Shared Journals

Once they have requested to join, you’ll be able to approve and decline member requests. Member management (including approving and declining requests) is available on iOS, Android, Windows, and the web app at dayone.me – it is not available in the Day One Mac app. On these platforms, you’ll see journal requests in the Notifications section on the left menu at the very top. Click Approve to complete the request.

5. Start writing!

To start your first entry in your new Shared Journal, tap the “+” icon. Remember, your private and Shared Journals are always kept separate, so you always know when you’re sharing an entry.

Once you’ve published your first Shared Journal entry, it will show up in the timeline view for the Shared Journal. The Timeline view will show the date of the entry, the entry’s author name, a preview of any media added to the entry, along with any reactions and a comment count for entries.

Comments are enabled by default on all shared journals – no setup or activation is needed. All members of a shared journal can comment and react to entries right away. Add your comments to engage in conversations, provide feedback, or simply express your thoughts and feelings about an entry. Reactions are a quick and easy way to show your appreciation or emotional response.

Note: If you’d like to disable comments on a shared journal, the journal owner can do so from the journal settings on iOS or the web app at dayone.me. Tap Advanced, then toggle off the Enable Comments setting. This option is not currently available on Android.

7. Reflect, revisit, and continue adding new entries.

Finally, beyond just creating initial entries, plan to regularly contribute new moments and stories to your Shared Journal. This ongoing process of adding new entries, coupled with revisiting past ones, will enrich your collective journaling.

macOS

Shared Journals are currently in beta on Day One for macOS with a limited feature set. You can view and write shared journal entries on Mac, but member management (inviting, approving, removing participants) is not available in the Day One Mac app. To manage members, use the Day One iOS app, Day One Android app, Day One Windows app, or the web app at dayone.me.

Shared Journals Appear in the Sidebar

Your Shared Journals appear directly in the Mac app sidebar, right below your personal journals.

Edit and Organize Entries

You can edit your own entries in Shared Journals and read entries from others.

Drag-and-Drop Functionality

Reorder your Shared Journals in the sidebar with a simple drag-and-drop action.
Move or copy entries from private journals to shared journals by dragging and dropping them into the right place. (Note: you can’t move entries from a shared journal to a private journal, or between two shared journals)

Entry Move Confirmation

If you move an entry from a private journal to a shared one, a confirmation screen will notify you before finalizing the action.

Features not currently available on Mac

The following shared journal features are not available in the Day One Mac app. To use these features, use the Day One iOS app, Day One Android app, Day One Windows app, or the web app at dayone.me:

Creating new Shared Journals
Inviting participants to Shared Journals (generating invite links)
Approving or declining pending member requests (there is no Notifications tab on Mac)
Viewing the list of members or member details
Removing members or transferring ownership
Comments and reactions on entries (viewing and adding)

Inviting Members to an Existing Shared Journal

Once you have created a Shared Journal, you can invite others to join by generating an invite link. Inviting members is supported on iOS, Android, Windows, and the web app at dayone.me. It is not available in the Day One Mac app – use one of the other platforms to send invitations.

Only the journal owner can invite new members. Invite links expire after 14 days, and a Shared Journal can have up to 30 members (including the owner).

Inviting members on iOS (iPhone and iPad)

To invite someone to an existing Shared Journal in Day One on iPhone or iPad:

In the Day One app, go to Settings > Journals and tap the Shared Journal you want to invite someone to.
Tap Journal Sharing.
Tap the Add Members row (the row with a plus icon, shown below the list of current members in the Members section).
A sheet appears with the invite link and a short description (“Share this invite link so they can request to join. You can approve requests for up to 30 members. Link expires in 14 days.”).
Share the invite link in one of two ways:
- Tap the copy icon next to the link to copy it to your clipboard, then paste it into any app.
- Tap the blue Share invite link button to open the iOS share sheet (Messages, Mail, AirDrop, etc.).
Once the person you invited opens the link and requests to join, approve their request from the Notifications section at the top of the left menu.

Inviting members on Android, Windows, or the web app

On Android, Windows, and the web app at dayone.me:

Open the Shared Journal you want to invite someone to.
Open Journal Settings for that journal.
Open the Journal Sharing section.
Choose the option to add a member and copy or share the invite link.
Approve incoming requests from the Notifications section once the person you invited follows the link and requests to join.

Inviting members on Mac

Inviting participants to a Shared Journal is not available in the Day One Mac app. To invite someone, use the Day One iOS app, Day One Android app, Day One Windows app, or the web app at dayone.me.

Transferring Ownership of Shared Journal

As the owner of the shared journal, you can transfer the ownership of the shared journal to a member of the shared journal. Currently, transferring ownership of a shared journal is only supported on iOS and Web apps.

To transfer the Shared Journal ownership, on your Day One iOS or Web app:

Open the Shared Journal you’d like to transfer your ownership of.
Click the Edit Journal button and select Journal Settings

Under the Journal Sharing section, select the members section.

Select the member you want to transfer the journal ownership to. Select the three dots on the left top corner to expand the menu, and select “Transfer Journal”.

Shared Journal Notifications

With the introduction of Shared Journals, the Android and iOS apps now include notifications about events in the Shared Journal. For more information on which things the app will notify you of, please head over to this guide.

Shared Journals FAQs

What are Shared Journals?

Shared Journals are a new type of journal in Day One that allows you to invite others to view, comment, or add entries of their own to a Shared Journal. All Day One users can create unlimited Shared Journals, and anyone they invite can view, comment, or add entries to a Shared Journal.

Why would I want to share my journal? It’s private!

