Profile Settings

Profile Name:
Priority:
Left-Hand Side
Right-Hand Side
Additional...
  • Main Settings
  • Schedule
  • Comparison
  • Files
  • Folders
  • Job
  • Masks
  • Filters
  • Retries
  • Safety
  • Special
  • Verification
  • Versioning
  • Compression
  • Encryption
  • Error Handling
  • Information

The Main Settings define the basic behavior of your sync job. Please choose the copying directions carefully. The Sync Operation Mode will determine Syncovery's sync logic - for example, whether to copy files only or also synchronize file deletions.

Copying Directions
Left to Right
Right to Left
Include Subfolders
None
All
Selected
Sync Operation Mode:
Standard Copying
SmartTracking
Exact Mirror
Move Files to Destination
Case Sensitivity:
Case Sensitive Mode
  • Schedule
  • More
  • Weekdays and Time window
  • Monitoring / Realtime

Syncovery's Scheduler can run your profile automatically and repeatedly. Just specify the desired scheduling below. After saving the profile, please make sure that the Scheduler is running by opening the Scheduler tab sheet in Syncovery's main window. As an alternative to regular scheduling, you can use Real-Time Synchronization. And you can always run jobs manually.

Schedule This Profile
Run Every Day (Or Specified Weekdays) At
Run Every
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Run Monthly

Run Only Once

Specify Next Run

Interval specifies the idle time between runs

This tab sheet contains additional options for scheduling.
On Windows, note that jobs running on logout or shutdown should not take more than one minute because Windows will otherwise abort the logout or shutdown and return to the Windows desktop.

Run Upon Scheduler Start

Run Upon Logout

Run Upon Shutdown or Reboot

Run Missed Daily Job Immediately When Scheduler Starts

Add Random Delay Up To
Minutes
 
Warn if Profile Not Run For
Days
Additional Times

Run Also At These Times Of Day:

The settings on this tab sheet allow you to limit when a profile can run.
You can specify weekdays as well as a time window for the profile.

Profile can run on these Days

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Time Window
Run Only Between
and
Ignore this limitation on Saturday and Sundays

Interrupt Running Profile At End Of Time Window

Interrupt in Middle Of File

This tab sheet contains settings related to real-time synchronization and monitoring. On Linux, real-time sync is only available for some cloud storages that can be polled for changes, not for local drives or network volumes. It is recommended to combine real-time sync with a regular schedule to ensure that a full folder comparison is done.
Be sure to read our documentation about real-time synchronization.

Real Time Synchronization
Use a single never-ending profile run (to keep FTP connections)
Run profile when drive is available
Once
Repeatedly
Delay between access attempts
minutes
seconds
Minimum pause between actions
hours
minutes
seconds

  • Comparison
  • More

Syncovery compares files by their names, sizes, and modification timestamps. There are several options to fine-tune the comparison. Certain time differences can be ignored, as they may be caused by different file systems - but only if the size is identical. In addition, you can choose what to do if the size is different, but the timestamps are identical.

When File Size Is Identical

Ignore Small Time Differences
Up To (Seconds):
 
Ignore Exact Hour Differences
Up To (Hours):
 
Ignore Seconds
 
When File Size Is Different

What should be done with files that have
the same timestamp but different sizes?
Label as Conflict
Copy Left to Right
Copy Right to Left
Copy Larger Files
Ignore Timestamp Altogether
Never Copy Files With Identical Sizes On Source And Destination, Adjust Timestamp Only

This tab sheet contains additional settings to fine-tune how Syncovery compares files and folder properties. The checkmark that is most frequently change is whether to compare and mirror Folder Timestamps. When it is chosen, you may see many folders shown in the Sync Preview, all with the proposed action "time->". This is because Syncovery tries to make the folder timestamps match. If you find this confusing, you can turn the checkmark off.

