Beta channel · 5.6.1
See what's coming, early.
The beta channel is where the next VaultSort release gets finished. It is where Windows support, Disk Shred and free-space overwrite each landed first, and where whatever comes next is already being worked on.
It is genuinely a prerelease, and less settled than the stable release. Read the section below before you join — the way updates work makes it hard to undo.
Get the beta
Two platforms, one channel.
macOS
Replaces your installed copy and follows the beta channel from then on.
Apple silicon · .dmg · 5.6.1 · 230 MB
Windows
The prerelease Windows build. A stable Windows release is on the download page.
Windows 10 & 11 · 64-bit · .exe · 5.6.1 · 211 MB
Prefer the settled build? Download stable VaultSort for Mac (5.6.1). Stable VaultSort for Windows is there too.
Read this part
Joining the beta is close to a one-way door.
VaultSort updates never move backwards. If you install a beta and later switch back to Stable in Settings, you do not return to the release you came from — you stop receiving beta updates and stay on the build you have until a stable release comes out that is newer than it.
In practice that means the switch back is a decision to stop moving, not a decision to go back. Until a stable release ships that is newer than the beta you are running, the beta is where you stay.
Reinstalling the stable build over the top is not a way around it either; the app will not replace a newer version with an older one.
If you are already on a beta
Settings → Updates has a Stable/Beta switch. Prerelease builds follow the beta channel automatically, and switching to Stable tells you up front that you will stay where you are.
If you are on 5.6.1
Settings → Updates has the same Stable/Beta switch — it is in every current build. Downloading from this page is the way to move across straight away.
On Windows
The switch works the same way it does on macOS, and the same one-way rule applies.
What has landed
Beta release notes.
- 5.5.0-beta.02026-09-30
VaultSort 5.5.0-beta.0
A new look: graphite surfaces, the system's own translucent sidebar, live 3D artwork for Organize, Clean and Protect, a redesigned launch screen and a calmer Advanced Organize.
- 5.4.0-beta.1602026-09-23
VaultSort 5.4.0-beta.160
Files encrypted before you had a recovery code can now be given one, the Vault previews video, and a long list of secure-delete claims that were not true are now either true or withdrawn.
- 5.4.0-beta.452026-09-19
VaultSort 5.4.0-beta.45
Every long-running job now lives in one panel you can watch and stop, quitting asks before it interrupts work, and an erase says exactly what it will cover before you confirm.
- 5.4.0-beta.212026-09-11
VaultSort 5.4.0-beta.21
Notes get a paper editor with colour tags and an outline, updates can install themselves without interrupting you, and you can now move a Vault.
- 5.4.0-beta.162026-09-09
VaultSort 5.4.0-beta.16
The Vault grows up: look at files without exporting them, move the whole Vault to another drive, and file, move and search notes across every folder.
- 5.3.0-beta.652026-09-07
VaultSort 5.3.0-beta.65
The Vault arrives — an encrypted space inside VaultSort for your files, folders and notes — plus a full-window focus mode for the Storage Map.
When something is wrong
Tell us what you hit.
A beta is only worth running if what you find gets fixed. The more specific the report, the faster that happens.
Report a problemWorth including
- The exact version, from Settings → About
- Which platform, and whether it is Apple silicon or x64
- What you did, and what happened instead
- Whether it happens every time or once
Windows-specific? The Windows page covers the things that are expected rather than broken — SmartScreen chief among them.