Synchronization (Update)

At the first sync, all files are copied from the source to the destination folder.
At the sync and subsequent starts of the job, the program will copy only new and changed files to the destination folder, i.e. the program will update the files in the destination folder. Thus, the destination folder is an updatable backup.

The program copies files in one direction only - from the source folder A to the destination B:
   Folder А - source working folder
   Folder B - destination (updatable backup)

How to create a job

In the main window of the program, choose "Create - New Job" and then choose Backup Type = "Synchronization (Update)".

Source files and folders

Specify source files and folders. In the properties of each selected folder, define the "Keep path information inside a backup" setting.

Destination folder and synchronization rules

Here select the destination folder. You can only specify one destination folder.

NOTE! If the destination folder already contains files, the program will try to compare the source files to the files in the destination folder. Extra files will be deleted from the destination folder. To see which files will be deleted, click on the "Preview" button located on the top panel in the main window before running the job.

Synchronization rules

In the source (work) folder, a file can be created, modified or deleted.
Specify in the synchronization rules what to do with each file in the destination folder if it changes in the source.

If you choose "Overwrite" in the destination folder, the program will overwrite (replace) the file. This is a dangerous operation because if a file is damaged in the source, the damaged file will go to the destination folder. You can configure it so that the previous file in the target folder is not overwritten, but renamed either by version number or by modification date.

Example: Renaming a file in the destination folder by version number:

Sample file in destination folder:

Before copying the source file "Contract.docx" to the destination folder, the existing file "Contract.docx" will be renamed to "Contract (v004).docx" and the source file "Contract.docx" will be copied to its place. Thus, the file in the destination folder will not be overwritten.
In order for the program to be able to rename a file by the modification date, you can specify a template like "[YYYY]-[MM]-[DD] [hh][mm]". According to this template, the file name will look like "Contract (v2021-02-27 0027).docx"

Destination folder scan frequency

The program is able to determine which files in the source have been added, modified or deleted without scanning the destination folder. This significantly increases the speed of the backup job. However, if changes are made to the destination folder by a user or a third-party application, the identity of the source and destination folders will be violated. To correct this situation, it is necessary that the program periodically scans the destination folder.

This setting allows you to specify how often the destination folder should be scanned. For example, a value of 5 means that the destination folder will be scanned every 5th run of the job. If you are sure that you will not make changes to the destination folder manually, using Explorer or another application, then it is recommended to increase the frequency of scanning the destination folder to 15-30, because the risk of data desynchronization is minimal.

Important notes

Data archiving (packing) cannot be selected for synchronization.
Changes are analyzed based on the source files and the state of the source files during the previous sync. The need to scan the destination folder is determined automatically, depending on the synchronization rules you specified.

Synchronization result

The "Created backups" tab displays the result of each synchronization (how many files were copied, modified and deleted in the destination folder).
You can restore files from the destination folder to either a specified folder or to their original location.