Make sure you have navigated to the correct URL. The format should be XXXXXX.blackbox.pionen.net (where XXXXXX is unique to you).

After registration, you will receive an email with your personal URL. If you haven’t received it, you can also find your URL by logging into your Blackbox subscription at billing.bahnhof.cloud.

On your first login, you need to set a password. Use the Reset Password button below the login field.

After logging in, you will be greeted by the homepage.

In the upper left corner, you’ll find the main menu, where you can navigate to your file library, photos, and more by clicking the respective icons.

On the right side, you’ll find the global search function, account management settings, and notifications. To access your settings, click on your user icon and select Settings.

1. Download and install the Nextcloud client from the Nextcloud website, Google Play, or the App Store.

2. When prompted to enter the server address, enter your personal URL.

3. Follow the instructions to confirm the device’s access and configure the synchronization options according to your needs.

Connect and start syncing!

In the file view, click on the user icon with a plus sign next to the file or folder you want to share. A sidebar will open on the right, where you’ll find several sharing options.

There are two ways to share files:

1. Share link

With the Share Link feature, you create a link that makes the file accessible to anyone without logging in. After generating the link, you can adjust permissions, such as granting read and write access or enabling password protection, by clicking on the “…” menu.

2. Via user permissions

If you search for a user in Search for sharing recipients, they will receive an email link to the file or folder’s location. To access it, they must log in, as you have assigned specific permissions to their user account.

If you want to manually share a link for easier navigation, copy and share the Internal link – it will only work for logged-in users on the platform. If you share a regular link instead, it creates new access that works according to option 1 (Via link).

End-to-end encryption must be enabled via a client (not through the web interface) and can be applied to specific folders. Once a folder is encrypted, you cannot open, view, edit, or search its files via the web. The content will only be accessible on clients that have the necessary encryption keys.

Here’s how to enable end-to-end encryption on your computer:

1. Open the client and go to Settings.

2. Right-click on an empty folder you want to encrypt and select Encrypt.

3. Confirm that you want to enable end-to-end encryption and click OK. Choose and remember your passphrase – you will need it to access the folder from other devices.

4. Repeat step 2 again after the encryption is activated – this is required the first time you do it.

Once the folder is encrypted, a green lock icon will appear next to the folder name. You can now add files to the folder via the file manager. These files will be encrypted before they are synced to Blackbox/Nextcloud.

Important: If you lose your passphrase, your data will be lost – Bahnhof cannot recover encrypted files in any way.

All files that are not in encrypted folders can be searched using the search function. End-to-end encrypted files are not searchable because only you can decrypt them.

All non-encrypted files are searchable, including photos and scanned PDF files thanks to the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature. If a folder has end-to-end encryption enabled, its files will neither be searchable nor visible in the web interface.

Nextcloud is the open-source platform that Blackbox is built on. Therefore, you see the Nextcloud branding when you log in – the interface is directly from the open-source project.

Bahnhof does not alter the code to ensure full transparency. The platform is open source, without modifications – when we say transparency, we mean it.

You can reset your password by clicking on Reset Password below the login box on your personal URL.

Important: If you have forgotten your encryption passphrase for end-to-end encrypted folders, we cannot restore your data. This is a security feature and part of the design of end-to-end encryption.

This is done by sharing an empty folder with the File drop permission. The person with the link can upload files without logging in, but they cannot view the contents of the folder.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Create a new empty folder in the file view.

2. Share the folder via a link by clicking on the sharing icon.

3. Select the File drop permission – this allows the recipient to upload files but not view other files in the folder.

4. Copy and share the link with the people who should be able to upload files.

Users can now anonymously upload files to the folder without needing to log in.

Visit billing.bahnhof.cloud and cancel your subscription through the product page there.

Visit billing.bahnhof.cloud, where you can manage your subscription and purchase additional storage.

Blackbox is optimized for 1–3 simultaneous users. If more users are accessing the service at the same time, we cannot guarantee that the platform will remain as responsive as intended.