Element help and support.

Check the FAQs below or send a message in a room to get community support or get in touch with our team.

Desktop & Web

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Android

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Documentation

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You should never share account details in any of these rooms. For account specific questions, please email [email protected] .

๐Ÿ”— Account management

๐Ÿ”— How do I reset my password?

Please note that we cannot reset passwords or reactivate matrix.org accounts. If you have an email address attached to your account, you can reset your password here .

๐Ÿ”— Do I need an email address to register?

Using an email address when creating a Matrix account is optional; it will make it easier for others to discover you and can help you to reset your password if needed.

It's ultimately up to the administrator of the server to decide whether or not you need to use an email address when creating a Matrix account.

For accounts on the matrix.org homeserver, supplying an email address during registration is optional, but matrix.org reserves the right to occasionally require it for abuse mitigation as referred to in the privacy policy .

๐Ÿ”— What is the username used for?

We will use your username to create an ID (Matrix ID) allowing to disambiguate you from others with the same display name. It will allow us to keep your email confidential. ๐Ÿ™‚

๐Ÿ”— Can I register with a phone number?

Not anymore. Sorry!

๐Ÿ”— Chat

๐Ÿ”— How can I mention someone?

Just type their name and they will be notified accordingly. You can autocomplete by pressing the tab button, you donโ€™t need any prefix for the mention to work!

๐Ÿ”— With what type of mentions will I get notified?

By default youโ€™ll be notified if your display name and your user name are mentioned. You can add other names, nicknames or keywords on which you want to be notified from your settings, in the Notifications section.

๐Ÿ”— How do I send a file?

Simple, just drag the file into Element and it will automatically upload. Alternatively you can click on the paperclip icon in the text input field and browse your filesystem.

๐Ÿ”— Can I upload a file from a mobile device?

Yes you can! On a mobile device simply press the arrow which is pointing upwards (on iOS) or the + symbol (on android) while in a chat and select your file.

๐Ÿ”— How can I invite a contact to use Element?

You can invite someone to a room by using the "Invite to this room" button in the right hand side "Room members list" using their Matrix ID (if they have one) or by email. Those without a Matrix ID will be able to preview the room if the room allows for that.

๐Ÿ”— Is there a way to know if a message has been read?

Yes! Element shows who has read a message by displaying their avatar to the right of the message. Hovering over these avatars (or clicking on them on mobile) will give you the userโ€™s info and reading time.

๐Ÿ”— How can I search for a file or message?

To search a room from Desktop, click on the magnifying glass located near the top of the screen. You can then type in a keyword or filename that you are searching for with the ability to select whether you want to search within the specific chat room or across all conversations. For encrypted rooms, search only works on Desktop (not Element web and mobile) and you need to have "Message search" enabled in the Element Security & Privacy settings.

๐Ÿ”— Settings

๐Ÿ”— How do I change my account settings?

Click on the drop down menu under your name in the top left corner of the web or desktop app and select. From here you can change all of your account and general Element preferences.

๐Ÿ”— How do I change my notification settings?

Element allows you to customise your notifications at two levels: across the app and per room. You can configure how you will be notified for given events by default in the Notifications section of your Settings (accessible from the drop down menu under your name in the top left corner of the web/desktop app).

You can configure keywords, default notification settings for group, one-to-one chat rooms, invites and calls. The notifications can be:

โ€“ Turned off: you wonโ€™t be notified when the selected event happens.
โ€“ Turned on: you will get a message popping up when the selected event happens, but no sound.
โ€“ โ€œNoisyโ€: you will get a visual highlight (red badge and/or text highlight), a sound and/or vibration (depending on the device) when the selected event happens.

Then for finer tuning, you can easily configure per room notification setting from the context menu you get by clicking on the [...] icon that appears when hovering over the room name in the room list. This is very handy when you wish to temporarily mute a room, or make sure youโ€™re not missing anything from a given discussion. You can select the following options:

โ€“ Mute: you wonโ€™t be notified, even if your name or a keyword is mentioned.
โ€“ Mentions only: you will only be notified for the items that are meant to be โ€˜noisyโ€™, i.e. your name and keywords.
โ€“ All messages: you will get a (silent) notification for every message happening in the room; your โ€˜noisyโ€™ events (e.g. your name being mentioned) will still be noisy (red badge and sound).
โ€“ All messages (noisy): every message will make a noise on top of the visual notification. Your noisy events will still be differentiated by a red badge.

๐Ÿ”— How do I set up email notifications?

You can set Element up to email you when you have missed some activity (new messages, new invitesโ€ฆ). You can do this in the Notification section of your Settings and turn on the toggle labelled as โ€˜Enable email notificationsโ€™.

๐Ÿ”— How can I change my display name?

You can change your display name in General section of your Settings (accessible from the drop down menu under your name in the top left corner of the web/desktop app).

