FreeFileSync Forum

Not a feature available in FFS now. And (my guess ...) not likely to be added, as it is quite specific. But, that is up to the author, Zenju. > ... they sometimes change size without changing the contents You don't indicate if the file-date remains unchanged or not. If it remains unchanged, it seems...

The FFS donation version will only install if the *.key-file is present.
Assuming your donation version works, you don't need to do anything extra.

> How do I get those categories to appear?
They only appear after running a Compare.
If after running a Compare they are still hidden, you may have messed up your FFS GUI layout.
You can restore it in the FFS GUI via
Tools / Reset Layout

Obviously, there is no FFS for an iPhone.

You should be able to sync your PC or MAC with your iPhone via USB using FFS,
but you would need to set your iPhone in the USB MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode.

Check the Internet on how to do this.
This may vary per iOS version.

Did you bother visiting the download page ?

If you still have the donation version installed, then in the FFS GUI click Help / Check for updates now and at the bottom click Home page. This will open a webpage that has the form of https://freefilesync.org/thank-you.php?tx=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX where the X-s are your unique donation code. Copy tha...

> How can I setup the recyclebin on the external harddisk, so it can be found and used by FreeFileSync? You can not. That is not an FFS limitation, but simply the fact that the OS of the system on which FFS is run does/can not see such remote recycle-bin. However, in FFS you can use Versioning . You...

Questionable hardware can always cause trouble.
But as your drive is apparently a USB connected drive, it could be your drive-letter is changing and causes the issue.
In that case, you can use unique volume names.

The obvious question then is:
How did you specify the external disk?
Type the address yourself? If so, what does it look like?
Drag-drop into a FFS GUI base location field?

> ... I have used your free software ...

Zenju is the sole author, so I am redirecting your appreciation towards him (or is it her?).
I am just a (meanwhile a bit experienced) enthusiastic user of the program.

What do you mean "I don't see"? It is pretty clear:

In the Include/Exclude filter (F7), you can also select a minimum and/or maximum size of the files to be included in the sync (top-right).

> Is the donation a once-off amount or does the software deactivate the Donation Version after a period of time? In the past, your donation would expire after a time depending on the amount you donated. This did not mean your software would deactivate; it would continue to work indefinitely, but you...

It is as xCSxXenon says. RealTimeSync (RTS) does not have any timing schedule to trigger its command line (normally an FFS sync). So, there must be something (a program, virus scanner or whatever) that creates a change that triggers RTS to launch its command line. You can use the %change_action% env...

> but I now have a backup

No, you now have a copy.
That is something different than a backup.

> If not, can I compare a subfolder while uploading to the root folder?

FFS first runs a Compare on the entire tree in scope of the sync.
And only after that Compare has finished, you can review the proposed sync actions and (if OK) start the sync.

> is it anyhow possible to compare on filenames

FreeFileSync (FFS) only compares left and right-side files that have identical names (and are in identical folders with respect to the left and right base locations). FFS doe never compare files of different names.

External drives normally do not have a Recycle-bin. In some cases (e.g. some NASs) they do/can have a recycle-bin, but not one that FFS is aware of. For external drives is then best/simplest to use Versioning. That is always to a self-selected location, that should be accessible by FFS. Regarding yo...

Yep

> ... so my best final settings would be Mirror Variant + Permanent Delete. What do you think? Am I correct? If you feel you may never have the need to restore a file you accidentally deleted from your LEFT location and then ran your Mirror sync, or feel that you never mess up and may want to restor...

> One last question: ... will always be valid and will be updated with the new release version to download? Yep! But note: the donation link-page will always provide the latest FFS version; there is no "archive" of previous donation versions available. So, if you feel you ever may have the...

There is no need to uninstall your previous edition.

From what you describe, Mirror seems to be the way to go.
Only if you would select the Custom variant you can change the Action for the Difference categories;
for the pre-defined variants they are fixed.
For "Delete and overwrite", choose the method fitting your needs/requirements.

Clear now! Note that there are further differences between the Mirror and Update sync variant. For the Category "Right side is newer": The action for Mirror is "Update right item", thereby overwriting the right-side item with the older left-side item. The action for Update is &qu...

> ... I think I found out that the correct setting for me would be the Mirror variant and not the Update variant, mainly because of the last option regarding the item existing only on the right side that I want to be deleted. The last part of your line above is a bit unclear, but: Look at the descri...

> As I have only text files in all folders this is good news and hope thats will be working. I answered that FFS can/does NOT do what you describe. Even not when the files involved are plain text files. The script/batch file I am referring to, would be a self created cmd/com, PowerShell, Basic or wh...

The layout of your FreeFileSync (FFS) GUI looks "messed up" (e.g. not showing your left and right base location(s) ). You can reset the FFS GUI layout via Tools / Reset Layout. For seeing the "content" of your sync locations, you first need to run a Compare. After that, by defaul...

If you use the Mirror sync variant, any files pre-existing in your destination/target (right-side) location that do not, or no longer, exist in your source (left-side) location, will be deleted from your target location. If you use the TwoWay sync variant, after running the first sync, any files del...