Always copy files, even if timestamp unchanged
Strip Read-Only Attributes

Compare / Mirror:
Folder Timestamps
File Attributes
Folder Attributes
Adjust Case Spelling At Destination
Detect Hard Links
Enforce Hard Links for Existing files

For settings related to security and permissions, please see the Special tab sheet.

  • Files
  • Block Level Copying
  • Deletions
  • More
  • File Access

This tab sheet contains various settings related to files, such as detecting moved and renamed files. The option "Automatically Resume" can be important, as it uses temporary file names during transfer. That way, incompletely copied files can never be mistaken for valid files.

Detect Moved Files and Renamed Folders - Adjust On:
Left
Right
Automatic
Allow Moves Between Users
Detect Renamed Files (based on timestamp and file size)
Automatically resume (copy with temporary filenames, keep incomplete files when stopped)
Protect Files from being replaced with 0-Byte Files
Do not scan destination - copy all files regardless their existence at destination.
Number of files to copy in parallel:  
Copying Speed Limit (Bandwidth):
MBytes/sec
Scheduled Limits...
Split Large Files Into Parts Of This File Size (Internet Protocols only):  
Bytes (for example: 2G; 0 = no splitting)
Skip Files Whose Size Is Changing

Block Level Copying copies only the changed blocks in a file. It can be a powerful way to save time and bandwidth, but it works only with eligible file types, such as databases, Outlook PST files, and disk images. It is not always beneficial since it incurs additional CPU usage and may result in a large sync database and additional processing time. It works mainly with local destinations, network folders, and SSH/SFTP servers.

You will find all details on the documentation page on our web site.

Block Level Copying

Using

Block Hashes
File System Monitoring
Right side uses the Syncovery Remote Service to generate hashes
No full copying if service unavailable
Request only one file at a time
Fast Mode (Process target directly. no temp file. Left to Right is always fast)

Coming soon: Block Level Inclusions/Exclusions

Use Remote Service to Copy Files for Block Level Copying + Versioning

Syncovery offers various ways to treat deleted files. On many storages, they can be moved to the Recycle Bin. As an alternative, deleted files can be moved to a specified folder. This feature is compatible with all storages and Internet protocols, and Syncovery can remember the deletion date by encoding it into the file name.

Use Recycle Bin For:
Overwritten Files
The Recycle Bin is not always available (e.g., not on network drives). Using the
Recycle Bin when overwriting files can be slow and cause it to fill up quickly.
Deleted Files
 
Additional Options for Deleted Files:
Move Files Into Specified Folder
Remember Deletion Time and Date
Never Delete any Files (only Folders)
Double-Check the Non-Existence of Files Before deleting them on the Other side
Delete Older Versions Permamently
Delete Files before copying

This tab sheet contains additional options for fulfilling less common requirements.

Use Windows API Copying Function
Copy Only
Files Per Run
Copy Only
MegaBytes Per Run
Never Replace Any Files
Don't add Any Files
Ignore Global and Group Speed Limits
Always Append Smaller Destination Files (Use For Log Files Only)
Always Consider Larger Files Newer (Ignore Timestamp)
Check Destination File (Again) During Copying Phase
And Compare File Details (Again)
Via Internet Protocols Too
Copied Files Get Current System Time As Modification Timestamp
Preserve Last Access Timestamp on Source
Create Links To Source Files Instead of Copying Files
Bypass Windows File Buffering (Not Recommended):
On the Left Side
On the Right Side
Use Temporary Files When Copying From Cloud To Cloud

Syncovery can use Volume Shadowing for local drives to copy locked files, and also to create a consistent snapshot when the profile run starts. In some cases, it is better to turn Volume Shadowing off, especially if you want to avoid copying incompletely created files.

Volume Shadowing
Do Not Use
Use To Copy Locked Files
Use For All Files
Create Shadow Before Listing
Additional Settings
Database Safe: Enforce Exclusive Access
Take Admin Ownership Temporarily if Needed
Prior to Copying, Check All Files Can be Copied
  • Folders
  • More

Choose whether Syncovery should create empty folders. Empty folders can occur if they are already empty on the source side, or if filename masks and filters cause files to be omitted.