๐Ÿ”— How do I reset my password?

The Element team won't be able to reset passwords or reactivate matrix.org accounts.

If you have forgotten your password, please visit app.element.io and click on the link โ€˜Set a new passwordโ€™. You will need to input the email address which is registered to your Element account and choose a new password. An email will then be sent to confirm your request to reset your password. Please follow the link in the email to complete the process and regain access to your account.

If you haven't set an email address for your Element account, please contact your homeserver administrator who may choose to reset your password for you.

๐Ÿ”— Why would I need to associate an email address to my account? Can I do so a posteriori?

It's ultimately up to the administrator of the server to decide whether or not you need to use an email address when creating a Matrix account, and optionally restrict this to certain email addresses or domains.

If you can, we strongly recommend that you set an email address in order to be able to reclaim your account if youโ€™ve lost your password. It is also useful for people to find you, and easier to remember than (yet another) ID. If you havenโ€™t done so at registrationdonโ€™t worry; you can add as many email addresses as you like, at any point, in the General section of your Settings

If you have forgotten your password and did not register an email address with your account, your homeserver administrator may choose to reset the password for you. If not, we're sorry to say that there is no other way to access your account. ๐Ÿ™

๐Ÿ”— Rooms

๐Ÿ”— How can I change the settings for a specific chat or room?

You can change the settings for any one-to-one chat or group room by clicking on the cog icon next to the room name.

๐Ÿ”— Can I restrict the access of a room to a given set of people?

You can restrict the access of a room to people who have been invited by selecting the โ€œPrivate (invite only)" option in the "Security & Privacy" settings of the room. People knowing the link of the room wonโ€™t be able to access it if an invite hasnโ€™t been explicitly sent to their email address or ID.

By adding the room to a Space, you can also select "Space members" to only allow anyone that is a member of the Space to join.

๐Ÿ”— Can I limit the access of a room to people knowing its existence?

You can restrict the access of a room to people with whom you shared a link to the room by selecting the โ€œanyone who knows the room linkโ€ option in the room settings. Selecting this option will not make the room publicly visible to the rest of the community.

๐Ÿ”— Can I make a room publicly discoverable?

You can get your room listed into your serverโ€™s directory by checking the button labeled "Publish this room to the public in example.com's room directory?". By checking this box, it will be discoverable to anyone searching for a room on the server. However, they will be able to join only if you havenโ€™t restricted the access only to people with an invitation.

๐Ÿ”— Will anyone be able to join my room if I list it in the directory?

If your room is listed in the directory, people will know it exists but they will only be able to join it if you allowed the access to it to anyone knowing the link.

๐Ÿ”— If I make the room accessible to anyone, will new joiners be able to read the history?

It depends on how you configured the history visibility for the room. By default every member of the room can read its history. But you can decide that new joiners will only see the history they are part of, I.E. Members will only be able to see the history of the room since they were invited (or joined, both options are available).

However it is important to note that these settings are not retroactive and only apply from the time they are selected: if you have a discussion with the history being visible to every member since the start, then change it to discuss an important matter so that people only see the history from the time they joined, new members will have access to all the history before you changed the option.

๐Ÿ”— Why would I want to make history visible to anyone?

Making the history visible to anyone means that people can see what is being said in a room before joining it. So typically, if you are browsing the room directory and see a room which might be interesting, you will have the opportunity to โ€œpeekโ€ into it, having a view of what has been said without joining it. This gives users the opportunity to gauge a room before joining. It is a useful option for rooms publicly listed and hosting public discussions, or for people you share your room link with, so that they have an idea of what theyโ€™re going into before joining.

๐Ÿ”— What is a room address?

By default the room has an ugly identifier which is barely human readable. Setting an address for a room allows you to give it a simple reference, making it easier to share a link to it. The addresses are linked to the server you are registered on (e.g. Matrix.org if your ID is @username:matrix.org). A room can have different addresses on the same homeserver and addresses on different homeservers. They are just a user friendly entry point, but are required the moment you want to make the room accessible in other ways than by inviting users.

๐Ÿ”— What is a favourite room?

The favourite section allows you to pin and order important rooms which will be displayed at the top of your Element room list.

๐Ÿ”— What is a low priority room?

The low priority section allows you to declutter your room list by moving rooms you consider less important to the bottom.

๐Ÿ”— What is the โ€œhistoricalโ€ section?

The โ€œhistoricalโ€ section lists all the rooms youโ€™ve left and allows you to access the history you have there. You wonโ€™t see the new activity in these rooms, only what happened before you left.

๐Ÿ”— As a room admin, can I decide what members can do?

In the roles and permissions section of the roomโ€™s settings, youโ€™ll be able to configure the privilege levels required to perform various actions in the room, e.g. send a message, ban / kick members, redact messages, update the roomโ€™s settings, invite new members, etc..

