Mac OSX Sparse Disk Image Bundle

Posts: 10 · Homer712 2 Jul 2019, 15:56

Is there any way to get FreeFileSync to treat a Sparse Disk Image Bundle as one file. I have multiple files within this Sparse Disk Image Bundle (it's encrypted) like taxes, finances, etc. Currently, when FreeFileSync backs up this file it only archives the changed bands of the Sparse Disk Image Bundle. If I need to go back a day, week or a month I have no idea what I would do with these bands. What I'd like to have FreeFileSync do is if any file within the Sparse Disk Image Bundle has changed, during the backup copy the complete Sparse Disk Image Bundle to the backup location, and copy the complete old Sparse Disk Image Bundle to the archive.

Posts: 2 · cblue 11 Feb 2026, 13:43

I just would like to register interest for this feature.
I use sparse bundles a lot for encrypted media and FreeFileSync shows every band when I run a backup which makes the backup preview harder to read and check properly.
Thanks!

Posts: 4908 · xCSxXenon 11 Feb 2026, 18:18

That's the whole point of a Spare Bundle, chunks of data. Use a sparse image if you need one "file" that holds all of the data inside

Posts: 2 · cblue 11 Feb 2026, 18:45

That's the whole point of a Spare Bundle, chunks of data. Use a sparse image if you need one "file" that holds all of the data inside xCSxXenon, 11 Feb 2026, 18:18

Definitely, agreed and that's partly why it's useful for what I need, but there is no way to collapse all the chunks in the FreeFileSync comparison window so I often have to scroll through a lot of lines before getting to the rest of the items that are going to be backed up.
So I guess another way to phrase would be to ask if there would be a way to collapse the sparse bundle chunk details... Which could be a helpful feature for folders as well.

Posts: 4908 · xCSxXenon 12 Feb 2026, 17:25

I was responding to the OP, not your secondary observation. For you specifically, there's a few options. You could click the bundle in the overview and temporarily exclude it from the results. Or even brose the changes from there directly. You do have to re-compare to bring it back for consideration though. You could also have a unique folder pair or entire configuration for the bundle, pretty much results in a similar compromise as well.