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SyncDrive for Windows users

Syncplicity SyncDrive for Windows enables access to your Syncplicity files and folders without leaving the Windows Explorer file system. This provides a solution when continuous access is needed, but there is not enough space to download all of the contents to your hard drive or virtual desktop. When you open a file in a SyncDrive folder the full content streams to your computer and remains in cache for a time. SyncDrive also allows you to specify files and folders to access when offline.

If dynamic loading is enabled by your Syncplicity administrator, there may be a short delay before a synchronized folder or file opens. However, when enabled, the number of synchronized files in a folder can be almost unlimited. For best performance do not exceed 25,000 files and folders per folder level. For example, you can have up to 25,000 subfolders in a folder, and each subfolder can also have 25,000 files and folders. Dynamic loading became available with Windows client 6.0.0.

SyncDrive is part of Syncplicity Windows client 5.1 and later. It is supported on Windows 8.1 (64-bit) and Windows 10 (64-bit).

Where to find SyncDrive

SyncDrive adds a network drive named Syncplicity on your computer that defaults to the S: drive. If in use, the next available drive letter is used. Existing folders are not affected by the activation of SyncDrive, and are available as shortcuts from within the Syncplicity Drive.

Convert a folder to SyncDrive

Use the following steps to convert any top-level folders you own to SyncDrive, apart from your special Windows folders, such as Desktop, Documents, Pictures and Music. Your company administrator, or owners of folders shared with you, already may have converted folders. If so, the folders already are displayed in your SyncDrive. 

  1. Go to my.syncplicity.com and log on.
  2. Click Files in the page header. Click All Files (if not already selected).
  3. Scroll to a folder you own and select it. Click Settings in the toolbar above the folder rows.
  4. On the General tab, enable Allow SyncDrive access from desktop and click Save.
  5. On the confirmation popup, check Yes and click YES, CHANGE TO SYNCDRIVE.

Conversion of a folder to SyncDrive unmaps the folder for existing participants who have previously mapped it locally. Any unsynced changes in participants' mapped folders are lost when the folder is converted to SyncDrive. Users must go to SyncDrive to continue working with their files. Depending on the company policy for remote wipe, the previously mapped file remains on disk or is removed. Participants receive an email notifying that access to the folder has been changed and is now be available in SyncDrive.

Stop synchronization

To stop synchronization or unmap a SyncDrive folder, from Windows Explorer, right-click a folder and select Syncplicity > Remove from device (keep in cloud). Alternately, you can stop synchronization from the Manage Folders window that is accessed with the Syncplicity taskbar.

Make available offline

SyncDrive enables you to specify a single file or a folder and all its files as available offline. Synchronized files and folders marked as offline are available for offline use. Also, if there are any new file versions in the Cloud, the Desktop Client will automatically download those to your device.

To make available offline:

  1. From Windows Explorer, select your SyncDrive (default is the S: drive).
  2. Select a folder or file, right-click, and select Make available offline. The folder or file and is downloaded to your local drive, and the folder or file overlay icon changes to a white checkmark in a green circle.

Make available online only

To make a folder or file available online only:

  1. From Windows Explorer, select your SyncDrive (default is the S: drive).
  2. Select a folder or file, right-click, and select Make available online only. The icon of the file or the entire folder's contents change to the cloud icon overlay, as the files are removed from local storage.

Folder icon overlays

The following tables describes Syncplicity's five icon overlays that are used to visually indicate which folders and files are synchronized:

Folder icon

File icon

Description

White checkmark in green circle. All files and folders within the folder are available locally in SyncDrive and synced with Syncplicity. This also applies for folders and files that are in the cloud and were made available offline.

Blue cloud. The file is in the Syncplicity cloud and not local. For folders, some or all of the files and folders in that folder are in the Syncplicity cloud. These icon overlays are only applicable to SyncDrive and not to locally mapped Syncplicity folders.

 

Orange syncing. The file is currently syncing with Syncplicity, or the folder contains files that are syncing.

Grey cross. The file or folder is offline and cannot be accessed until Syncplicity is back online. Alternatively, it indicates the file or folder has been excluded from Syncplicity.

 

Not applicable to folders.

Green checkmark in white circle. The file is cached locally on your machine and is temporarily accessible even when you are offline. When the cache is cleared the file is again only available online.
Not applicable to folders.

Red lock. The file is locked and can only be accessed by the person who locked it, until the lock is removed or expires. For more information see File locking.

View folder online

When you right-click a folder in your SyncDrive and select View in Syncplicify online, you are redirected to the respective folder in My Syncplicity. This is a quick an easy way to access your files in the Syncplicity browser version, should you wish to do so.

View and manage storage

Use the Storage tab on the Syncplicity taskbar to identify how much Syncplicity storage is used on your computer. From the Syncplicity taskbar, select Settings > Storage.

The Syncplicity Storage section displays the used and available cloud storage and your storage quota. 

The Local Storage section bar is segmented to show storage for Syncplicity folders, SyncDrive offline files, cached files and free space. 

  • Click Clear cache to remove all recently used files from disk and free up space. This does not affect any offline files, which remain available when offline.
  • Click Clear SyncDrive offline to remove local offline files and folders. All files and folders on your machine that are located outside the SyncDrive will remain.

Create, copy or move folders to SyncDrive

You can create, copy, or move folders to a SyncDrive folder. However, you cannot create, copy, or move a folder to the root of SyncDrive.

If you copy a large number of files to the SyncDrive, the actual cache size can go above the specified size. Once the upload is complete, the cache size returns back to the specified value.

Move and rename files and folders in a SyncDrive folder

You can move or rename the files and folders within a SyncDrive folder. You cannot move or rename files and folders across top-level SyncDrive folders. Moving folders within a SyncDrive folder is permitted if the participation (sharing) of subfolder shares is maintained. Keep in mind you may have several shared subfolders. See  Rename SyncDrive files and folders for details.

Delete a root folder

You can delete a SyncDrive root folder using one of the following options:

  • From Windows Explorer, select your SyncDrive (typically the S: drive). Select a folder, right-click and select Remove > Delete everywhere. This Windows client option is not available on versions earlier than 6.0.0.
  • On the Manage Folders window, accessed via the Syncplicity taskbar, select a folder, right-click and select Delete folder. This Windows client option is not available on versions earlier than 6.0.0.
  • When logged on to your my.syncplicity.com account in a browser, select a folder, right-click and select Delete.

Offline behavior

When Syncplicity is offline, SyncDrive provides offline access to your offline and recently used files. Files that are not offline or cached locally are unavailable until the connection to Syncplicity is restored.

Known issues

  • In an Edge browser, if a user redirects their download folder to SyncDrive, they must change the previous default download path manually to the Syncplicity download folder.
  • Merging of folders in Windows Explorer, due to the renaming of a folder of an already existing name or moving a folder to a destination that has the same name, leads to the deletion of files from the source directory.
  • File overlay icons stay in a synchronizing state if the download fails. Opening the file again starts the download and refreshes the overlay icon.
  • File thumbnails are disabled for all network drives.
  • Any installers that require elevated privileges to execute cannot be executed from SyncDrive. You must copy the installation file to a local drive and launch the installer.
  • SyncDrive is not compatible with ESET antivirus. Anti-virus programs that scan SyncDrive may result in all files being synchronized to your computer.
  • If you move or rename a folder or file to a name that is already deleted a failure occurs.
  • Currently, SyncDrive does not support devices with ARM (Snapdragon or other brands) processors.

 

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