Extended Attributes
Extended Attributes may contain additional information about a file, such as additional file properties. In many cases, their existence is little known to the user and their content is not very important. However, some users and some software may store important information in Extended Attributes. In such cases, you may want to make sure that they are preserved in your backups.

  • Copying Extended Attributes

Extended Attributes are copied along with the files by default, if possible. They can be copied between local folders and network folders, but they cannot be copied directly via FTP or other Internet Protocols. Alternate ways to store the streams are therefore offered below. In most cases, you will want to keep the checkmark below chosen for the best behavior. However, in some cases you may opt to have the alternate data streams be removed during the copy, for example to gain speed or to remove additional file properties.


Copy Extended Attributes (if possible)

Compare Extended Attributes (for existing items)


If files are compressed:

Store Extended Attributes inside the zip/sz file

Add Extended Attributes to the zip/sz file itself (not via Internet Protocol)


Use ".metadata-syncovery" files to save Extended Attributes (rather than using native file system streams):

For folders on the left side

For folders on the right side