{"id":"bridge-devices.what-is-the-bridge-heartbeat","url":"/faq/bridge-devices/what-is-the-bridge-heartbeat","category":{"id":"bridge-devices","title":"Bridge & your devices"},"subcategory":{"id":"connection","title":"Staying connected"},"question":"What is the heartbeat or “last handshake” in Bridge?","alt_questions":["Why does Bridge say last handshake?","Heartbeat every 20s meaning","What is Last hello on a Bridge device?","How does Bridge know a device is still there?","Bridge keep-alive"],"short_answer":"It's a tiny keep-alive sent about every 20 seconds, even while paused, to confirm the other device is still there. “Last handshake … ago” shows when the latest one arrived — live proof the Bridge link is healthy.","answer_markdown":"It's a tiny keep-alive that a connected link sends roughly every 20 seconds — even while sharing is paused — to confirm the other device is still reachable. The **last handshake** (or **Last hello**) time shows how long ago the most recent one arrived.\n\nA recent time is live proof the link is healthy. If the beats stop, Bridge knows the device has gone offline and drops it until it's back. It carries no files, so it uses almost nothing.\n\n- [Why did my device disconnect?](/faq/bridge-devices/why-did-my-bridge-device-disconnect-by-itself)\n- [What do the status messages mean?](/faq/bridge-devices/what-do-bridge-status-messages-mean)","answer_html":"

It's a tiny keep-alive that a connected link sends roughly every 20 seconds — even while sharing is paused — to confirm the other device is still reachable. The last handshake (or Last hello) time shows how long ago the most recent one arrived.

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A recent time is live proof the link is healthy. If the beats stop, Bridge knows the device has gone offline and drops it until it's back. It carries no files, so it uses almost nothing.

\n","answer_text":"It's a tiny keep-alive that a connected link sends roughly every 20 seconds — even while sharing is paused — to confirm the other device is still reachable. The last handshake (or Last hello) time shows how long ago the most recent one arrived.\n\nA recent time is live proof the link is healthy. If the beats stop, Bridge knows the device has gone offline and drops it until it's back. It carries no files, so it uses almost nothing.\n\n- Why did my device disconnect?\n- What do the status messages mean?","tags":["bridge","heartbeat","connection"],"related":[{"id":"bridge-devices.what-do-bridge-status-messages-mean","question":"What do Bridge's status messages like “Securing the link…” mean?","url":"/faq/bridge-devices/what-do-bridge-status-messages-mean"},{"id":"bridge-devices.why-did-my-bridge-device-disconnect-by-itself","question":"Why did my Bridge device disconnect by itself?","url":"/faq/bridge-devices/why-did-my-bridge-device-disconnect-by-itself"}],"applies_to":"all","last_reviewed":"2026-10-01","title":"What is the heartbeat or “last handshake” in Bridge? — Storage Studio FAQ","description":"It's a tiny keep-alive sent about every 20 seconds, even while paused, to confirm the other device is still there. “Last handshake … ago” shows when the latest one arrived — live proof the Bridge link is healthy.","crumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"FAQ","path":"/faq/"},{"name":"Bridge & your devices","path":"/faq/bridge-devices/"},{"name":"What is the heartbeat or “last handshake” in Bridge?","path":"/faq/bridge-devices/what-is-the-bridge-heartbeat"}],"jsonld":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/bridge-devices/what-is-the-bridge-heartbeat","inLanguage":"en","dateModified":"2026-10-01","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the heartbeat or “last handshake” in Bridge?","alternateName":["Why does Bridge say last handshake?","Heartbeat every 20s meaning","What is Last hello on a Bridge device?","How does Bridge know a device is still there?","Bridge keep-alive"],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It's a tiny keep-alive that a connected link sends roughly every 20 seconds — even while sharing is paused — to confirm the other device is still reachable. The last handshake (or Last hello) time shows how long ago the most recent one arrived.\n\nA recent time is live proof the link is healthy. If the beats stop, Bridge knows the device has gone offline and drops it until it's back. It carries no files, so it uses almost nothing.\n\n- Why did my device disconnect?\n- What do the status messages mean?","url":"https://storagestudio.us/faq/bridge-devices/what-is-the-bridge-heartbeat"}}]},"fragment":"
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Bridge & your devices · Staying connected

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What is the heartbeat or “last handshake” in Bridge?

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Short answer: It's a tiny keep-alive sent about every 20 seconds, even while paused, to confirm the other device is still there. “Last handshake … ago” shows when the latest one arrived — live proof the Bridge link is healthy.

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It's a tiny keep-alive that a connected link sends roughly every 20 seconds — even while sharing is paused — to confirm the other device is still reachable. The last handshake (or Last hello) time shows how long ago the most recent one arrived.

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A recent time is live proof the link is healthy. If the beats stop, Bridge knows the device has gone offline and drops it until it's back. It carries no files, so it uses almost nothing.

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Last reviewed

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Related questions

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Also available as Markdown and JSON.

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