> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.zas.red/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Stored in Zas

> How a stored item works: encrypted on your device, held as encrypted chunks for five days, then deleted. Sizes, storage caps and what counts against them.

A stored item is the default. You send something, Zas holds an encrypted copy, and your other devices pick it up whenever they open Zas.

Nobody has to be online at the same time.

## What happens when you send

<Steps>
  <Step title="Zas encrypts on your device">
    Encryption happens in your browser or app, before anything leaves the device. The Zas servers never receive the plain file.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Zas splits it into chunks">
    The encrypted file is uploaded as chunks. This is what makes a large upload survive a dropped connection.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your other devices see it">
    The item appears in the channel you sent it to, with its countdown ring already running.
  </Step>

  <Step title="It deletes itself">
    Five days later the item and its chunks are deleted. Two days for an anonymous session.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Zas does not compress your file and does not re-encode your photo or video. What arrives is what you sent.

## Sizes and caps

Two different limits apply, and they are easy to confuse.

**File size** is the largest single item you can store. **Storage** is the total of everything you are holding at once.

|                     | Without an account | Free plan |
| ------------------- | ------------------ | --------- |
| Largest stored file | 30 MB              | 50 MB     |
| Total storage       | 30 MB              | 100 MB    |

Zas shows you the limit before you send, not after the upload fails.

<Note>
  A file larger than your stored limit is not stuck. Send it with [Direct transfer](/en/concepts/direct) instead, which goes up to 10 GB on the free plan.
</Note>

## Freeing space

Storage is what you hold right now, so it frees itself.

* An item that expires releases its space.
* Deleting an item releases its space immediately.
* A **pinned** item holds its space for as long as it stays pinned. Pins pause the clock, so a pinned item never expires on its own.

## Where the encrypted copy sits

Stored files are held as encrypted chunks on **DigitalOcean Spaces**. Firebase holds the database, authentication and hosting.

These providers can process data outside Argentina. Zas does not sell data and does not share it for advertising.

## What you can do with a stored item

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Pin it" icon="thumbtack" href="/en/using-zas/pins">
    Pause the countdown until you release it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Share it" icon="link" href="/en/using-zas/share-links">
    Make a public link that carries the key in the web address.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Move it to a channel" icon="users" href="/en/using-zas/channels">
    Send it to a group instead of only your own devices.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Export it" icon="file-zipper" href="/en/using-zas/export">
    Download everything you hold as one ZIP.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>