SyncFolder — Desktop User Guide
Synchronization Actions
This page describes the synchronization action settings available in the Advanced Task Settings panel. These settings control how SyncFolder detects changes, handles conflicts, manages deletions, and stores removed items. Not all settings apply to every task type — availability is noted per section.
Applies to: 1-Way Sync, 2-Way Sync, and Blind Copy tasks. Individual sections below indicate which task types each setting is available for.
File and folder inspection criteria
These settings determine how SyncFolder decides whether a file has changed and whether folder attribute changes should be propagated to the destination.
Specifies the method used to determine whether a source file differs from its counterpart at the destination. Choose the method that best matches your storage environment and performance requirements.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Content size and/or modified date and time | Compares both the file size and the last-modified timestamp. A file is considered changed if either value differs. This is the recommended option for most scenarios: it is fast and catches the vast majority of real changes. |
| Content size | Compares file size only. Useful when timestamps cannot be trusted (e.g. certain network shares or FAT-formatted drives), but will miss edits that do not change the file size. |
| Modified date and time | Compares the last-modified timestamp only. Suitable when file sizes are frequently identical between versions (e.g. fixed-length data files), but will miss changes on systems that do not update timestamps reliably. |
| Content (hash/byte comparison) | Performs a byte-for-byte or cryptographic hash comparison of the file contents. Guarantees accurate change detection regardless of metadata, but is significantly slower and more I/O-intensive — particularly for large files or slow storage devices. |
Use Content (hash/byte comparison) when data integrity is critical and sync performance is not a primary concern, for example when syncing to archival storage.
When enabled, the last-modified timestamp of folders at the destination is not updated during synchronization, even if the corresponding source folder has a different timestamp. The folder contents are still synchronized normally.
Enable this option if downstream processes or backup tools rely on folder timestamps at the destination and you want to prevent SyncFolder from altering them.
Actions with items that are excluded by filters
Applies to: 1-Way Sync tasks only.
By default, items excluded by glob filters are simply skipped — they are neither copied nor removed at the destination. Use the options below to instruct SyncFolder to actively delete excluded items at the destination location instead.
Enabling either deletion option will permanently remove matching items from the destination (subject to the Recycle Bin setting). Review your filter rules carefully before turning these on.
When enabled, any file at the destination that matches an exclusion filter will be deleted during synchronization, even if it was previously synced or placed there manually.
When enabled, any folder at the destination that matches an exclusion filter — along with its entire contents — will be deleted during synchronization.
Actions with conflicts and 2-way sync
Applies to: 2-Way Sync tasks only.
In a 2-way sync, changes can occur independently on both sides between sync runs. The settings below define how SyncFolder responds when it encounters conflicting changes.
Determines what happens when the same file has been modified on both sides since the last synchronization run.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Keep both and report conflict | Both versions are kept unchanged. The conflict is logged and flagged in the sync report so you can resolve it manually. No data is overwritten automatically. |
| Rename the older file and copy the newest | The older version is renamed (a timestamp suffix is appended to the filename) and the newer version is copied to both locations. Both versions are preserved. |
| Overwrite the older file | The newer version silently overwrites the older one on both sides. The older version is not retained. Use only when you are confident the newer file is always the authoritative copy. |
Determines what happens when an item has been deleted on one side but modified on the other side since the last synchronization run.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Keep the file/folder and report a conflict | The modified item is kept where it exists. The deletion is not propagated. The situation is logged and flagged in the sync report for manual review. |
| Keep the file/folder and restore in the other location | The modified item is kept and also copied back to the location where it was deleted, effectively restoring it. The deletion is reversed on that side. |
If accidental deletions are a concern in your workflow, Keep the file/folder and restore in the other location ensures that a deletion never wins over a modification.
Recycle Bin
Applies to: 1-Way Sync and 2-Way Sync tasks.
The SyncFolder Recycle Bin is a safety net for deletions. Instead of permanently removing a file or folder immediately, SyncFolder moves it to a dedicated trash folder on the same storage device where the deletion occurs. This makes accidental-deletion recovery possible without relying on the operating system's own recycle bin.
When enabled, deleted files and folders are moved to the task's trash folder rather than being permanently deleted. The trash folder is located in the root of the relevant storage device at:
_sf/trash-<taskId> — where <taskId> is the GUID of the task.
Each task has its own isolated trash folder, so items from different tasks are never mixed together.
Controls how long items remain in the trash folder before being permanently deleted. Cleanup runs automatically in the background. Available retention periods:
- Never — Items are never automatically removed. You must empty the trash manually.
- 2 days
- 4 days
- 7 days
- 14 days
- 30 days
This setting is only available when Enable Recycle Bin is turned on.
Data management
Applies to: Blind Copy tasks only.
Blind Copy tasks copy files to a destination without tracking what was previously synced. The Smart folder split feature extends this by automatically distributing files across multiple subfolders, each capped at a configurable maximum size. New subfolders are created dynamically as needed.
The generated folders are placed in the root of the destination storage device and named sequentially:
_sf/part1, _sf/part2, _sf/part3, …
When enabled, SyncFolder distributes copied files across automatically managed subfolders. Each subfolder grows until it reaches the configured maximum size, at which point a new subfolder is created to receive subsequent files.
This is useful when the destination medium has a per-folder file limit, or when you need to split a large dataset into evenly sized segments for distribution across multiple storage devices.
Specifies the maximum allowed size for each split folder, in megabytes (MB). When a folder reaches this size, a new folder is created automatically. The absolute maximum value is 2000 MB.
This field is only visible when Smart folder split is enabled.
Last updated: May 3, 2026