Pair the desktop companion

Get a pairing code

Codes are issued from the web app. Open Pairing there, and on the Desktop pairing card choose Mac code. A code is shown for ten minutes. The iPhone and Android apps cannot issue a pairing code, so start from the web app even if your phone is closer to hand.

The Windows companion is not available yet. Since late September 2026 the production web app issues only Mac codes, and the card says so. This article used to say you could choose macOS or Windows; the sentences below that describe Windows describe the Windows companion, for when it is available.

Enter the code on the desktop

On macOS, open the companion from the menu bar, type the code into the code field, and choose Pair beside it. On Windows, the companion opens from the tray, where you choose Pair and then type the code.

Check that pairing worked

The Mac companion does not name the account it joined, and neither does the Windows companion, so what you are checking is the pairing state rather than which account you are on.

On macOS, the status at the top of the companion's panel reads Needs pairing until a code is accepted; the menu-bar icon itself does not change. While the code is being checked it reads Pairing this Mac, which is not yet a confirmation: a code that is refused puts it back to Needs pairing, and the panel shows Pairing failed. Check the code and try again. Once the code is accepted the status changes to one of the paired states, and that is the confirmation that pairing worked. It changes immediately. An earlier version of this article said it then reads Tracking active, which is the usual case but not the only one: a paired Mac can also read Paused, Tracking unavailable, Offline - retrying or Upload error.

A separate Last synced line with a relative time — "Last synced 2 minutes ago" — appears only after the Mac has actually uploaded something, which is later. Waiting for it as proof of pairing means watching for text that will not arrive for a while, and concluding the pairing failed when it did not.

On Windows, the Windows companion's tray shows its pairing state and the time of its last upload, and the menu item itself reads Pair or Paired.

If the state does not change after you enter a code, the likeliest cause is that the code expired — they last ten minutes. Issue a new one from the web app and enter it again. The Mac companion has no distinct "expired code" message, and neither does the Windows companion, so a code that has run out and a code typed wrongly look the same from here.

Unpair or revoke a companion

Disconnecting on the computer and revoking from the web app are different things. Revoking is what stops that computer's access to your account.

On macOS, open the menu-bar companion and choose Disconnect this Mac, at the end of the pairing panel. In the Windows companion, you open the tray menu and choose Disconnect this PC. Either one is selectable only while that computer is paired, and it removes the pairing and anything still waiting to sync from that computer.

On macOS, disconnecting also asks Achetrace to revoke the Mac, once and without trying again. If the Mac cannot reach Achetrace at that moment, the companion says the Mac may still appear in your account's device list, and you can revoke it from the web app.

In the Windows companion, disconnecting does not revoke the PC's access. The web app still lists the PC as Can upload afterwards, and it stays that way until you revoke it.

To revoke a computer, open Pairing in the web app and find it under Paired computers. Choose Revoke, read the confirmation, and then choose Confirm revoke. The list then shows the date the computer was revoked.

Can upload means that computer's pairing is still valid. It does not mean the computer is switched on or connected right now. No contact since pairing means it has not called in since you paired it.

A revoked computer can no longer upload. It shows Needs pairing only when it next tries to upload, so a computer that is asleep or offline can still look paired until then.

Revoke any computer you no longer have. To use a revoked computer again, issue a new code from the web app and pair it again.

The iPhone and Android apps cannot revoke a computer, so revoke from the web app.