Master password
The master password locks YouniqMail: the app asks for it at launch, and until then there is no mail to see and nothing to operate. It closes the gap that storage encryption leaves open: the fellow human at your already unlocked computer.
Typical cases: the shared family computer, the unattended office laptop, the machine the kids also use.
Setting it up
Section titled “Setting it up”- Open Settings → Security → Master Password and click Set Master Password.
- Enter the password and confirm it. It needs at least 12 characters.
- Optionally add a Password Hint that is shown at the prompt. It is stored unencrypted in the settings, so don’t give the password away in it.
Only a check value of the password is stored, never the password itself. To change or remove it, you need the current password. After seven wrong entries in a row, you have to wait 30 seconds.
Automatic locking
Section titled “Automatic locking”Beyond the launch prompt, YouniqMail can lock itself. Walk away from the machine without thinking of YouniqMail, and you are covered anyway.
To do so, switch on Enable auto-lock under Auto-Lock on Inactivity on the same page and pick between 1 and 60 minutes, with 5 as the default. YouniqMail then locks itself:
- when you have not used the computer for that long. Any input on the computer counts, in other programs too: whoever works there is sitting at the machine.
- as soon as you lock the computer (macOS and Windows) or it goes to sleep.
On Linux with Wayland, YouniqMail cannot see whether the computer is in use. There, only input in the windows of YouniqMail counts.
What is locked
Section titled “What is locked”While YouniqMail is locked:
- all other windows disappear, such as a mail you started, an open conversation or the settings. After unlocking they are back, with everything you had written.
- neither the menu nor keyboard shortcuts open new windows. Clicking an email link opens the compose window only after unlocking.
- notifications only show “New Email”, without sender, subject and text, and without buttons. The buttons of older notifications do nothing. A reply someone types into an older notification is not sent: it opens after unlocking as a reply you can check.
Everything keeps running in the background: mail arrives, scheduled mail goes out.
Forgot the password
Section titled “Forgot the password”There is no back door and no reset function. The lock screen says it plainly: if you have forgotten the password, you have to reset the app data, meaning YouniqMail starts over with an empty profile.
That sounds more drastic than it usually is: the mail lives on the server and returns when you set up again. What is lost are notes, rules, contacts and settings, unless a backup exists.
What the master password does not do
Section titled “What the master password does not do”The master password locks the windows of YouniqMail. It encrypts nothing. Anyone with access to your user account or your files can get around the lock.
Storage encryption protects against access to the files. Lock the computer itself as well.
Perspective: three locks, three doors
Section titled “Perspective: three locks, three doors”| Protection | Defends against |
|---|---|
| Storage encryption | Access to the file (stolen drive, copied backup) |
| Master password | Other users at the unlocked machine |
| PGP / S/MIME | Eavesdroppers in transit and on the server |
The three complement each other and do not substitute for one another.