Cyberduck Help / Howto / Mountain Duck / Smart Synchronization

The smart sync feature allows to make files available offline. You can also choose to make explicitly all or only selected files and folders available for offline use. Changes to files are saved in a local cache first and uploaded in the background as soon as a connection is available.

Bookmark Options

You can change the synchronization options for a bookmark in Connect Mode.

• Default. Use setting from Preferences
• Online. Do not synchronize any files to your computer. You can only access this volume when a connection is possible to the server or cloud storage. Files are accessed on demand from the remote when opened and do not take up any local disk space.
• Smart Synchronization. Files opened are made available for later offline access. You can explicitly make files available offline using the context menu.

Status of files

Files and folders on a mounted volume have a status icon overlay in File Explorer (Windows) and Finder (macOS).

Please make sure to enable the Mountain Duck Integration in System Preferences → Extensions → Finder on macOS.

Up to Date

The file or the contents of a directory has been opened and downloaded to your computer and therefore currently synced with the server or cloud storage. The file takes disk space on your computer and can always be opened even when no connection to the server or cloud storage is possible. New files in a directory on the remote server will appear as Online Only and are not downloaded automatically. Files copied to a volume are kept cached by default.

In Sync

The file or directory is selected to be synced with the server or cloud storage to always keep offline. The file takes disk space on your computer and can always be opened even when no connection to the server or cloud storage is possible. New files in a directory on the remote server will be downloaded automatically.

Online Only

The file can only be opened when a connection to the server or cloud storage can be made. The file does not take any disk space on your computer. The file is downloaded on demand when you open it.

Sync in Progress

The file or directory is currently synced with the server or cloud storage.

Sync Error

There was an error updating the file after changes. You are missing permission to write to the file or another problem occured. Please contact your web hosting service provider for assistance. To resolve the error, move the file to your local disk and reload the directory.

Ignored

The file is only saved in a local temporary location and never synced to the server or cloud storage.

Context Menu Options

Please make sure to enable the Mountain Duck Integration in System Preferences → Extensions → Finder Extensions on macOS.

Select files and folders to always keep offline

You can choose to make files and folders available offline in the context menu. Right-click on a file or folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS). Refer to Finder Extension & Windows File Explorer Extension.

Keep Offline

• Choose Sync Options → Keep Offline on Local Disk to make the file available offline. The status of the file will change to In Sync.

Delete on Local Disk

• Choose Sync Options → Delete on Local Disk to delete the offline copy. The status of the file will change to Online Only.

Sync Conflicts

A conflict may be caused by two or more users editing the same files at the same time or while on the road before the files are synced. We do not merge changes to files like version control systems do. The file with conflicting edits will be renamed with the current time added to the filename. You will have to compare the changes manually and delete the duplicate file afterwards.

Action	Error Cause	Error State (Overlay Icon)	Remarks	Manual Conflict Resolution
Indexing folder	Missing permission	Sync Error for files with pending write	Other files are removed from local cache	Context menu with options Retry
Open placeholder (1) file	Permission failure reading file on server	–	Status remains Online	–
Select to keep file offline placeholder (1) file	Permission failure reading file on server	Sync Error	–	Context menu with options Retry
Indexing folder containing files in write error state	File with write sync error state not found on server	Sync Error	For error states caused by other operations than write, the file is removed on local disk	Context menu with options Retry
Open placeholder (1) file	Directory index is out of sync. File not found on server	–	File is deleted in local cache	–
Edit file deleted on server	Directory index is out of sync. File not found on server	–	File is uploaded anew to server	–
Edit file renamed on server	Directory index is out of sync. File not found on server	–	File is uploaded anew to server	–
Edit file already changed on server	Last seen checksum differs from current checksum on server. (Or timestamp when server does not offer checksum verification)	–	Existing file on server is renamed to <filename> timestamp.<extension>. Eventually with user preference to default to sync error instead.	User has to manually merge the conflicting edits.
Edit file with parent folder missing on server	Upload fails because parent folder is not found on server	Sync Error	–	Move file to different folder or Retry option in context menu
Move or rename file to target that already exists on server	Directory index is out of sync	–	Existing file on server is renamed to <filename> timestamp.<extension>. Eventually with user preference to default to sync error instead.	User has to manually merge the conflicting edits.
Move or rename directory to target that already exists on server	Directory index is out of sync	–	Existing directory on server is renamed to <folder> timestamp.<extension>	User has to manually merge the conflicting edits.
Move or rename directory that no longer exists on server	Directory index is out of sync	Sync Error	Directory is removed from local cache	–
Create file that exists already on server	Directory index is out of sync	–	Failure creating file is ignored
Create folder that exists already on server	Directory index is out of sync	–	Failure creating folder is ignored
Delete file already changed on server	Directory index is out of sync	–	File is deleted on server	–

(1) Indexed file in local cache not downloaded from server

Sync Progress

Changes to files are uploaded in the background as soon as a connection is available. Progress is reported by animating the status bar icon and a menu item titled Sync in Progress.

Detailed status for current transfers is available in the Sync submenu. Refer to Sync Progress.

Pause Sync

You can manually pause background syncing by selecting Pause Sync in the submenu for the sync status. Syncing is also paused automatically when your network connection to the server is interrupted but resumed automatically when a connection is restored.

The paused sync status is indicated with a greyed-out icon in the tray (Windows) or status bar (macOS).

Sync Errors

Files that failed to sync get a sync error badge. You can try to repeat the failed transfer by selecting Sync Options → Retry in the context menu.

File History

You can lookup the latest changes to files. Refer to Recent Files.

Notifications

• File Added. New file found on server for previously indexed folder.
• File Updated. File changed on server since previously indexing a folder.
• Sync Conflict. Conflicting change in file lead to duplicate of file being created with previous content edited on server.

Refer also to Preferences → Notifications.

Preferences

Refer to Preferences.