Privacy

OctoEdit is a desktop text editor that runs on your own computer. We built it to stay out of your way — and that includes your data. We don't run analytics, we don't track you, and nothing you write leaves your machine unless you deliberately send it.

Long story short

The editor has no accounts, no telemetry and no “phone home”. There are only two situations where data can leave your computer, and both are entirely your choice:

• Crash reports that you review and send yourself.
• The AI assistant and third-party plugins, if you enable them — these can send your text to outside services that we don't control.

What we collect

Nothing, automatically. OctoEdit does not create an account for you, does not measure how you use it, and does not send usage statistics anywhere. Your files, settings and edits stay on your device.

Crash reports

If the editor crashes and crash reporting is enabled, the next time you launch it you'll be shown a report and asked what to do — send, save or discard. Nothing is ever sent without your action.

• You see the full contents of the report before anything happens.
• File paths are reduced to file names before you even see the report, so your folder layout and user name aren't included.
• Sending goes through your own email program, so you stay in control of exactly what is sent, and to whom.
• A report contains a technical description of the crash (where in the program it happened, the build and version) and a short tail of the editor's diagnostic log.

Reports you choose to send reach us at crash-reports@octoedit.com and are used only to find and fix the problem. You can ask us to delete a report you have sent — see Your rights below.

The AI assistant and third-party plugins

OctoEdit can work with an AI assistant, but only one you install and log into yourself. When you use it, the text you send (your selection, or the current document) is transmitted to whatever AI service that tool is connected to. That service is run by a third party, under its own terms and privacy policy. We do not operate it, we never see your content, and we never handle your API keys or credentials. What happens to your data there is governed by that provider — please review their policy before sending anything sensitive.

The same caution applies to any third-party plugin you install. Plugins run as part of the editor with full access to your files and network — they are powerful by design and are not sandboxed. A plugin, or even a configuration file it loads, could send data elsewhere or change things on your system. Only install plugins, themes and configuration files from sources you trust.

Licences and purchases

If you request a free Home licence or buy a commercial licence, we process the personal data needed to issue and support it. This is separate from the editor itself, which never sends this data anywhere on its own.

What the licence file on your computer contains: your name (or company name), an optional seat label, your e-mail address and an order reference. It never contains invoice data such as a tax identification number or a postal address.

What we keep in our own records (on our systems, not in the licence file): the same name, seat label, e-mail and order details, plus — where required for an invoice — a tax identification number and postal address.

Why: to perform our contract with you (issuing and verifying the licence), under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR; and, for invoice data, to meet our legal accounting obligations, which require us to keep those records for the statutory retention period (about five years) even if you ask us to erase them earlier.

We do not sell this data, and we do not share it beyond what is needed to take payment and issue an invoice. For any question about your licensing data, or to exercise your GDPR rights over it, email privacy@octoedit.com.

This website

This site is a simple brochure. Our web host keeps standard server logs (such as IP addresses) for security and troubleshooting, and the site shows a cookie notice for the cookies it uses. If you email us, we keep your message so that we can reply — and we don't pass your details on to anyone else.

Your rights

If you are in the EU/EEA, the GDPR gives you rights over any personal data we hold — including the right to see it, correct it, and have it deleted. In practice, the personal data we might hold is a crash report, an email you sent us, or your licensing and invoice details (see Licences and purchases above). For data-protection requests, email privacy@octoedit.com; for anything else, hello@octoedit.com. Note that invoice records we are legally required to keep cannot be deleted before their statutory retention period ends.

Changes

OctoEdit is still in development, so this page may change as the product does. The date below shows when it was last updated.

Last updated: 19 July 2026.