r/filen_io

Hello fellow Filen users,

I’m looking for a cloud storage solution to store my files for a long period (around 5 years).

I checked out pCloud(their lifetime plan is out of my budget), but since I’ve already used Filen (free), and their annual plan (~20€) is quite affordable, I’m considering sticking with Filen.

What I’m trying to understand is:

Instead of increasing storage, is it possible to stack subscriptions to extend validity?

For example:
If I buy a 200GB annual plan 5 times, will it give me 200GB for 5 years, or will it just stack into 1TB for 1 year?

Would really appreciate if anyone has tried this or knows how Filen handles it.

Thanks!

Edit: my budget is around 200 USD for getting around 5 year cloud storage..
Edit 2: As people suggested, filen will stack only storage so if can anyone recommend any cloud storage which suits my demand, i would be grateful. 450usd for pcloud is out of my budget, hence can't opt for it..

I’ve been a bit worried about the lack of Linux support lately, so I decided to switch from Proton Drive to Filen since their Linux integration (WebDAV, etc.) is way better. But honestly, I’m shocked at how hard it is to actually leave. It’s almost impossible to get my photos and videos out. Rclone keeps hitting decryption errors with my keys, and trying to download everything via the browser is a lost cause.

We need a proper export tool right now.

Edit 01: Well looks like it worked...

To make the files accessible to the system, I mounted the drive. I highly recommend using the cache flag to avoid timeout errors:

mkdir -p ~/mnt/proton

rclone mount proton: ~/mnt/proton --vfs-cache-mode full

With Filen running natively (syncing a local folder), I started moving the data folder by folder. I used the standard cp command with the verbose flag to track progress, besides, this was very slow since everything has to be decrypted from Proton, downloaded to your temp cache, and then encrypted and uploaded by Filen, it takes a toll on the CPU and bandwidth. I encountered a few erros but a second pass on those specific folders/files usually fixed it.

cp -rv ~/mnt/proton/Documents ~/Filen/ (or just drag and drop folder by folder / Ctrl C + V)

For those who use Proton Docs when you mount Proton Drive via rclone, the Docs files appear in your file manager, but they are essentially just "pointers." You cannot migrate Proton Docs via rclone. You have to go to the Proton Drive web interface, open each document, and manually download them as .docx.

Just right now I'm trying to download my entire photos collection. Hoping everything works out.

I’m paying for 2 TB of storage and using it to sync data as a backup. My usage went slightly over the limit (2.01 TB), and Filen did notify me by email. I assumed that new files simply wouldn’t sync, while my existing data would remain safe. Instead, everything on their server was deleted with no way to recover the files (I have local backups).

How is this supposed to function as a backup service? It’s a total joke.

I’m canceling my subscription and will be looking for alternatives.

EDIT:

Reply from Filen support:

“I’m afraid the data is gone, and there isn't a way to recover it. Your storage usage was sitting right at the 2 TB limit (2.01 TB out of 2.01 TB), which triggered our over-limit process. That process sends a series of reminder emails over about four weeks, and if the account stays over the limit through that period, the data is removed. It looks like that completed on (*Date).

Since Filen is end-to-end encrypted and zero-knowledge, your files were encrypted on your device before reaching our servers. We don't keep separate backups, so once the system removes data there's no way for anyone to restore it.

I'm genuinely sorry. The trigger fired on what was effectively a rounding-edge overage rather than someone being meaningfully over their limit. The reminder emails do state that data will be deleted, but I can see how the urgency wouldn't have read clearly in this case. If there's anything I can do on the account or billing side, let me know.”

Hi everyone,

Filen team here.

This is a follow up regarding the case described in the original post here

First of all, we want to sincerely apologize to the affected user. This should not have happened.

We investigated the case internally this morning and found that this was caused by an edge case in our quota handling.

Filen does reject uploads once an account is over its storage limit. However, storage usage is not updated instantly every single second while files are being uploaded. Depending on the amount of stored data, the number of files, and current system load, the displayed and internally processed storage usage can lag behind by a few seconds and, in some cases, up to around a minute. This kind of short delay is not unusual when handling large amounts of encrypted data and account activity at scale.

In this specific case, the user had an active paid 2 TB plan and filled the account right up to the limit. Because the storage usage value lagged slightly behind, the account ended up slightly above the paid limit before the system fully caught up.

That small overage should not have resulted in data removal.

The real issue was that the affected account was then incorrectly included in a process that is mainly intended for cases where an account is genuinely over its allowed storage, for example when a paid plan is cancelled and the account falls back to the free storage limit. In that situation, an account might still contain a large amount of data while only having 10 GB of free storage available. The over quota process exists for that type of case and sends multiple warning emails over about one month before data is removed.

