A screenshot of Microsoft SyncToy. |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
| Stable release | 2.1 / November 10, 2009 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | File synchronization |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | SyncToy website on Microsoft.com |
SyncToy is a freeware tool in Microsoft's PowerToys series that provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface for synchronizing files and folders. It is written using Microsoft's .NET framework and uses the Microsoft Sync Framework.[1]
Contents |
Users initially need to create a “folder pair” that represents the two folders ("left" and "right" folders) to be compared and synchronized. These folders can be on the local drive, on an external device such as a flash drive, or on a network share from another computer. SyncToy supports UNC paths. It provides a Browse option to find the folder or network share, or users can type it in directly. SyncToy offers two safeguards to ensure that the user does not lose files permanently when they are deemed unnecessary during a sync. Firstly, a user can preview what is going to happen when the sync takes place, without actually changing anything; secondly, any deleted files are optionally moved to the Recycle Bin.
SyncToy defines three different types of operation to synchronize two folders:[2]
SyncToy supports 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP.[4]
SyncToy started as a Powertoy for Windows XP. Initially releases took version numbers 1.x, culminating in version 1.4. These versions were written in Microsoft's .NET framework but contained their own code for folder synchronization. They included the same actions as the present version, plus two additional actions (labelled Subscribe and Combine):
In November 2008 version 2.0 was released. This was a rewritten version built to use the Microsoft Sync Framework. Compared to version 1.4 it included better support for unattended synchronization runs, x64 compatibility, support for synchronizing encrypted files, file and folder exclusion based on both names and file types, renaming folder pairs and detection of drive letter reassignment.[5] SyncToy 2.1 was released on November 10, 2009 and includes several minor enhancements and fixes for several bugs, including a serious issue where data on NAS would be corrupted, and another where deletes would not be synchronised when in Echo mode.