Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Sharp Cooking cost?

Sharp Cooking is completely free! We believe everyone should have access to a great recipe management tool without subscription fees or paywalls.

To keep Sharp Cooking free, we show contextual ads alongside your recipes. These ads are based on what you're cooking (like showing baking supplies when you're viewing a cake recipe), not on tracking you around the web. We use minimal cookies to prevent fraud, but no tracking cookies that follow you across sites.

This privacy-respecting approach means you get full access to all features—AI-powered recipe extraction, unlimited storage, voice control, offline access, and recipe sharing—without paying a cent.

Is Sharp Cooking accessible for people with disabilities?

Absolutely. We're committed to exceeding WCAG 2.2 compliance standards and making Sharp Cooking usable by everyone. Accessibility isn't an afterthought—it's a core design principle from day one.

Sharp Cooking includes full screen reader support with semantic HTML, complete keyboard navigation for those who can't use a mouse, voice control for hands-free cooking when your hands are messy, and high contrast modes with customizable text sizes for better visibility.

We follow best practices from The A11Y Project and WebAIM to ensure a great experience for everyone. But we know we can always do better.

If you encounter accessibility issues or have suggestions for improvement, please contact us. Your feedback directly shapes how we build and improve Sharp Cooking.

What languages does Sharp Cooking support?

Sharp Cooking is designed to handle recipes in virtually any language—you can store recipes in Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, or any other language your device supports. The platform uses Unicode throughout, so international characters, special symbols, and diverse writing systems work seamlessly.

For the user interface, we currently offer English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, and Swedish. We're actively working on adding more UI languages based on user demand. The AI recipe extraction also works across many languages, intelligently detecting and parsing recipes regardless of the source language.

Found a translation issue or want to see your language added to the UI selector? Let us know. Community feedback helps us prioritize which languages to add next.

How does Sharp Cooking protect my privacy?

Your privacy isn't negotiable. We've built Sharp Cooking around a simple principle: your recipes and personal information belong to you, not us.

We don't sell your data. Period. Your recipes, cooking habits, and personal information will never be sold to data brokers, advertisers, or anyone else. We only use strictly necessary authentication cookies to keep you logged in—no tracking cookies, no advertising cookies, no consent banner required.

Our analytics (Plausible) is completely cookieless and privacy-focused. All your recipes are protected from search engines and AI web scrapers. We actively block bots like GPTBot, Google's crawler, and others from accessing your recipe collection. Your content stays yours, not training data for someone else's AI model.

For complete details about cookies, data handling, security practices, and your rights, read our full Privacy Policy.

Can I share recipes from cookbooks or recipe websites?

Sharp Cooking respects copyright law. This is a personal digital recipe organizer—think of it as a digital recipe box or filing cabinet for your own use, not a recipe sharing or discovery platform.

Your recipes stay private by default. You can share individual recipes with specific people via QR codes or shareable links—perfect for sending your famous lasagna recipe to a friend or family member who asks for it. But there's no public recipe feed, no social features, and no way to bulk-distribute recipes.

We have usage limits built in to prevent copyright violations and abuse. These limits allow reasonable personal sharing (like texting a recipe to your mom) while preventing the platform from being used to pirate entire cookbooks or mass-distribute copyrighted content.

The same rules that apply to photocopying a recipe from a cookbook or printing one from a website apply here: personal use is fine, mass distribution isn't. Sharp Cooking is designed to help you organize and use your recipes, not circumvent copyright.

What devices and browsers work with Sharp Cooking?

Sharp Cooking works on virtually any modern device with a web browser. On desktop, we support Chrome, Safari, and Edge (latest versions). On mobile, you'll need iOS 14 or higher for iPhones and iPads, or Android 8 or higher for Android phones and tablets.

The best part? Your recipes automatically sync across all your devices. Sign in with the same account on your laptop, phone, and tablet, and changes you make on one device appear everywhere instantly. Add a recipe on your phone while shopping, and it's ready to cook from on your tablet when you get home.

We use Magic Link authentication for quick, passwordless access on new devices. Click the link we email you, and you're in—no password to remember or type on a small screen.

Can I use Sharp Cooking without an internet connection?

Yes! Sharp Cooking is built as a Progressive Web App (PWA), which means you can install it directly from your browser and use it offline.

