there are postings referring to older threads with an explanation why FreeFileSync doesn't rename/move folders but re-create them and move only the files, e.g.:
No, folders are not moved, but the files contained. I believe there is some old thread here on the forum explaining this in more detail.
Zenju, 01 Aug 2017, 16:42
and
The link is actually good as it lists the prerequisites for move detection, one of which is probably not fulfilled in your case. Note that technically all the files will be moved rather than the folder. But this has been discussed a couple of times already on the forum.
Zenju, 26 Jun 2018, 07:42
I can't find these old threads but I'm curious about the reason.
Yeah I'm interested in this as well.
I want to sync two USB HDD Drives and say
Drive A has A:\folder1 which is synced across to Drive B as B:\folder1.
Now I rename the folder at A. because I want it to say PRV instead of PRIVATE for example.
Even for me, it's very difficult to realise just WHERE I've renamed files.
The only way I could be truly sure I have an Exact Copy is if I Deleted the entire destination drive. Then I would have to sync the entire, almost 4TB of data each time. Otherwise I'd end up with multiple paths / versions of files.
What if FFSync did a directory listing of source and destination by full path, THEN produced a report of the differences? (ie any folder same context, same name will not appear.)
A:\folder1\Tax\tax\June 2019.pdf ==> B:\folder1\Tax 2019\YEJune 2019.pdf
Even better, allow each different folder for the source to be connected to a destination.
This would be fantastic as I could see that for example, there are actually 2 copies of a folder which I didn't mean to have, or that I have renamed a folder, and then I can choose to backup to the old folder name, OR rename the old folder before syncing.
First I be sure to have the 'Detect moved files' box checked at 'Synchronization Settings' once and for each session.
Be sure that it's not accidently unchecked.
Then I only have to Compare and Sync the container folder to create a new database.
This database is necessary for the MoveFile feature to work properly with moved or renamed files and folders.
Then I may rename or move files and folders within this container folder.
For me the most efficient way is to Compare+Sync device root and set Filter to exclude all (big) folders but the one(s) I actually want to Sync. Just paste a list of the folders into the filter box.
Thanks for the great program
Cheers clipper
btw: "In earlier releases of MS-DOS, instead of using ren or rename you need to use the move command to rename your MS-DOS directories or files." Basically it's the same afaik (create new file/folder, error if already exists, move, delete old directory entry). (If on same device) Move means copying the directory entry to new destination, not the data.
