Sync settings reset and network mode issue after updates
TLDR
A bug in the app updating process caused some users in local-only mode to have their data synced to Any Network. Although end-to-end encryption still prevents any loss in data privacy (Anytype can’t access the content), this is clearly a distressing experience. It has now been fixed with a more durable app update process.
Date: February 18, 2026
Status: Resolved
What happened
After some app updates, a small number of users experienced a full reset of local app settings. This affected all locally stored preferences, including:
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Network mode
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Theme and UI preferences
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Sidebar and layout state
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Keyboard shortcuts
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Open tabs
Because of this reset, some users were moved from local-only mode to Any Network mode. This caused the app to start syncing, which made the issue especially noticeable and concerning.
Fortunately, because of end-to-end encryption, the local-only mode spaces that were synced had no impact on data privacy—Anytype still cannot access the data in any way. Unfortunately, this syncing of encrypted data in local-only mode still creates understandable anxiety and worries, which can only be alleviated by deleting the content and creating a new space.
We are sincerely sorry for any distress this bug may have caused.
Why network mode was impacted
Network mode is stored as part of the same local settings file as other preferences. When that file was lost or corrupted during an update, the app fell back to its default values.
The default network mode is Any Network, so users who had explicitly chosen local only were unintentionally switched and began syncing.
What caused the reset
Under rare timing conditions during automatic updates, the app process could shut down while settings were being written to disk.
The previous storage system did not fully guarantee that data was flushed to disk before replacing the settings file. If the app exited at the wrong moment, the file could become empty or partially written.
Because no backup copy existed, the app had no way to recover the previous settings.
What we changed
We replaced the settings storage layer with a crash safe implementation designed for update scenarios.
The new system:
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Fully writes and flushes data to disk before replacing files
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Keeps a backup of the previous settings
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Automatically restores settings if corruption is detected
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Removes unnecessary dependencies
This prevents both silent data loss and unintended defaults after updates.
What this means for you
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Your chosen network mode will no longer reset during updates
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Settings now have an automatic recovery path
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Update related shutdowns are handled safely
Lessons learned
This incident showed how critical defaults can become when persistence fails. Even a rare storage issue can have outsized impact when it changes behavior like syncing.
We are now applying the same durability guarantees to any future on disk state in the app.
Thanks to everyone who reported this quickly and helped us identify the root cause. If you notice anything unexpected after updating, please reach out.