Once installed, you can view and cook from your recipes even without an internet connection. This is perfect for cooking in areas with spotty WiFi, saving mobile data, or working in a kitchen where you don't want devices online. New recipes and changes sync automatically when you're back online.

PWAs offer several advantages over traditional native apps: they install directly from your browser (no app store required), take up less space on your device, update instantly without manual downloads, and work the same way across all platforms. You get all the benefits of an app with none of the App Store hassles.

To install, just visit Sharp Cooking in your browser and look for the "Install" or "Add to Home Screen" prompt. Learn more about how PWAs work on MDN.

How do I delete my account?

You can delete your account anytime from your account settings. Sign in, go to Settings, scroll to the bottom, and click "Delete Account." You'll be asked to confirm before anything is permanently removed.

What happens when you delete: All your recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and personal data are permanently deleted from our servers. Shared recipe links stop working. This action cannot be undone, and we cannot recover your data after deletion.

Before you delete: Account deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Make sure you have any recipes or data you want to keep saved elsewhere before deleting your account.

Can I edit recipes after importing?

Absolutely! Every recipe can be edited after import. Click any recipe to open it, then click the "Edit" button. You can modify the title, ingredients, instructions, cooking time, servings, tags, and add personal notes.

Common edits: Fix AI extraction errors, adjust ingredient quantities, add your own cooking tips, substitute ingredients based on dietary needs, or consolidate instruction steps for clarity.

Changes save automatically and sync across all your devices. You can also add or replace recipe photos anytime.

How accurate is the AI extraction?

Our AI is highly accurate for well-formatted recipes from reputable cooking websites, cookbooks, and handwritten recipe cards. It correctly extracts recipe details 85-95% of the time, depending on source quality.

What works best: Clear, structured recipes with labeled sections (ingredients, instructions, timing). Recipe websites with schema markup. Typed text with standard formatting. Legible handwriting with clear ingredient lists.

Common issues: Recipes with unusual layouts or scattered information across multiple sections. Blurry photos or poor lighting. Extremely stylized or decorative fonts. Recipes mixed with unrelated content on the same page.

Always review: Check extracted recipes before saving. The AI is a time-saver, not a replacement for human judgment. Edit anything that looks wrong—most issues take seconds to fix.

Can I use Sharp Cooking on multiple devices simultaneously?

Yes! You can be signed in on as many devices as you want—phone, tablet, laptop, desktop—all at the same time. Changes sync in real-time across all devices using the same account.

How it works: Add a recipe on your laptop, and it appears on your phone within seconds. Update a shopping list on your tablet, and your spouse sees the changes on their phone immediately. Check off items while shopping, and the list updates everywhere.

This makes Sharp Cooking perfect for households where multiple people cook. Everyone can access the same recipe collection without creating separate accounts or duplicating recipes.

Do you have a mobile app?

Sharp Cooking is a Progressive Web App (PWA), which means it works like a native app but runs in your browser. Install it from Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android, and it appears on your home screen with its own icon, works offline, and feels identical to an app from the App Store.

Why PWA instead of native: PWAs update instantly without App Store delays, work across all platforms (iOS, Android, desktop), take up less storage space, and don't require separate development for each platform. You get all the benefits of a native app with better flexibility.

To install: Visit Sharp Cooking in your mobile browser, tap your browser's menu, and select "Add to Home Screen" or "Install App." Learn more in our Help section.

How do I bulk import recipes?

Sharp Cooking supports CSV and Excel import for bulk recipe uploads. Export recipes from your current recipe manager, format the CSV file with standard columns (title, ingredients, instructions, etc.), and import through Settings → Import Data.

CSV format requirements: At minimum, your file needs columns for recipe title and either ingredients or instructions. Optional columns include: cooking time, prep time, servings, tags, notes, source URL, and image URL.

Need help? We provide a sample CSV template in the import screen showing the correct format. For large imports (100+ recipes), contact support for assistance.

What happens if I lose my device?

Your recipes are safe! Everything is stored in the cloud and synced across devices. If you lose your phone, tablet, or laptop, simply sign in to Sharp Cooking on a new device and all your recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists will be there.

Account recovery: Sign in using a magic link sent to your email, or use your passkey if you set one up (passkeys sync via iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager). No password to remember means no password to reset.

Security tip: If your device was stolen, you can remotely sign out all devices from account settings on any remaining device you still have access to. This prevents unauthorized access to your recipes.