01 — Empty states
put.io doesn't do sad mascots or stock illustrations
Empty states in put.io are text-first. A mono-typed glyph or kaomoji sits where an illustration
would, followed by a plain-spoken headline and a single actionable sentence. No artwork. No hand-holding tutorials.
The tone is dry, occasionally cheeky, never apologetic — the product trusts the user is a grown-up.
Drop a magnet link, paste a URL, or install the browser extension — put.io handles the rest.
Files › /Movies/2026quiet
[ ]
Empty folder.
Drag files here, or move something in from elsewhere.
Search · "cassini ring scans"quiet
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nothing matches.
No files, folders, or transfers named cassini ring scans. Try fewer words, or search the whole account.
Shared with mequiet
<< ·· >>
Nobody's shared anything with you.
When a friend drops you a folder, it'll land here. You can share one back from any file's menu.
Trashquiet
(ง ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)ง
Trash is empty.
Nothing recoverable. Clean slate.
Activity historyinstructive
>_
No activity in the last 30 days.
Completed transfers, shares, and renames show up here for 90 days. Adjust retention.
TV & Devicesinstructive
┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘
No TVs paired.
Install put.io on Apple TV, Android TV, or Fire TV, then enter the code at put.io/pair.
put.io/pair · code: — — — —
Settings › API Keysinstructive
[— — — —]
No OAuth apps yet.
Register an app to get a client ID and secret. Full docs at api.put.io.
Notificationsquiet
ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
All caught up.
No transfers finished, no shares received, nothing on fire.
Transfers · blockederror
!!
Storage is full.
You've hit your 1 TB plan limit. Delete something, or upgrade to 10 TB — new transfers resume automatically.
Connection losterror
(x_x)
Can't reach put.io.
Your connection dropped, or we did. Retrying automatically in a few seconds.
How to write one
One glyph, one line, one sentence. Headline is a period-ended statement of fact. Body is a single sentence with at most one link.
Mono glyph — no illustrations. Kaomoji, ASCII brackets, or symbols set in var(--font-mono). Never stock art, never emoji.
Tone ladder:cheeky for quirky screens (RSS, device pairing), instructive when the user actually needs a next step, quiet by default, error when something's wrong.
Never apologize. Don't say "sorry" or "oops". The user is fine. The product is fine.
Suggest a next step if one exists. One primary button max. No "Learn more" buttons — link from the sentence instead.