How can we help?

One place for the whole surf community: sessions, boards and films, organized by surf break and date. Surfers find their waves and request the shots. Photographers share sessions and get found. Shapers and brands show their boards, sessions and films. On iOS, Android and the web.

Download SurfVault from the App Store or Google Play, or go to app.surf-vault.com. Sign up with Apple, Google, or email and password. You'll pick a handle, choose whether you're a Surfer, Photographer, Shaper or Brand, and set your profile visibility. You can change your account type later in Settings.

Every account can upload photos and video, post sessions, browse, favorite breaks and message people. A few things depend on your type:

• Photographers are listed in the photographer directory and get the People view in the Library, which sorts your shots by the surfer in them.
• Shapers and brands can also post boards, which show up in the Explore boards grid and the Nearby Shapers & Brands rail. Brand is for surf labels and businesses.

Everyone is on the same plans, and you can switch types anytime in Settings.

No. Every core feature is free, with 15 GB of storage. Paid plans (on app.surf-vault.com) add storage, let you use your own logo as your watermark and add a verified badge. Just want the badge? The Verified plan is $1.99/mo. See Pricing.

Sessions are organized by surf break and date, so go to the spot and day you surfed and find your waves, even if you never caught the photographer's name. People can also tag you, so sessions you're in show up in your notifications and on your profile.

Whoever posted the session can sort its photos and clips into colored groups, like a rider or a rashguard color ("Red rashguard"). Tap a group chip on the session to see only those shots.

While browsing you see smaller, clean previews so you can spot yourself. Open one full screen and it carries the owner's watermark, unless they turned the mark off. A blurred gallery means the profile is private. To get the originals, you need to own the session or have an approved access request.

Open the session and tap Request Media. The owner is notified and can grant you access to view and download the originals, for a set time or with no end date. On a private profile you'll also see Request Access on the profile itself.

Not always. Some photographers turn on auto-grant, so you can unlock their originals instantly. When you download from one, you can save to your Vault, your camera roll, or both.

In the app, open the session, tap a photo, then the download icon, or use Save Photos from the session menu. On the web, use the download button on the session page.

Use Save to Photos in the app on any shot you have access to, or on your access request. It saves the full-quality original to your camera roll. In your phone's web browser, Save to Photos opens the share sheet so you can save the files to Photos.

Drafts are only visible to their owner. A few people also keep their whole profile private: it can still be found, but its sessions need an approved access request to view.

Everything uploads from your Library, on the web and in the app, for every account type. Tap + then New session, pick a break and a date, and you land in your new draft. Tap + again to add photos and video: Upload from device or Upload from Google Drive on the web, Upload from photo library or Upload from Files in the app. Group the shots, choose a cover, then Publish. You can also upload to your Inbox and file things into a session later.

New uploads land in your Inbox. File them into a session and it's a Draft, private to you while you group, caption and pick a cover. Hit Publish and it goes live. Groups can be added in the Library or on the session page.

Yes. Deleted photos and videos go to your Trash, at the bottom of the Library menu. They come off your profile, feeds and shares straight away and only you can see them. Select them and tap Restore to put them back where they were (anything whose session was deleted goes to your Inbox). Your Trash deletes items for good after 30 days. To change that to 7 or 90 days, or Never, tap Change at the top of your Trash, or go to Settings, Preferences, Trash.

You decide. Drafts stay private until you publish. Published sessions show smaller, clean feed images and a watermarked full-screen view, and the full-quality originals stay private until you approve a request. To hand someone a set directly, send them a share link. See how your photos stay yours.

Every account gets the free SurfVault watermark on its sessions by default. It credits your work and helps protect it. Pick a style or turn it off in Settings, and on any paid plan use your own logo instead. See every watermark style.

Yes. Add clips to a session right alongside your photos. Feeds show a short clean teaser, the full clip plays watermarked (unless you've turned the mark off), and the original unlocks once you grant access. Clips have a maximum length and file size, and you'll be told before uploading if one is too big. Your storage covers photos and video together.

Surf films and edits that play from YouTube, linked to the breaks they were shot at, the sessions from the same days, and the surfers, shapers and brands in them. If you're tagged in a film, accept the tag and it's credited on your profile. Learn more about films.

Pin your best photos and clips to a Highlights tab on your profile. Every account type can. Add them from your Library; the tab only shows once it has something in it. Adding a shot to Highlights publishes it.

Yes. Anyone signed in can comment on a published session or a single photo, reply, and @mention people. You can add a caption to any photo, and turn comments off for a session in its details.

On This Day brings back sessions and films shot on today's date in past years. If you have memories from that day (sessions you posted, sessions you're tagged in, films you're in), you'll get one notification. Turn it off in Settings.

Anything you publish publicly can show up, credited to you, across SurfVault: feeds, search, maps, your profile and community showcases on surf-vault.com. Drafts never appear. To take something down, unpublish it or make your profile private. We'll always ask before featuring your work outside SurfVault, like on Instagram.

