Write it, or upload it
A message typed in the app, or a document from your computer: a letter, a scan, a photo, a recording. It is encrypted on your device before it is sent anywhere.
Legacy Drawer
What you leave behind, delivered when it matters.
Letters, documents and instructions for the people you love, kept private until the right moment. Write a letter for a wedding day, or put away the will and the passwords. It is locked on your own device, and delivered to the people you choose on a date you pick, or when you are no longer there to answer.
Free for one sealed item and one person, for as long as you like. No card, nothing to install.
For Emma, on her wedding dayA letter · unlocks 14 June 2041
Sealed
Where everything isInstructions for the family · unlocks if I stop checking in
Sealed
House deeds and the will3 documents · shared with Tom and Priya
Unlocked
How it works
Three steps, then it waits with you.
The same three choices you make in the app, in the same order.
Choose when it unlocks
Pick a date and time. Or set a check-in rhythm: we email you now and then to ask if you are still here, and the item is released only if you stop answering. Until then it stays sealed, and you can change your mind.
Choose who may read it
Add people by email. They get an invitation and can accept it whenever they like; nobody needs an account to be invited. Until the item unlocks, all they can see is the title, your name and when it opens.
Two ways to release
On a date, or when you stop answering.
Unlock on a date
The item opens by itself at the date and time you chose, within a minute of that moment. The people you picked are told by email.
Good for birthdays and anniversaries years from now, a letter for a graduation, or anything that should arrive on a particular day whether or not you remember.
If you stop checking in
We call this a Controlled Monitor. Instead of a date you set a rhythm. On that schedule we send you an email with one button: Yes, I'm here. Press it and the clock starts again. If a check-in goes unanswered past the grace period you chose, the item is released.
An example
Check in every 30 days, with 7 days' grace. Once a month you get an email. If you ever go a week without answering it, the item goes to the people you chose. You can also press I'm here in the app at any time to reset the count early.
For the people you choose
Nothing to learn, nothing to install.
If they can open an email, they can open what you left them. This is what it looks like from their side.
An invitation arrives
They get one email from you, in your name, saying you have set something aside for them. They accept with a click and choose a password. That is the whole sign-up.
From Legacy Drawer
Margaret has set aside something for you
"For Emma, on her wedding day" · unlocks 14 June 2041
They see it is there
Until it unlocks they can see the title, your name and when it opens, and nothing else. They know something is waiting, and that it is sealed. They can come back whenever they like.
It opens for them
On the day, or when you stop answering check-ins, they are told by email and the item opens in their browser. A document downloads as the file you uploaded. Their browser also checks that what arrived is exactly what you sealed.
Your privacy is the point
We cannot read what you put in your drawer. Nobody can.
Everything is encrypted in your browser, with keys that only you hold, before a single byte leaves your device. What reaches us is locked, and we do not have the key.
- Encrypted on your device. The people running Legacy Drawer cannot open your messages or documents, and neither can anyone who breaks into the servers.
- Your password never leaves your device. It is the only thing that opens your keys, and we never see it.
- Signed by you. When someone opens what you left them, their browser checks that the title, the timing and the content are exactly what you sealed.
- No trackers, no analytics. Not in the app, and not on this website.
Read how it is built, what we can and cannot see, and what we ask of you →
The honest part
Because we never have your key, we cannot reset a forgotten password. There is no "forgot password" link that gets your drawer back.
You can turn on password recovery in Settings. It gives you a spare key, a code to print or store somewhere safe. With it you can choose a new password and lose nothing. Without it, a lost password means starting over with an empty drawer; the things you had already sealed still reach the people you chose.
Choose a password you will not forget, or keep it in a password manager. Then make the spare key.
Who it is for
The things you mean to say, and the papers nobody can find.
- A letter for a child's wedding day, or their eighteenth birthday, written while the words are fresh.
- Instructions for the family: where the accounts are, who to call, what you want done.
- A will, the deeds to the house, insurance papers, kept where they will be found.
- Passwords and the location of the spare key, for one trusted friend and nobody else.
- A message you would rather someone had if something happened to you, but not before.