Warning emails were sent during that period. While we do not know whether the user saw them, we fully understand that the wording and context might not have been clear enough for this situation. Those emails were written for a different type of case, not for someone with an active paid plan who was only slightly over quota due to a technical edge case.

This incident was also a clear signal that we need to improve our response management. The initial support reply should not have been handled as a regular support case with a final answer right away. A case involving unexpected data deletion should have been escalated to our engineering and management teams before responding, so that we could investigate the underlying cause first and communicate with the user more carefully.

We have reviewed this internally with our support team. Going forward, cases involving potential data loss, unexpected deletion, quota edge cases, or anything that could indicate a serious system issue must be escalated immediately before a final response is sent. We also want to improve how we communicate in critical situations like this, especially when users are understandably worried, frustrated, or have lost trust.

To make this clearer, these are the normal situations where an account can enter a data deletion flow:

1. If a paid subscription is cancelled, expires, or is no longer paid, and the account remains above the available storage limit for one month after the plan has ended.
2. If a free account remains inactive for more than 3 months and then remains inactive during the additional 4 week reminder period.
3. If a Lifetime account remains inactive for more than 3 years and then remains inactive during the additional 4 week reminder period.

In all of these cases, multiple warning emails are sent to the user before any data is deleted. Any account action counts as activity, including logging in, syncing files, or using the virtual drive.

These flows are meant for accounts that are genuinely outside their storage or activity limits. They are not meant to affect active paid subscriptions that are only slightly above quota due to a technical edge case.

We have already made changes so this cannot happen again in the same way:

1. Active paid accounts will no longer be handled like expired or unpaid over quota accounts in this situation.
2. Accounts with active subscriptions will go into read only mode instead of being pushed through the same deletion flow.
3. We added an additional safety buffer and manual review step for cases that look unusual or could be caused by a quota calculation edge case.
4. We improved the wording of the automatic emails so the consequences are clearer and harder to misunderstand.
5. We updated our internal escalation process for support cases involving potential data loss or serious system behavior.
6. We are reviewing the full over quota flow again to make sure the product behavior matches what users reasonably expect from a cloud storage and backup service.

Unfortunately, we cannot restore the deleted data from our side.

As a fully self hosted cloud provider, we have historically been strict about removing data from accounts that are no longer within their storage or activity limits. Storage is real infrastructure, and we try to manage it responsibly so we can keep the service sustainable and fairly priced.

However, that principle should only apply to the intended cases, such as unpaid or inactive accounts that remain outside their limits after repeated warnings.

We have issued a full refund for all of the user’s payments for this account and will offer them a free 2 TB Lifetime plan as compensation, should they wish to continue using Filen.

We are sorry for the stress this caused. We know that cloud storage is built on trust, and in this case our system and our response process did not meet the standard users should be able to expect from us.

We are taking this seriously. The changes above have already been implemented to prevent this from happening again in the same way, and we will keep reviewing this flow carefully.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to raise concerns, ask questions, and point out where our handling of this was not good enough. We appreciate the feedback, even when it is uncomfortable, and we will use it to improve how we build, communicate, and respond.

-Team Filen

I've been a MEGA Pro subscriber for two years. Their backup feature was the main reason I stayed. Then it broke about two and a half months ago, and I started seriously looking for alternatives.

Filen caught my attention immediately. Zero-knowledge E2EE by default, open source, competitive pricing, clean desktop client, and a team that actually responds. Everything about it screams "this is built by people who care." I even reached out to their support and had a genuinely useful back-and-forth conversation with them.

But after digging into the sync modes, I hit a wall.

What I need is simple in concept but apparently rare in practice: a true real-time backup mode. My entire D drive mirrored to the cloud instantly, every file change, rename, deletion, and metadata update pushed to the cloud the moment it happens. A live 1:1 replica, always in sync, no manual intervention.

The part that makes this a backup rather than just a sync: the cloud copy must be strictly read-only. No way to delete, move, or modify anything from the web app, another client session, or any other interface. Only preview, stream, and download. The moment cloud-side writes are possible, the mirror is no longer trustworthy.

Filen's "Local to cloud" mode gets close, but as their own support confirmed, there is no write-lock enforcement on the cloud side. Another logged-in session can touch the cloud folder, and versioning is the safety net rather than a preemptive block. That is not the same thing.

Versioning and trash retention are also part of what I need, and Filen already has both. That part is covered.

The sync engine is apparently being rewritten right now, which means the timing for this kind of feature request could not be better. I already submitted it on features.filen.io.