Create Empty Folders

Syncovery can remove folders that it has emptied because of file deletions. This is not frequently used because folder deletions are already mirrored by Exact Mirror and SmartTracking modes.

Remove Folders that were Emptied

You can choose to create separate destination folders every time the job runs, if your backup space allows.
As an alternative, consider variables in the base paths to use rotating folders or different date formats.

On the Right Side, Create Folder Each Time
Include Time Of Day in Created Folder Names
Coming soon: Keep Only This Number Of Destination Folders (Delete Older Ones)

Some use cases require a flat destination side with no subfolders, or only 1 or 2 subfolder levels. If you need a flat right side, choose this checkmark and specify the number of subfolder levels (typically 0).

Flatten the Right Side to max subfolder levels:
In Case Of Duplicate Filenames (choose max. one checkbox):
Copy Newest File
Add Timestamps

This tab sheet contains additional options for fulfilling less common requirements.

Never Delete Any Folders (Only Files)
After Copying and Other Actions, Touch Affected Parent Folders On the:  
Left-Hand Side  
Right-Hand Side
Scan Destination Subfolders Even If Not Present On Source Side (To Detect Moved Files)
Ensure Folder Timestamps Reflect the Most Recently Modified File in the Subtree
Use Intermediate Copying Location...
Create Folder Symlinks from Destination to Source - Don't Copy Any Files

Coming soon: Split Jobs Based on Folder Mask

This tab sheet provides important settings, allowing you to make network connections, executing custom scripts and configuring additional job-related behaviors.

Execute Command or Script before/after...
Check Free Space Before Copying
Override Email Settings...
Ignore Internet Connectivity Check
Run Only If Neither Side Is Empty
Access Local Files As User...
Network Connections...
PascalScript...
File List Threads:
Default
Custom
Shut computer down after this Job:
When Run Via Scheduler
When Run Manually(Unattended)
When Run Manually(Attended)

  • Inclusion Masks
  • Exclusion Masks

Inclusion Masks are used to specify which file types and file names to copy. Here are some examples:
*.docx;*.xlsx (copy Word and Excel documents)
ABC* (copy only files with names starting with ABC)
Separate multiple masks with semicolon or Enter key. See the F1 help for additional examples, including the ability to use a text file with masks and reference it here.


Inclusion Masks



 
Specify Folder Masks...  
Restrictions...  
Include Backup Files(*.$?$.*)

Exclusion Masks are an effective way to exclude certain file types or names. Here are some examples:
*.tmp;*.bak;*Private*
You can also type complete folder or file names, such as:
Archive;Private.pst
To exclude a folder on the top level of the hierarchy only, you can use a backslash:
\Archive (this is not an absolute path, it's relative to the profile's base folder)
"Don't Copy" means excluded files aren't copied, but might still be deleted according to the sync mode.


Exclusions (Files and Folders)



Exclusion Mode:
Don't Copy
Ignore Totally
 
Use Global Exclusions Also
  • General Filters
  • File Age And Size

These filters enable you to include or exclude files with certain properties, such as hidden files, offline files, pinned files, or files without the archive attribute. Additional settings on this tab sheet are related to links, such as .lnk links and symbolic links.

Syncovery can Use Extended Attributes to Mark Files on the Source Side After Copying
Them to the Destination (similar to clearing the Archive Flag on Windows):
Process Hidden Files
Copy Only Files With Archive Flag
Search Hidden Folders
Clear Archive Flags
Analyze Reparse Points
Restore Deleted Items
Follow Symbolic Links to Files
Skip Offline Files
Follow Symbolic Links to Folders
Copy Pinned Files Only (Left Side)
Copy Other Reparse Points
Copy Pinned Files Only (Right Side)
Use .$symlink files to save Symbolic Links:
On the Left-Hand Side
On the Right-Hand Side
 
Symbolic Links to Files:
Ignore
Follow
Copy As Links
Symbolic Links to Folders:
Ignore
Follow
Copy As Links

On this tab sheet, you can filter files by size or dates. File sizes are specified like this: 100K, 12M, 2G or 1T. When filtering by date, not that you should usually apply the date filter to Files only, not folders.

