Some problems are much faster to fix if we can look at the install ourselves. Remote support lets us do that, with you in control of when.
How it works, in one paragraph
Your computer connects out to us. Nothing is opened for anyone to connect in — there is no port to find and no listening service on your machine. When you switch remote support on, your install dials out and holds a channel open. Switch it off and the channel closes and our access stops immediately.
Your support code
Every install has its own support code, of the form USS-XXXX-XXXX.
It is yours and it does not change. The same code every session, so you can note it down once. There is no scramble to read a fresh code off the screen while describing a problem.
Find it in Settings → Support.
It is safe to share. The code identifies your install; it does not grant access. Access requires you to switch remote support on, and it is proved by a key held on your machine — so someone quoting your code at us cannot get in.
If you ever want a new one, the card can issue a fresh code. Rarely needed — mainly if you have handed the code somewhere public and would rather it not be associated with you.
Using it
- Settings → Support.
- Press Enable Remote Support.
- Send us your support code on Discord or by email, and describe the problem.
- We connect, look at the logs and the state, and work through it with you.
- Press Turn remote support off when you are done.
A banner appears at the top of the app for as long as it is on, so you can never have it enabled without noticing.
It stays on until you turn it off
By default a session does not expire. It stays on until you switch it off — the card and the banner both say so.
That is deliberate: sessions that timed out mid-investigation meant a customer had to notice and re-enable, often while asleep in another timezone. Now it stays until you end it.
So do turn it off when you are done. It is one press, and the banner is there to remind you.
What we can and cannot see
Can: your logs, your configuration (with secrets redacted), the state of your folders and shares, transfer progress, and diagnostics — the same things the Logs, System and Diagnostics pages show you.
Cannot: the contents of your files. Your encryption keys never leave your machine, and remote support does not change that. We can see that a share has 1,402 files and that file 900 failed; we cannot read them.
We also cannot get in when remote support is off. It is not dormant-but-available; it is a channel that exists while you have it on and not otherwise.
Security, plainly
| Direction | Outbound only. Nothing listens on your machine. |
| Control | Only you. Enable and disable are the whole interface. |
| Duration | Until you turn it off. |
| Visible | A banner while it is on. |
| Proof of identity | A key on your machine, not the code |
| Your files | Not readable. Keys stay local. |
The code alone is not enough to get in. Someone who knows your code and presents themselves to us gets nothing, because the code is checked against the key your install holds. That is why the code being stable and shareable is safe.
When you might not need it
Often a bundle is enough and quicker for both of us:
A performance question → the speed test report. Help & Support → Check your speed → Copy. It measures your provider and disk separately and usually identifies the ceiling on its own.
A reproducible fault → Help & Support → Report a bug with the diagnostics bundle attached. Everything arrives together and we can look without scheduling anything.
Remote support earns its keep on the intermittent, the hard-to-describe, and the "I have tried everything" cases.
When it goes wrong
No support code shown. The install could not write to its data folder. The card
says so. Check permissions on your data directory —
%LOCALAPPDATA%\UsenetShare on Windows, ~/.local/share/usenetshare on Linux — then
reload the page.
Enabling fails. It needs outbound access to reach us. A firewall or a restrictive network can block it. If your network will not allow it, send a diagnostics bundle instead — it gets us most of the way.
The banner says it is on but we cannot reach you. The channel dropped, usually a network interruption. Turn it off and on again.
You want to be certain it is off. Look at the top of the app. No banner means no session. Settings → Support confirms the state.
Next
- When something is wrong — try this first
- Update, move machine, uninstall