Photographers, shapers and brands can add payment methods (PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle or any payment link) under Payments & tips (Edit Profile in the app, Settings on the web), so people can pay you directly. You can also tap Generate payment link in a conversation to send a specific amount. The money goes straight to your own account: SurfVault never touches it and takes 0%. Prefer tips? Turn on the donations toggle for a "Buy Me a Coffee" block.

See Getting paid for the best international options, like Payoneer and Wise.

The same way: buyers pay you directly through the methods on your profile, or you send a quote with Generate payment link in a conversation. Surfers can message you about a custom order right from the board page.

Choose Shaper or Brand when you sign up, switch in Settings, or add a separate account from Manage Accounts. Shaper is for people shaping boards; Brand is for surf labels and businesses. Both post boards and sessions.

Tap + in your Library, then New board. Add photos and video of each shape. Every board gets its own page with its dimensions and a button for surfers to message you about it.

Your boards show up in the Explore boards grid and in the Nearby Shapers & Brands rail for surfers near your home break. New sessions reach your followers and the surfers who favorite that break. The more you post, the more you surface.

No. SurfVault doesn't run ads or sponsored placements. Brands show up through the sessions, boards and films they post.

In the app: Profile, the ⋯ menu, then Settings. On the web: Settings, then Preferences. Switch distance units, set your nearby radius, choose which push notifications you get (including mentions, comments and On This Day) and whether you show on the map. Settings sync across your devices.

In Settings. Only shapers and brands post boards, so switching to Surfer or Photographer asks you to confirm first: your boards are removed and their photos move back to your Library Inbox. No photos or video are deleted.

In the app: Profile, then Edit Profile (tap the avatar to change your picture). On the web: Settings, then Profile. You can change your handle anytime.

On your profile, tap your status bubble. Status notes expire automatically after 7 days.

Most people don't need to: drafts, watermarks, access requests and share links already keep your originals in your hands. If you want your whole profile behind requests, turn on Private in Edit Profile. People can still find you, but your sessions stay out of public feeds, your gallery is blurred for anyone you haven't approved, and comments are off.

Yes, up to 5 linked accounts per device (say a surfer and a shaper account). Each is a separate profile with its own followers, uploads and plan; you just don't have to sign in again to switch. Add one from Manage Accounts (Profile, ⋯ menu in the app; the sidebar on the web). Notifications for every linked account come to the device, and tapping one switches to the right account. Each account is billed separately. To sign out of just one, use Remove from this device on its row.

Only to show nearby breaks, photographers and sessions. You can say no or revoke it anytime; the app works without it, and nearby falls back to your home break. On the web, if you haven't shared your location, we estimate your city from your IP address so the map starts in the right place. That estimate isn't saved to your account.

Email support@surf-vault.com with a link to it. We'll review it and, where appropriate, remove it or ask the person who posted it to.

Check that notifications are on for SurfVault in your phone's Settings app. If it's never asked, open SurfVault and the "Stay in the loop" prompt will. Then fine-tune which alerts you get in the app's Settings.

Open their profile and tap Message. Pick up any conversation from your Messages tab.

They closed their account. Your past messages are kept so you don't lose the conversation, but you can't send them new ones.

On the web: sign in at app.surf-vault.com, then Settings, then Billing & Plans to change or cancel. Plans renew until you cancel, and if you cancel you keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for.

No, plans are bought on the web only. Once you subscribe, your plan works everywhere: iOS, Android and the web.

Nothing gets deleted. If you're over your new limit, you just can't upload more until you free up space or upgrade again.

Deleted photos and videos wait in your Trash and still count toward your storage until they're deleted for good. Open Library, Trash and tap Empty Trash (in the app, the open-lid icon at the top), or select items and tap Delete permanently. Either way it can't be undone.

Email support@surf-vault.com with your handle and the reason. We handle refunds case by case.

In the app: Profile, the ⋯ menu, Account, then Close Account. On the web: Settings, Billing & Plans, then Close account at the bottom.

Yes. During the 30 days you still have full access. On the web, open your Library, select what you want to keep and tap Download to get a zip from Library, Downloads. Download links expire after 7 days, so save the zip somewhere safe.

Sign back in. A banner shows how many days are left and lets you cancel with one tap. If you cancel before your billing period ends, your paid plan carries on as normal.

Try these in order:

1. Force-quit the app and reopen it.
2. Restart your phone.
3. Update to the latest version from the App Store or Google Play.
4. Still happening? Email support@surf-vault.com with your phone model, OS version and what you were doing when it crashed.

Uploads process in the background, and video takes a little longer than photos. Refresh after a minute or two, and check your Trash in case they were deleted. Still missing after 10 minutes? Email support@surf-vault.com.

On the sign-in screen, tap Reset password and we'll email you a link. If you signed up with Apple or Google, you don't have a password: use the same sign-in method.

Use the same method you signed up with. SurfVault links sign-ins that share the same verified email, so signing up with Google and later using Apple with that email takes you to the same account.