow is to let one device finish syncing before you pick the same project up somewhere else. That gives Wonderthrough the clearest handoff.

If you work in more than one place while a project is not fully synced, each device only knows what it has already pulled or uploaded. If two devices change the same material before sync has finished, not every change may survive the eventual merge. The safest workflow is sequential: finish on one device, let sync complete, then open the project elsewhere.

Recovery, reinstall, and new devices

If a project has a cloud copy, reinstalling the app or signing in on a new device is much easier because the project can be brought down again from your account. If a project only ever lived locally, recovery depends on that local machine or on a backup you exported yourself.

That is why .wt archives are useful even if you also use Cloud Sync. Sync is about ongoing availability; backup is your fallback if the local copy is lost. See Export & Backup.

Which setup should you use?

Use a local-only project when you want the project to stay on one machine unless you explicitly move it yourself.

Use a synced project when you want easier access across devices or from the web, and you are comfortable with that project having a cloud copy.

If you want the account benefits without automatically mirroring your writing, see Why an Account Matters. For the privacy implications of each setup, see Privacy & Data.