Use Syncless to synchronise files and folders using tags

Start by visiting the Syncless download page, at www.snipca.com/x1492, and then click the green arrow or the Download Syncless link. If the File Download Security Warning dialogue box appears, click Save and then choose a location for the downloaded file. Firefox users should select Save File to save the download to Firefox’s default download folder. Syncless is provided as a compressed zip file. To extract the contents, right-click the zip file and select Extract All (or Extract followed by Extract All) before clicking the Extract button. The extracted folder should open automatically but if it doesn’t, open it and double-click the SynclessUI.exe file.

Read through the introductory screen, click to remove the tick from the box labelled 'Show this screen at startup' and click Start Using Syncless to continue. We’ll begin by configuring a few settings. Click the spanner icon in the upper right-hand corner of the program window to access the Application Options. Most the settings are self-explanatory but ensure Enable Shell Integration is ticked.

Now click the Archiving tab to configure how Syncless should handle files that have been deleted or replaced. By ticking the first box, Syncless will safeguard against the loss of important information by moving files deleted during synchronisation to the Recycle Bin. As well, Syncless automatically retains older versions of files as they are synchronised. By default, two previous versions are retained but use the slider to choose how many versions of edited files should be saved. Click OK to save the settings.

Syncless synchronises folders based on tags and there are a number of ways to add tags. Assuming the ‘shell integration’ was enabled in Step 2, the easiest way to tag a folder is to right-click it. From the pop-up menu, click the Syncless – Tag option. In the Tag dialogue box that appears, enter a suitable name for the tag in the Name field and click the Tag button. This method can be used to create as many tags as are needed.

Now use the same method to tag a second folder with the same name – take great care to enter the tag name in precisely the same way, otherwise synchronisation will fail. Once two or more folders have been assigned the same tag, synchronisation is possible. To check which files will be copied from folder to folder, click the Preview button. Close the Preview Synchronisation Changes dialogue box and click the Sync Now button to synchronise files between all folders that carry the same tag.

It’s possible to have Syncless keep tagged folders synchronised automatically. Select a tag by clicking its entry in the list on the right-hand side of the program window then click the Manual switch to the left. The switch will change to read ‘Seamless’. In this mode, any files that are added to or edited in a tagged folder will be automatically synchronised with other folders using the same tag.

Tags can also be created by clicking the Create button in the Syncless window. Enter a tag name in the Name field and click OK, and the tag will be added to the right-hand list. To assign existing tags to individual files, first select a tag from the list, then either click the Tag button in the toolbar or right-click a tag and select the Tag Folder option. Navigate to the relevant folder and click the Select Folder button.

Syncless includes a search tool that can be used to quickly home in on individual tags. Click in the search box above the list of tags and start typing. Matching tags will be automatically displayed. Tags that are no longer needed can be deleted by right-clicking and selecting Remove Tag.

To synchronise files between two or more PCs using Syncless requires a removable storage device, such as a USB memory key. Setting up folder tags for synchronisation is no different to synchronising files between two folders on the same computer (just be sure to select the correct drive when assigning tags). To stop synchronising in this way, click the Unmonitor button in the Syncless toolbar and then click the letter of the removable drive.

To restrict synchronisation to certain file types within a folder requires the use of filters. To do this, right-click a tag in the tag list and select Tag Details. Click the + button and in the Ext Mask field to the right of the dialogue enter a file extension (‘*.jpg’ for JPEG images, for example). Use the Mode menu to indicate whether files of this type should be included or excluded from synchronisation and click OK.