๐Ÿ”— Privacy, abuse and notices

Please note that Element is a client that allows you to access any homeserver in the Matrix network, just like a browser allows you to access any website you want. Each homeserver has different approaches to Abuse Management and Privacy, which are out of Elementโ€™s control.

๐Ÿ”— How is my personal data being used?

Here is Elementโ€™s privacy policy . If you have additional questions, contact our DPO .

๐Ÿ”— How do I report on content in Element?

Report inappropriate content on Element by hovering on the message and clicking the more options button (three dots) and "Report content".

๐Ÿ”— How do I submit an abuse report?

To report a general abuse issue, please contact .
โ€
To report an abuse issue on the Matrix.org homeserver please contact .
To report an issue outside of matrix.org homeserver, please contact the administrators of that homeserver.

๐Ÿ”— How do I request a DMCA takedown?

Please read our Copyright Policy for our approach to copyright. To send DMCA takedown notices, contact .

๐Ÿ”— End-to-end encryption

๐Ÿ”— What is encryption?

Encryption means scrambling a message in such a way that only those knowing the secret key can unscramble it. We use encryption to keep your messages and files private.

๐Ÿ”— What is end-to-end encryption?

End-to-end encryption means your messages and files are encrypted before they leave your device, and stay encrypted until they reach the other participants' devices. End-to-end encrypted messages can only be read by the participants in the conversation.

๐Ÿ”— Who can read my messages?

Thanks to end-to-end encryption, your messages can only be read by the participants in the conversation and nobody else . This means your messages can't be read by anyone at Element, or by any other third party. It also means that if you lose your keys, you won't be able to read your messages.

๐Ÿ”— Are all of my messages encrypted?

No, messages are only encrypted in rooms with encryption enabled. You can enable encryption by going to Room Settings.

๐Ÿ”— Why can't I read a message?

If you can't read a message it's because your device doesn't have the right key. If your device doesn't have the right key, there are two ways you might be able to get hold of the key:
โ€
- Restore all of your keys from key backup
- Upload keys from a manual backup (advanced)

๐Ÿ”— What is key storage?

Key storage is necessary to:

  • decrypt your message history on new devices when you add them to your account.
  • set up recovery so you can retain your cryptographic identity and message history even when you sign out of Element everywhere or lose all your devices.

Key storage is enabled by default. To function, your device(s) store a copy of your cryptographic identity and message keys on your account providerโ€™s server.

๐Ÿ”— Is key storage safe?

Before your cryptographic identity and message keys leave your device, they are always encrypted. No one other than you, not even your account provider, can access or use them to read your messages or send messages on behalf of you or add devices to your account.

๐Ÿ”— What is a recovery key?

A recovery key is a unique 48-character key that is generated for you when you first set up recovery, for example: EsTZ 4us6 nh29 89jk U1uH Zbae 4PuS QQC1 86pt em8o R8nb bdwQ.

It unlocks access to your identity and message keys in key storage, and can be used to verify your new devices in order to access message history and to use your identity to send messages.

If you have signed out of Element everywhere or lose all of your devices, your recovery key is the only option to get full access to your account and recover your message history.

๐Ÿ”— Where should I store my recovery key?

A safe location. Common options include a password manager, hardware-encrypted USB drive or on a piece of paper stored in a secure physical location (e.g. a safe or locked drawer).

๐Ÿ”— What happens if Iโ€™ve lost my recovery key and Iโ€™m signed out of all my Element devices?

You will need to reset your cryptographic identity, thus your previous messages can not be decrypted and youโ€™ll need to verify yourself with other users again.

๐Ÿ”— How do I set up recovery?

Go to User Settings -> Encryption and click Set up recovery.

๐Ÿ”— What is the difference between key storage and recovery key?

Key storage is the underlying technical method to share keys between your devices. The recovery key allows you to access those keys even when you lose access to all of your devices, thus ensuring that you retain access to your identity and message history in such cases.

We give users full control over which of their keys, if any, leave their device. The table below summarises the different scenarios in terms of usability and confidentiality. Note that no keys ever leave your device unencrypted.

Key Storage
Recovery Key
Confidentiality
Usability & Availability
On
Set up
Both identity and message keys leave the device
Recommended option for most users for best user experience. Possible to decrypt message history on new devices & use recovery key to verify new devices. Possible to decrypt message history or retain identity when access to all devices is lost.
On
Not set up
Only message keys leave the device
Possible to decrypt message history on new devices. Not possible to decrypt message history or retain identity when access to all devices is lost.
Off
Not available
No keys leave the device
Not possible to decrypt message history on new devices. Not possible to decrypt message history or retain identity when access to all devices is lost.

๐Ÿ”— What does โ€œkey storage is out of syncโ€ mean?