File Sizes must be within min.
Bytes (eg: 10M) and max.
Bytes (eg: 1G)
File Dates must be within min.
and max.
File Age:
Days
Hours
Minutes
Filter by:
Last Modification
Creation
Last Access
Apply To:
Files
Folders
Both
Target Date for Restore:
Scan Only Subfolders Whose Timestamp Has Changed Since the Previous Profile Run

(rarely used because most file systems do not update folder timestamps correctly!)

Sometimes, errors can occur: files could be locked and in use, servers might be temporarily unavailable, there could be Internet connection issues, or files no longer exist when they are about to be copied. Syncovery can wait until files become accessible, and it can re-run the entire job if there are errors.

Wait for File Access    
- Wait up to (Minutes):  
 
Wait and Retry if Transfer or Reading Problem

Re-Run profile if an error occurs while


Building file list
Running the profile
Re-Run Once
Re-Run Until Success
Maximum Re-Runs
Retry After (Seconds): 
Avoid re-run due to locked files
  • Attended Mode
  • Special Safety
  • Unattended Mode

In Attended Mode, Syncovery may show various prompts to ask for your confirmation. You can turn the warnings off below.

Warnings in Attended mode
(these options currently do not apply to the Linux version)

Warn if Moving Files (Deleting from Source)


Warn Before Overriding Read-Only Files


Warn Before Overriding Larger Files with Smaller Ones


Warn Before Overriding Newer Files with Older Ones


Warn Before Deleting Files


The Special Safety prompts are shown in Attended Mode to ask for confirmation if certain thresholds are exceeded. You can change the thresholds or turn the warnings off below.

Special Safety Checks
(these can prevent deletions)

Warn If Deleting More Files Than
% From Either Left or Right Side
Warn If Deleting All Files In Any (Sub-)Folder
Warn If Deleting More Than
% Of the Files From Any (Sub-)Folder

When jobs run unattended in the background (whether started manually or by the scheduler), Syncovery cannot ask you to confirm actions like deleting files or replacing newer files with older ones. Therefore, it is important to confirm these actions here, and adjust the limits according to your use case. For example, if you allow deleting up to 10% of one side, and there are more files to delete, Syncovery will disable deletions for that profile run, and you should review the situation manually. In such cases, you can see the file names that weren't deleted in the log file, or run the job in Attended Mode and study the Sync Preview. When running the job attended, you can confirm deletions that exceed the limits specified on this tab sheet.

Safety Settings for Unattended Mode  
Read-Only Files May be Overwritten When the Job Runs Unattended or Scheduled
Larger Files May be Replaced With Smaller Ones if the Smaller One is Newer
Exact Mirror Mode May Replace Newer Files With Older Ones
Unattended File Deletion Allowed, Maximum
% Of The Files From One Side
Stop If the Job Would Delete More Than
Files
Ransomware Protection: Replace Max.
% Of The Files on One Side
Enable Special Safety Checks From Special Safety Tab Sheet (can prevent deletions)
  • Special Features
  • More
  • Database

The destination cache feature is a great way to speed up your sync profiles, since it makes the file list building phase very quick. However it can only be used for one-way sync jobs.
Please see our web site for additional ways to speed up your profiles.

Cache Destination File List...

Need to preserve folder and file permissions, or re-create folder shares on the destination?
Just use the checkmark below, which will open a dialog with the relevant settings.
For additional information, please refer to the documentation on our web site.

Process Security and Shares...

Syncovery's standard copying order is alphanumeric. You can change it below.

Copying Order:

Another great way to speed up the folder scanning phase is to install the Syncovery Remote Service on the machine that you sync with. Whether it's a server on the LAN or a more distant machine that you connect to via FTP or other protocols, the Remote Service will provide complete listings super fast.

