How Violentmonkey Syncs Data Across Browsers

Violentmonkey can keep your userscripts and settings consistent across browsers and devices by syncing them to a cloud service you choose: Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or a WebDAV service. You set up the connection once per browser, point each installation at the same account, and the extension keeps the data aligned. This works for moving scripts and settings between devices, and for keeping two browsers on the same machine in step. It is not automatic out of the box — you have to enable and configure sync yourself.

What actually gets synced

Violentmonkey describes its sync feature as keeping "data on the cloud" and syncing "between different browsers." In practice, that covers the things you accumulate while using the extension:

• Installed userscripts — the scripts themselves, so a script added on one browser appears on the others.
• Script settings and stored values — the per-script options and data that scripts save.
• Extension-level preferences — your Violentmonkey configuration, so a new install doesn't start from defaults.

The point of syncing is consistency: you install or edit a script once, and the other browsers pick up the same state instead of you repeating the work on each one.

Supported sync targets

Violentmonkey lists four options, and you pick one as your sync backend:

Because all four are supported, the choice is mostly about which account you already have and whether you prefer a hosted service or your own WebDAV endpoint. The sync mechanism is the same regardless of which one you choose.

How to set it up

The exact menu labels depend on your Violentmonkey version, but the flow is consistent:

1. Open Violentmonkey's settings in the browser where your scripts already live. This is the source you want to push from.
2. Find the sync section and choose your service — Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or WebDAV.
3. Authorize the connection. For the cloud services this means signing in and granting access; for WebDAV you enter the server address and credentials.
4. Let the first sync complete. Your existing scripts and settings upload to the chosen service.
5. Repeat on every other browser. Install Violentmonkey, open sync settings, select the same service, and authorize with the same account.
6. Verify. Check that the scripts from the first browser now appear in the second, and that a small change (adding or editing a script) shows up on the other side after syncing.

The critical condition is step 5: every browser must point at the same account or WebDAV endpoint. Different accounts mean separate, unrelated data sets.

Where sync goes wrong

• Different accounts or endpoints. The most common cause of "my scripts didn't show up" is authorizing a different account on the second browser. Confirm the account identity, not just the service.
• Assuming it's on by default. Violentmonkey's own note stresses that it "does not modify web pages automatically" and that changes come only from scripts you install. Sync is likewise something you configure — don't expect cross-device consistency until you've connected a service.
• Expecting instant propagation. Sync depends on the service and on when the browser runs the sync. If a change hasn't appeared, trigger a sync or reload rather than assuming it failed.
• Trusting scripts blindly. Since synced scripts run on your other browsers too, a script you sync is a script you're choosing to run everywhere. Violentmonkey's own guidance is to "install only scripts that you trust" — that applies doubly when sync spreads them across devices.

When this is the right approach

Use cloud sync if you work across multiple browsers or machines and want one set of scripts and settings everywhere, and you're comfortable connecting Violentmonkey to a Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or WebDAV account. If you only ever use one browser on one device, sync adds a connection you don't need. If you want to avoid third-party cloud storage entirely, WebDAV against your own server is the option that keeps the data under your control.