Journals, by nature, are intimate spaces to process thoughts, feelings, experiences, and ideas. Choosing to share your journal or keep it private is a personal decision. There are various reasons to consider sharing a journal, as well as strong reasons to keep it private.

Over the years, we’ve heard from a lot of Day One users who would like to be able to share one of their journals with a spouse or family, a small circle of friends, or a therapist, teacher, or mentor. So, Shared Journals are a new Day One feature to bridge this gap.

Are Shared Journals secure?

Shared journals have all the same protections as your Day One personal journals. The only people who can access a Shared Journal are the people you invite to them. All Shared Journals are end-to-end encrypted. Even Day One can’t access your journal or any content within your journals.

How can I be sure I won’t accidentally share something that was meant to be private?

We’ve designed Shared Journals so it will be obvious to you when you’re about to share something that others might see. For example, when you’re creating a new entry in a Shared Journal with more than one member, you’ll see a banner indicating the people who will see it. When you move an entry into a shared journal with more than one member, you’ll see a warning message asking you to confirm the action first.

Do I need a Silver or Gold membership to share a journal?

No, free and subscribed users of Day One can create a Shared Journal.

Can I share a single journal entry?

Only journal entries created in a Shared Journal can be shared, and only with those that you invite to the Shared Journal. Journal entries in your personal journals aren’t shareable, but you can copy the journal entry into a Shared Journal in order to share.

Can I share or publish a journal entry to the web?

No, Shared Journals only allow sharing within Day One, not to the web. Those you invite to a Shared Journal will need to have a free Day One account to access the Shared Journal.

Will my Shared Journal be available on all my devices?

Yes, if you are a Silver or Gold member, your shared journals will sync across your devices just like personal journals do. Right now, Shared Journals are available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac (in beta) and Day One on the Web. Here’s a comparison chart of the Shared Journals features supported by each platform.

Are Shared Journals available in Day One on Mac?

Shared Journals are currently a beta feature of our macOS app, so it has limited functionality. You can view and write entries in Shared Journals on Mac, but member management – inviting, approving, or removing participants – is not available in the Day One Mac app. To manage members, use the Day One iOS, Android, Windows app, or the web app at dayone.me. See currently supported features here.

How many people can I share my journal with?

Right now, Shared Journals can have 30 members (including the owner).

What can I share in my Shared Journal?

You can share anything you would add to a regular journal. As a Silver or Gold member, you can add up to 30 media attachments per entry (combined across photos, videos, audio recordings, drawings, and files). If you’re a free Basic member, you can add entries with one photo per entry (free members cannot add videos to an entry). There is no overall limit to the number of media attachments you can add to the journal as a whole – the 30-media cap applies per entry, not per journal. You can also add comments and reactions to shared entries. Even if you’re a free member, you’ll be able to open and view everything that everyone else shares with you in a Shared Journal – photos, videos, audio, and all. Everything you add to a Shared Journal is end-to-end encrypted.

Can I convert my Personal Journals or Existing Journals into a Shared Journal?

No, existing personal journals cannot be directly converted into a Shared Journal. However, there are steps you can take to share your journal entries with others, such as copying or moving entries from a personal journal into a new Shared Journal.

How many Shared Journals can I have?

You can create as many as you would like.

Will I ever see ads in Shared Journals?

Absolutely not! We’ll never show ads in your journals. Day One will always be an ad-free, private space.

What if I invited someone to my Shared Journal but now I’ve changed my mind?

As the owner of a Shared Journal, you can remove someone from your journal at any time. You can also withdraw from a Shared Journal at any time.

Here is how you can remove someone from your shared journal:

Go to your Settings
Select “Journals”
Click on the shared journal you want to manage
Click the “Journal Sharing” section, or if you are in the Web/Windows app, click where it shows the number of members.
Find the member you want to remove
Click the three-dot menu at the top
Select “Revoke Access”

How can I share feedback on Shared Journals?

We’d love to know what you think about Shared Journals. Please share your feedback here.

Can multiple people edit an entry in a Shared Journal

Entries in a shared journal can only be edited by the shared journal member who created the entry. Journal participants can comment on entries, but not edit the content of an entry they did not create.

Can I move an entry from one Shared Journal to another?

Entries in shared journals cannot be moved:

You cannot move your own entries out of a shared journal.
You cannot move entries from one shared journal to another.

Are shared journals encrypted?

Yes, your shared journals are protected by encryption. Only users you have invited to your Journal can decrypt and see the contents of the entries. It’s important to know that the key used to decrypt each journal, whether it’s a shared journal or a private one, is unique. This per-journal key is then protected by your personal Day One encryption key. You will never need to enter a separate encryption key for a specific journal; you always use your personal key.

Important: Never share your Day One encryption key with anyone else, and only enter your own encryption key in your own account.

Can I merge two shared journals together?

No, due to the unique permissions on shared journals, there is no way to merge two shared journals together, and entries cannot be moved out of a shared journal into another journal. The only way to merge two shared journals would be to manually copy the entries from one to the other.

Troubleshooting Shared Journals

I can’t add members to my Shared Journal!

If you’re unable to add members to your shared journal, please try the following steps:

Check for App Updates: Make sure your Day One app is updated to the latest version. Sometimes, issues like these are resolved in newer updates.
Network Connection: Ensure that you have a strong Wi-Fi connection and try toggling your Wi-Fi off and on again, or switch to mobile data to see if the issue persists.
Restart the App: Close the Day One app completely and then reopen it. This can sometimes resolve temporary glitches.
Try inviting from the web app: try adding members from the web app at https://dayone.me.

My encryption key isn’t working for a shared journal

Make sure you are entering your own encryption key. You never need to enter another user’s key, and you should never share your own encryption key with anyone else.