Left side listing uses Remote Service
Right side listing uses Remote Service
Use Different Folders for Communication

This tab sheet contains various settings which are used for special requirements.

If Destination Machine Modifies Received Files, Changing their Size, then Copy such Updated Files Back
Set Target Volume Label To:
Double-Check Each File's Destination Timestamp After Copying
Detect Changed Files Via File System Monitoring Even If Timestamps Unchanged
Spawn Separate Sub-Jobs for Each Subfolder on Level:
(0 = Base Folder)
Spawn Simultaeously
Use Remote Service to Delete Files (on the Right Side)
Use Remote Service to Move or Rename Files and Folders

Syncovery uses an SQL database if the profile uses one of the following features: SmartTracking, Delayed Deletions, Destination File List Cache, Block Level Copying, Synthetic Backup.

In most cases, you do not make any changes to the settings here.

Open Database Read-Only
Never Consider the Database Outdated
Fast Mode: Don't Check All DB Entries
Database Name to Use (Profile name):  
Database Contains Paths Relative To:
Left Side
Right Side
  • Verification
  • File Integrity

There are two main ways to verify files and ensure that their content is 100% identical on both sides: Verification of files directly after copying, and verification of all existing files. Verifying copied files is recommended and while it makes the copying slower, the impact is still reasonable. On the other hand, verifying all files which already exist on both sides should usually not be done every time the profile runs. The "Remember Results" feature helps avoiding the re-verification of files already verified previously. Checksums (or hashes) can be used to speed the comparison up. Syncovery will use them automatically if a cloud service provides them. In addition, you can install the Syncovery Remote Service on the other machine to generate checksums remotely, which greatly speeds the process up.

Verify copied files (can double execution time)
Re-copy Once if verification fails
Binary comparison of existing files when building the File List
Remember Results
Use remotely generated MD5 Checksums For Comparisons On:
Left Side
Right Side
Use SHA256 Hashes

The Statistics Verification is a separate folder scan, giving you statistics about how many files match, how many files are skipped etc. It is rarely needed.

Verify Sync Statistics After Completion

Syncovery 11 is aware of a large number of file formats, and can analyze most of your files to verify the integrity of the internal file structure. The verification depth varies depending on the file types. The results of the integrity checks are shown in the log file, as well as the result summary. Unknown file types will be skipped. Sometimes, an integrity check may fail even though the file is still usable. This new feature does not use AI and does local processing only (no cloud service).

Verify File Integrity During Folder Scanning Phase:
Left Side
Right Side
Verify Files With No Copying Action Only
Verify Source File Integrity Before Copying
Verify Destination File Integrity After Copying
Copy Files Even If Integrity Check Failed
Integrity Verification Depth:
Verification Depth

File Content Analysis can be used enforce exclusions and inclusions even when files have the wrong filename extension. For example, Syncovery can detect if a PDF file is actually an EXE file.

Use File Content Analysis to Determine True File Types and Enforce Exclusion and Inclusion Masks
Analyze Content Of Zip Archives
Disallow Encrypted Archives
  • Versioning
  • Synthetic Backup
  • More

Versioning allows you to keep multiple versions of each file on the destination side, or even on both sides. Older versions are usually renamed so that multiple versions of a file can reside in the same versioning folder.

A related special feature is "Filename Encoding", which will add the modification timestamp to all files on the right-hand side, not just the older versions.

Keep Older Versions When Replacing:  
  Per File   Renaming Of Older Versions
Only on Right-Hand Side
   
Add .$1$., .$2$. etc.
Add Timestamp
Move into folder:
Left: Right:
As Subfolder in Each Folder
Don't rename newest older version
Recreate tree below one "Older" folder
Keep One Version Of Deleted Files
FileName Encoding: On the Right Side, Put Timestamps Into All File Names
(Also Preserves Timestamps on Servers That Normally Lose Them)
Delete old file versions after  
  Days

Synthetic Backup combines versioning, compression, and block level copying. It allows you to back up larger files with incremental backups containing only the changed blocks. You can always restore the latest or previous versions of the file. As opposed to pure block level copying, Synthetic Backup works with all types of backup storage. Please see our web site for more details.

