What settings stop DuckDuckGo from saving data to browser sync services moving forward?
Executive summary
Turning off DuckDuckGo’s Sync & Backup and deleting its server data is the single most direct setting that prevents the browser from saving bookmarks, passwords, and Email Protection settings to DuckDuckGo’s sync servers going forward [1]. Users should also avoid enabling Cloud Save and manually delete any saved settings there, because Cloud Save stores settings files on Amazon S3 and — unlike Sync & Backup payloads — those settings files are not encrypted server-side [2].
1. What “Sync & Backup” does and why it matters
DuckDuckGo’s Sync & Backup is a built-in feature that privately synchronizes bookmarks, passwords and Email Protection settings across devices by uploading end-to-end encrypted data to DuckDuckGo’s servers so other devices can download and decrypt it locally [3] [4]. Enabling Sync & Backup creates an encrypted blob on DuckDuckGo’s servers and shares the decryption key only among the user’s devices and recovery code, meaning DuckDuckGo says it never has access to the raw decrypted data [4] [5].
2. The single setting that stops any future server saves
The explicit control to stop future saving is located in Settings > Sync & Backup where the user selects “Turn Off Sync and Delete Server Data”; confirming that choice deletes the encrypted data from DuckDuckGo’s servers and turns off Sync & Backup across synced devices, thereby preventing further uploads by that account pairing [1]. If a user only turns off Sync on one device without choosing “Delete Server Data,” the server copy can remain for other devices still linked, so the delete action is key to stopping future server-side storage [1].
3. How device-level sign-outs behave and the importance of deletion
Turning off Sync & Backup on a single device can act like a device sign-out and will leave the server copy intact unless the user explicitly chooses to delete it; DuckDuckGo’s help text explains that turning off sync on one device without deleting server data leaves other synced devices unaffected and does not remove the server copy [1]. Therefore the practical path to ensure no further saving is: disable Sync & Backup on all devices and use the Delete Server Data option on at least one device during that process [1].
4. Cloud Save is a separate setting with different tradeoffs
Cloud Save for browser settings is distinct from Sync & Backup: it stores a settings file on Amazon S3 indexed by a generated key, and DuckDuckGo’s documentation states that this settings file is not encrypted server-side and can be viewed if someone has the key, although the passphrase used to generate that key never leaves the browser [2]. To stop settings being saved via Cloud Save, users must disable or delete those saved settings in the Cloud Save UI — the help pages offer a “Delete my data” action for this purpose [2].
5. Granularity limits and future roadmap
Currently Sync & Backup is described as an “all-or-nothing” feature — there are no toggles to sync only bookmarks but not passwords — though DuckDuckGo has said it expects to add selective syncing for certain data types in the future [4]. That means the current practical choice for control is binary: enable full sync, or disable it and delete the server copy [4].
6. Why some users still enable sync despite concerns, and the company pitch
DuckDuckGo argues that their approach keeps encryption keys local to devices and uses end-to-end encryption so the servers only hold ciphertext, a contrast it draws with competitors that tie syncing to cloud profiles, a point picked up in coverage that framed DuckDuckGo’s sync as privacy-first and distinct from Google’s account-based model [5] [6]. That positioning can be an implicit marketing motive to emphasize privacy benefits while introducing cloud-backed features that still require users to take explicit deletion steps if they want no server-side copies [6].
7. Practical checklist to prevent future saving
To stop DuckDuckGo from saving data to its sync services going forward, do not enable Sync & Backup on any device; if already enabled, go to Settings > Sync & Backup and choose “Turn Off Sync and Delete Server Data” to remove the server copy; also locate and delete any Cloud Save entries via the Cloud Save UI’s “Delete my data” flow [1] [2]. Sources do not provide additional device- or OS-specific caveats beyond the general instructions and the existing recovery-code/key behavior [7] [8].