Filen, you are genuinely the closest thing to what I am looking for. This one addition would make the switch a no-brainer.

I have a note named "temp1" that I use to transfer bits of text between my phone and my computer. However, 9 times out of 10, the changes I make to the note aren't saved. I reopen the note and the old text is there. I usually have to update the note several times to get it to stick. Sometimes typing random gibberish at the bottom seems to help? This doesn't happen for newly-created notes, but I don't want to have dozens of "temp" notes. My process is this (on my phone):

1. Open the note.
2. Select all.
3. Delete.
4. Paste from clipboard.
5. Wait for spinning icon in the top right to finish.
6. Hit the back arrow.

Idk how this function is called, but are there any plans for desktop app to manage files on desktop like popular cloud providers: icloud Google Drive, protondrive etc.

If I could keep files like “in the file system”, and offload them if I dont need them it would be great.

Any plans for that?

Hi,

I'm currently testing different solutions to have a cloud storage for my photos/videos.

The goal is to move from G.Drive/Onedrive to a more privacy oriented solution.

So far, I like immich as a frontend (visualization of the photos). I run immich on my VPS. And immich has an exernal library feature, so I can mount any cloud storage, and I can use immich to vizualize, or even delete pictures (the file deletes will move to immich trash, then when removed from the trash will be removed from the cloud storage).

For the storage, I am looking as Filen, as it is end-to-end encrypted and works well with rclone.

I want to use the android app so that when I take a pic it is uploaded to filen (and therefore available for immich).

For the upload to work, the app needs to be opened (and active if I'm not wrong). I can live with that, I know that from time to time, I need to "run a backup" = open Filen app.

But I just realized that when I remove a photo from Filen, and the file is still on my phone, then the Filen app will upload it again. And this seems like a no go to me. Do I miss something? Is that Filen app so bad (at least for my needs)?

I checked also:

koofr: works well with rclone, android app is OK, but no end-to-end encryption

infomaniak kdrive: no rclone (I didn't check the rest)

proton drive: encryption fine, but rclone does not access the proton Photos folder

pcloud: only litetime plan (I didn't check the rest)

ente photos: didn't check (not in Europe so I didn't consider that solution)

edit: https://foldersync.io/ could be a solution for me to replace the file upload feature of Filen app.

Example: if i upload file named IMG_1000.png or VID_20260129_1923.mp4, it will become 184.jpg and 185.mp4 after being uploaded on Filen,

the number is causing problem with sorting because old file can become new and new file become old when sorted.

is there anyway to disable this and keep the file name as is?

https://preview.redd.it/7j2h0f7hzwzg1.png?width=1224&format=png&auto=webp&s=6cbaa4526ab5dbf735b3756828e43706774e7cad

https://preview.redd.it/czico83kywzg1.png?width=697&format=png&auto=webp&s=23abf60e9c76da46bee5c0fb841bc83374047d4a

Uploading files to Filen via the IOS app. In this case, photos from an SD card. Selected the files for upload which appears to complete without error, but when checking the files, many upload as 0 Bytes.

The log, however, identifies these files as "uploaded". (Picked one for reference since log file is not in same order as files sorted by size).

Is this is known issue? Is there a fix? How can I rely on Filen to upload files if it doesn't accurately keep track of what has been uploaded and what has not? Do I have to manually check every file?

48 out of 150 files "uploaded" as 0 bytes (32%). An obviously unacceptable failure rate (especially with no corresponding notification of error).

As a photographer, I need to be able to upload by photos from my SD card (daily backups) and know that they will actually upload.

Question: If I access Filen through rclone without setting rclone’s encrypt option, is the access still E2EE?
Reason for asking: The Filen desktop drive mount app (Linux) is so slow for me as to be almost unusable. I had put it down to my long distance from your servers and the E2EE overhead. But today I mounted the drive with rclone and it was instant! Now I’m worried that the connection might not be E2EE unless I set that up in rclone.

Stupid question, probably, but I don't want to "stack", I just want to go from a monthly billing to yearly.

I can't get a "local backup" permanent synchronization to upload new files/directories to the Filen cloud without the desktop client open. Is this normal behavior? In other words, if I want all new files/directories under my local path to be automatically uploaded, do I need to have the desktop client open all the time?

I see I can give people my referral link and get 10GB of storage if they use it (up to 30GB). What happens if they then close their account? Would I lose the additional 10GB of storage?

Is it OK to give away my referral links here? I don't know anyone who is using or wants to use filen at the moment.

In case it matters I have a 500GB yearly paid plan.