- Simply a goodbye, in your own words, delivered when you are no longer there to say it.
Why not just…
The usual ways, and what they miss.
- A USB stick in a drawerNobody knows it is there, nobody knows the password, and it is readable by whoever finds it first. Legacy Drawer tells the right people, at the right time, and nobody else can open it.
- A shared cloud folderShared means readable now, by the people you shared with and by the company that hosts it. There is no "not until I am gone", and no "not until her wedding day".
- A letter with the lawyerGood for the will. Less good for a letter to a grandchild, the password to the family photos, or something that should arrive on a particular birthday in twenty years.
- A password manager's emergency accessHands over every password at once, to one person, with no sense of occasion. Legacy Drawer lets you leave different things to different people, each at its own moment.
Also in the app
Small things that make it easy to live with.
- Private conversationsOnce someone has accepted what you set aside for them, the two of you can message each other inside Legacy Drawer, locked end to end, with photos and files.
- Write now, send laterA message in a conversation can be scheduled for a date and time of your choosing.
- FoldersArrange messages and documents into folders, inside folders if you like. Only you see them.
- A spare keyA code you keep somewhere safe, so a forgotten password does not mean a lost drawer.
- Phone or computerIt runs in the browser, so it works on a phone or a tablet just as it does on a computer. Nothing to install.
- Change your mindWhile an item is sealed you can retitle it, change when it unlocks, add or remove people, or delete it.
Questions people ask
Before you sign up
Does my family need to be good with computers?
No. If they can open an email, they can open what you left them. The invitation is one email in your name; accepting it means choosing a password, and that is the whole sign-up. When the item unlocks they get another email and it opens in their browser; a document downloads as the file you uploaded.
What do the people I choose need?
Only an email address. They get an invitation from you and can accept it whenever they like, creating a free account as they do. Nothing is asked of them beyond that. Until the item unlocks they can see its title, your name and when it will open, and nothing else. When it unlocks they are told by email, and by text message if they have given a mobile number.
What happens if I forget to check in?
Nothing happens straight away. Each check-in has a grace period that you choose, and during it you can press Yes, I'm here in the email or in the app. Only if the whole grace period passes with no answer is the item released. Give yourself a comfortable rhythm, such as every 30 days with a week of grace, and keep our emails out of your spam folder; check-in emails can never be switched off, because missing them is what releases the item.
Can you read my messages or open my files?
No. Everything is encrypted in your browser before it is uploaded, with keys that only you hold. What we can see is your name and email address, the titles of your items, who you have shared them with and when they unlock. We never see your password, and we never see the content.
What if I forget my password?
If you have turned on password recovery, your spare key (a recovery code you keep somewhere safe) lets you choose a new password and you lose nothing. If you have not, your password cannot be reset. You can start over with a new password and an empty drawer; the items you had already sealed are still delivered to the people you chose.
Can I change my mind after sealing something?
Yes. While an item is still sealed you can change its title, change when or how it unlocks, add or remove people, or delete it. After it has unlocked you can still delete it.
What does it cost?
One sealed item for one person is free, with no card, for as long as you like. Vault and Stronghold are paid monthly or yearly and add more items, larger files, more people to share with, release when you stop checking in, and photos and files in conversations; Stronghold adds scheduled messages. Legacy is a single payment for lifetime access. The pricing page has the numbers. Plans are managed inside the app, cards go straight to Stripe and never pass through us, and nothing you have already sealed is ever held to ransom: when a paid plan ends, what you have stays.
What happens if Legacy Drawer closes down?
A service that promises to deliver things years from now owes you an answer. If we ever decided to stop, we would tell every account holder by email well in advance and give you time to download everything in your drawer before the doors shut. That promise is in the Terms of Service, not only on this page. We built Legacy Drawer to be cheap to run and simple to keep running, which is the best protection of all.
Is there an app for my phone?
Not in the app stores. Legacy Drawer runs in the browser, and it works on a phone or tablet just as it does on a computer. Nothing to install.
Get started
Your drawer is waiting.
A few minutes to write the first thing. One item for one person is free, and it is yours alone until the day it is not.