> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cloak.ag/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Moving value out of your private balance > Your private balance has two ways out: send or withdraw it OUT to a public address as liquid SOL, or move it sideways to another shielded balance with a shielded transfer, where it stays private. A payment link is the third shape: an exit deferred until someone claims it. Once your funds are in your [private balance](/guide/private-balance), value can move in exactly **two directions** — and almost all the confusion about Cloak comes from mixing them up: * **Out to a public address** — a **private send** (pay someone) or a **withdraw** (cash out to yourself). The value **leaves the pool** and lands as ordinary, spendable SOL in a wallet. * **Sideways to another shielded balance** — a **shielded transfer**. The value **never leaves the pool**; it stays private and only its *ownership* changes. * **A [payment link](/guide/payment-links)** is the third shape and sits between the two: the value stays in the pool until someone claims it, and the claim is a withdrawal to the claimant's wallet. It defers the exit rather than avoiding it. Your private balance has two ways out: private send / withdraw sends value out to a public address as liquid SOL, or a shielded transfer moves it sideways to another shielded balance where it stays private *** ## Exit 1 — out to a public address (send & withdraw) A **private send** and a **withdraw** are the **same underlying move**, which is exactly why they can feel confusing: * **Private send** — pay **someone else** at their Solana address. * **Withdraw (unshield)** — cash your private balance back out into **a wallet you control**, so you can actually spend it. In both cases the funds leave the shielded pool and arrive as **normal, liquid SOL** in a wallet — the only difference is *whose*. There's no separate "withdraw" screen in the app: you use **Send** for both. Private send vs withdraw: both leave the shielded pool as liquid funds — a private send lands in someone else's wallet, an unshield lands in your own; the link back to your deposit stays hidden Why would you send to your *own* wallet? Because funds in the pool are a private balance — you can't pay a merchant, trade, or use them in DeFi while they're shielded. Unshielding is the **exit door back to spendable SOL**. And the trick is you withdraw to a **fresh wallet**, not the one you deposited from — so value moves from your old, public wallet to a clean one with **no on-chain link between them**. That break in the trail *is* the privacy. ### What makes it private You don't sign the payment from your own wallet, and your wallet never appears as the sender. The funds arrive at the recipient **from the Cloak pool**, with **no on-chain link back to the wallet that funded your balance**. The recipient sees a normal incoming payment; a chain-watcher sees a withdrawal from the pool; neither can trace it to you. Think of the pool as a public mailbox full of sealed envelopes: everyone sees mail moving, no one sees what's inside or who sent which envelope. ### What the recipient needs A **public Solana address** (or `.sol` domain). You put it in the Send screen and they receive the exact amount there. They don't need Cloak, a viewing key, or to do anything — the funds just arrive in their wallet. *** ## Exit 2 — sideways, staying shielded The second way out doesn't leave the pool at all. The value stays a **shielded note**; only *who can claim it* changes. The primitive is a [shielded transfer](/sdk/shielded-transfers) (`transfer`, `public_amount = 0`). Shielded transfer: you deposit into the pool, then send — the lamports stay in the pool and only note ownership moves to the recipient; you then hand the recipient the note's secrets off-chain, and they only touch the chain if they later withdraw The catch is **how the recipient gets it**. If the recipient already has a Cloak key and has shared it with you, the note finds them on its own: your send seals the note's secrets to their viewing key and publishes that sealed envelope on-chain, and their wallet picks it up on its next scan. Nothing is handed over per payment. If they don't have a Cloak key, the transfer is a **bearer handoff** instead: the note is only spendable once you pass its secrets over an **off-chain channel**, which can be a DM, a QR, a copied blob, or a link. A **[payment link](/guide/payment-links)** is just the *packaged* form of that handoff — a URL that carries the secrets, built on a throwaway key so the recipient needs no Cloak identity up front. It's the convenient default, not a separate mechanism. (The other flavor: if the recipient already has a Cloak key and shares its pubkey, you transfer straight to it and their wallet discovers the note itself, no link and no handoff needed.) **Send vs. shielded transfer, the one-liner:** a **private send** delivers **liquid SOL to a public address** (it exits the pool). A **shielded transfer** delivers a **still-shielded note** that stays in the pool. A **payment link** is a deferred exit: the value waits in the pool and leaves it when the recipient claims, landing in their wallet. Pick "send" to pay a normal wallet; keep it shielded to hand off value that stays private end-to-end. *** ## All three moves, side by side | | **Private send** | **Withdraw / unshield** | **Payment link** | | ------------------ | -------------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | Direction | out to a public address | out to a public address | out to a public address, deferred to claim | | Recipient | someone else's address | a wallet you control (fresh) | whoever opens the link | | What arrives | liquid SOL | liquid SOL | liquid funds in the claimant's wallet | | Leaves the pool? | yes | yes | yes (at claim) | | Recipient needs | a Solana address | your own address | just the link | | How it's delivered | on-chain, to their address | on-chain, to your address | **bearer handoff** (secrets in the link) | The takeaway: "send" and "withdraw" are the same move to different public addresses. A "payment link" is the same exit, deferred: the value waits in the pool until someone claims it, and the claim is what takes it out. *** ## The privacy timing that matters Because a send/withdraw is where value leaves the pool, it's the privacy-sensitive step — so a few habits help: * **Let time pass.** Funds shielded a while ago are more private than shield-and-send in one motion — separating the deposit and the send in time breaks the correlation for a chain-watcher. * **Avoid distinctive amounts.** Sending an unusual exact amount right after an identical deposit weakens privacy. Round, common amounts and patience strengthen it. * **Once out, it's public again.** Cloak hides the link between your deposit and this payment; it does not hide what the recipient does with the funds afterward. See [privacy is not anonymity](/learn/privacy-is-not-anonymity). ## Where next Pay someone with a link, no address needed; they claim it to their own wallet. The exit fee that applies when value leaves the pool. The `transfer` primitive behind exit 2 — the bearer-handoff mechanic in full. Notes (UTXOs), change, and the backup file that holds your claims.