Use Synthetic Backup (Combines Block Level Copying, Zipping and Versioning)
Use Checkpoints To Reduce The Number Of Incremental Versions Needed For Restore
Create Checkpoint Every  
Checkpoints are relative to:  
Build all incremental images against the preceeding checkpoint(uses more space)
Remove unneeded incrementals older than  
  days   and  

If all blocks in a file change, keep only number of versions from Versioning Tab sheet


This tab sheet contains various additional settings related to versioning.

The first two checkmarks are the most important ones. During normal operation, Syncovery decodes certain filenames on the right-hand side. For example, it deduces the original file name from a compressed archive, if the archive name has been created and encoded by Syncovery. However, if you want to make another 1:1 mirror of such encoded files, then that mirror job should not decode any file names, and you need the first two checkmarks to be ticked.

Do Not Decode Left-Hand Filenames When Building The File List
Do Not Decode Right-Hand Filenames When Building The File List
Use Windows 10 File History Encoding Format Rather Than Syncovery Native
Decode all known Timestamp Encoding Formats
Clean up identical duplicates of files with differently encoded Unicode umlauts
Allow merging duplicate folders on source side
Remove parenthesized version numbers before extension on the right side: file(2).ext
Remove the versioning tags -1 and -2 and rename such files immediately
Clean up all older versions based on the specified number to keep
(if unchecked, the limit is enforced only for files that are copied)
Files Backed Up With V4 Used UTC/GMT (World Time) For Encoding (Like V5)

Syncovery's recommended mode for compression is to "Compress Each File Individually". This will create one zip, sz or 7z archive for each file from the source side. Syncovery can then compare each file every time the profile runs and update files independently.

There are three different container formats to choose from for your compressed archives: zip, sz, and 7z. Syncovery compresses files when copying from left to right, and it unzips when copying from right to left.

You can also use compressed packages with many files per archive, but subsequential sync runs cannot look inside the zip packages and individual, updated files can't be replaced.

Compress Each File Individually (when copying left to right - use right to left copying direction to decompress)

Compression Format:   


Compression Level:   


Use Compressed Packages (many files per archive)...

Compress directly to destination

Unzip all copied Zip/Sz/7z files

Keep unpacked archive files destination

Limit Zip File Size To  
  Bytes (such as 10M or 1G)

Syncovery offers two different encryption methods: AES (256 bit) and PGP. AES is used with the zip, sz, and 7z compression formats, while PGP is a separate format.

Encrypted files are always on the right-hand side of a profile, while the unencrypted files are on the left.

You can also use filename encryption for highly confidential data. Encrypted filenames are harder to handle and can only be decyphered by Syncovery. It is recommended to use filename encryption only if absolutely necessary.

To use PGP, please see the guide on our web site.

Encrypt Files Copied Left to Right:
Decrypt Files Copied Right to Left

Password Phrase:  
Confirm:  

Encrypt PGP
Decrypt PGP
Keep Decrypted PGP Files at Destination
Encrypt File Names
Encrypt Names of Existing Files On the Right-Hand Side
Encrypt Folder Names (including existing folders on the right hand side)

Some errors can occur repeatedly, and may legitimately occur depending on the use case. To avoid seeing them in the result summary, and to prevent unnecessary email notifications, you can choose to ignore them by choosing the corresponding checkmarks on this tab sheet.

Ignore These Errors
Any Errors Listing Folders
Access Denied Reading Files
Files That No Longer Exist
Ignore Locked Files On Destination
Any Errors Deleting Files
Any Errors Deleting Folders

This tab sheet provides access to information about the profile, and allows you to add notes or comments.

Notes / Comments: