SimpleX Privacy Settings: Contacts, Backups, Tor, Files and Calls

SimpleX has separate controls for who you trust, what stays on your device and the network path used for connections. Setting a server address does not complete all three jobs.

This guide follows the official documentation checked November 9, 2026, alongside the v7.1.2 release. Menu wording can vary by platform. We verified the instructions against documentation. Device-specific behavior still needs checking on your own installation.

Verify the person behind a contact

Open a direct chat, tap the contact's name and choose Verify security code. Compare the code with that person through a separate trusted channel, or scan the code when together. Compare first, then mark the contact verified.

A code received through the same unverified conversation does not independently establish who is on the other end. For a new contact claiming to represent an organization, verify their published contact route before exchanging sensitive details.

The privacy guide distinguishes end-to-end encrypted direct chats and groups from channels, where relay infrastructure can read the published content. Use a direct chat or appropriate private group for a confidential exchange. Do not mistake a public channel's familiar interface for the same security boundary.

Protect the database and preserve a recovery path

Open Settings → Chat data → Database passphrase & export. Set a passphrase you can keep securely. The data-management guide explains that mobile devices normally store it in platform key storage. Desktop storage can contain a saved passphrase in plaintext settings.

After setting your own passphrase, you can turn off saving it on the device. The app then asks for it at startup, with notification limitations on mobile. A lost passphrase cannot be recovered.

Export the database to a protected location. The export includes files and settings. Export stops the chat, which remains stopped until you enable Run chat again. Import replaces the current database, and an old backup can break existing conversations. Do not run copies of the same database on two devices.

Treat an export as sensitive correspondence. Keep it out of public folders and test your recovery plan before relying on it. Do not delete the working database merely to test whether a backup exists.

Configure Tor for the connections it covers

A Tor proxy must be running before SimpleX can use it. On Android and desktop, Network & servers → Use SOCKS proxy enables proxy use. The documented default port is 9050, which must match the proxy you configured. On iOS, SOCKS settings are under Advanced network settings.

The network settings documentation also describes Use .onion hosts. Requiring onion hosts makes connections fail when an address lacks an onion endpoint. An onion address alone does not start Tor.

Use the app's server tests after configuration, then check an ordinary conversation and file transfer with a willing contact. A server test checks connectivity. It cannot establish that every application connection follows the intended route. Leave the proxy enabled while investigating failures rather than silently switching to a direct connection.

Our SimpleX server page provides the current public SMP and XFTP addresses. Copy full server links from that page and use its setup instructions. Hosting your own relay changes who operates that relay. It does not remove the need to protect endpoints.

Review file and preview behavior

In Your privacy, consider turning off Auto-accept images and Send link previews. Automatic downloads and website previews create activity beyond displaying text. Under More privacy, keep Protect IP address enabled so applicable downloads from unfamiliar file servers require confirmation. The privacy documentation explains when that prompt applies, including proxy and onion configurations.

Use the attachment control to choose files deliberately. Before sending an image or document, inspect what the file itself reveals. Encryption during delivery does not remove a name, location or other information already present in its contents.

Calls have a separate network path

SimpleX explicitly documents that calls do not use its SOCKS proxy. Do not start a call expecting the message proxy setting to route the call through Tor.

Under Audio & video calls, keep Always use relay enabled if you want to avoid a direct connection exposing your IP address to a contact. The call guide says relay routing is the default. The relay can observe call duration. Disabling the option permits peer-to-peer calls and can reveal your IP address to the other participant.

Check the encryption status displayed on the call screen. The documentation makes call encryption dependent on support at both ends. If the call's network exposure is unacceptable for your situation, use text instead. A relay setting is not an anonymity guarantee.

Reduce local exposure and unnecessary history

Enable SimpleX Lock under Your privacy. Review notification previews and the app-screen protection setting, especially on a shared or frequently unlocked device. An application lock and database encryption address different access situations.

For a conversation that needs short retention, open its name, choose Contact preferences, set Disappearing messages and save the change. Both contacts must permit the feature. The messaging guide explains the sender and recipient deletion timers.

A recipient can still copy information before deletion. Avoid sending a wallet seed or other lasting secret on the assumption that a timer will make it safe. Review contact verification, backup access and call routing again when moving to a new device, because those decisions matter more than matching someone else's collection of toggles.