Privacy policy
Last updated: 11 August 2026
washi opens PDFs that are already on your machine and puts them on screen. What you open can be personal, so here is exactly what it reads, what it leaves behind, and why none of it goes anywhere.
What it reads
Only the PDF files you open. Each file is read into memory in one go and the handle is closed immediately. The contents live in memory purely to be drawn, and are discarded when you close the document. Nothing about them is written to disk or sent anywhere.
Network
washi makes no outside connections at all. There is no server, no account, no telemetry, no analytics — not even an update check. It contains no code that reaches out, so nothing leaves your machine.
What is stored on your machine
The fit mode, the auto-advance interval, whether fullscreen starts advancing, what happens at the last page, and the window position and size. That is the whole list, and it lives in a settings file on your own machine. It holds nothing from the documents you opened and keeps no list of recent files.
What is never recorded
washi records none of it: not the name, the contents, the page count, or how far you read. There is no recent-files list and no thumbnail cache. Nothing measures usage either, so washi keeps no record of what you opened, or when, or how often. Windows itself, however, may add a file you picked through the open dialog to its own list of recent items.
Error log
When something unexpected goes wrong, washi writes a log on your machine so the cause can be traced. It usually keeps running afterwards, so a log can be written without washi shutting down. It is technical information only, though depending on the fault it can include the path of the file that was open. The log never leaves your machine, and you can delete it.
Sharing with third parties
None. There is no recipient and no data to send.
Contact
Questions about this policy, and bug reports for washi, go here.