Synology Drive Client

Synology Drive Client desktop application is the desktop utility that provides file syncing and personal computer backup service on multiple client computers to a centralized server, Synology Drive Server.

Contents

• Before you start
• Starting Synology Drive Client
• Configuring your Sync Tasks
  • Managing your Sync Tasks
  • Syncing and managing your files
  • Understanding the file status
• Configuring your Backup Tasks
  • Managing your Backup Tasks
  • Back up your files effortlessly
  • Managing backed up files and historical versions
• Application Management and Settings
  • Logs
  • Notifications
  • Global Settings
  • Removing Synology Drive Client from your computer

Before you start

• Synology Drive Client compatibility, system requirements, and feature specifications can be found in Technical Specifications.
• Before setting up the utility, you need to choose a Synology NAS as the host server and install Synology Drive Server on it.
  • To use the file synchronization and management solution offered by Synology Drive Admin Console, Synology Drive, or Synology Drive ShareSync, please sign in with an account belonging to the administrators group of your DSM, and go to Package Center to install the Synology Drive Server package.
  • To create sync and backup tasks, you must first enable shared folders as team folders in DSM > Synology Drive Admin Console > Team Folder.

Starting Synology Drive Client

Download and install the Synology Drive Client utility from Synology Download Center. Follow the instructions in this section to configure the syncing service provided by Synology Drive.

To launch the Synology Drive Client setup wizard:

1. On your Windows computer, go to Start > All Programs > Synology Drive Client.
2. On your macOS computer, go to Finder > Applications > Synology Drive Client.
3. On your Linux computer, go to Dash > Applications > Synology Drive Client.
4. Click Start Now and select Sync Task or Backup Task from the wizard to get started.

Configuring Your Sync Tasks

You may create sync tasks to sync files between Synology Drive and multiple computers to enhance productivity and file accessibility.

To create a sync task:

1. Enter the IP address or QuickConnect ID, username, and password of your Synology NAS. For domain users, use your domain name or username to sign in. For LDAP users, use "username@Base_DN" to sign in. You can also connect via IPv6 or proxy service. Click Next.
• If you are unable to connect to your Synology NAS, please make sure you have installed Synology Drive Server and check the Internet connection, or go to Global Settings to configure the proxy.
• You can also click the search icon on the right, and Synology Drive Client will automatically search for Synology NAS devices within your LAN.
2. Select Sync Task and click Next.
3. Check the path of the local and remote folders you wish to sync. You may click Change to select different folders for syncing.
4. For Windows 10 computers, you may decide whether to Enable On-demand Sync to reduce computer capacity consumption and overhead on the server. For more information, please visit this FAQ.
5. You may click Advanced to further modify the following sync settings:
• You may specify folders and files you don't want to sync in Folder and File Filter:
  • Max file size: Any files larger than the size specified here will not be synced.
  • File name: Any file with the designated file name will not be synced.
  • File extension: Any designated file extension will not be synced. Add *.extension to the table, e.g., *.iso.
• You may configure the advanced sync options in Sync Mode.
  • Sync direction may be two-way sync, one-way data download from the server, or one-way upload. You can later change this configuration in Sync Rules > Sync Mode by clicking on the task.
  • For One-way upload tasks, untick Keep locally deleted files on the server if you wish to also delete the items on the server when they are deleted on the computer.
  • For Windows 10 computers, you may decide whether to Enable On-demand Sync to reduce computer capacity consumption and overhead on the server.
  • You may choose to untick Enable advanced consistency check to reduce the time and system resources required in file comparison. This lowers the accuracy of file comparison.
6. Click Done to save the settings.

To add a new sync task:

1. Go to Sync Tasks and click Create.
2. Select a connected server or connect to a new server you want to create a new task on and click Next.
3. Choose to sync either My Drive or Team Folder.
4. Choose the local folder and remote folder you want to sync, and configure Advanced settings.
5. For Windows 10 computers, you may decide whether to Enable On-demand Sync to reduce computer capacity consumption and overhead on the server.
6. Click Done to complete the setup.

To delete a sync task:

1. Select the connection you want to unlink on the Sync Tasks page.
2. Click Delete.

Managing your Sync Tasks

You may manage your sync tasks with the buttons located at the top of the main page.

To manage your sync tasks:

1. Select the sync task you want to manage.
2. Click Pause, Resume, or Delete to pause, resume, or delete the task.
3. Inside your sync folder, you can also right-click on any subfolder, select Synology Drive, and click Stop syncing this folder or Resume syncing this folder.

To change your sync rules:

1. Select the sync task you want to manage and click Sync Rules.
2. You can reconfigure the sync rules in the Folder, File Filter, and Sync Mode tabs.

Syncing and managing your files

After Synology Drive Client is set up on all of your computers, you can start syncing files with your connected Synology NAS and other computers.

To access your files, do any of the following:

• Click the link below your sync tasks to open the Synology Drive folder on your computer and then select the files or folders you want to access.
• In the Synology Drive Client tray menu, you can click the folder icon on the upper-right corner to access the local syncing folders from different connected servers.

To sync your files, do any of the following:

• Put your files into the Synology Drive folder on your computer to start file syncing. When file syncing is in progress, a blue symbol will appear on the application icon in the system tray of your computer, which will be replaced with a green one once the syncing process is complete. If you pause syncing, a gray symbol will appear.
• Right-click on any file on your computer to copy it to your Synology Drive sync folder.

If you want to pause or resume the sync process, click on the application icon in the system tray of your computer, and then choose Pause or Resume.

To enable syncing Shared with me:

1. To enable syncing Shared with me, select the sync task and click Edit Connections. On the Shared with me tab, tick to enable syncing Shared with me. You may click Change to change the folder location for storing shared with me files.
2. You can also click the Synology Drive Client icon in the system tray, go to Notifications, click a shared item, and click Sync this item.

To download previous versions of a synced file:

1. Right-click on the file and choose Synology Drive > Browse previous versions.
2. Find the version you want to download and click the Download icon.
3. Enter the filename and choose the destination to save the file.

To create a file sharing link:

1. Right-click on the file you want to share, and choose Synology Drive > Get link.
2. If you have manager permission for the item, you can customize the sharing permission of the link or specific DSM users. Click Apply to complete your settings. The link will be copied to your clipboard.

Understanding the file status

Icon overlays

Icon overlays appear on the lower-left corner of the files or folders in your local Synology Drive folder, indicating its status. You can untick Show icon overlay for file status in Global Settings > Display if you do not wish to see them.

Icon	Description
	This icon indicates that your file or folder has been successfully synced and is up to date, or it is yet to be processed.
	This icon indicates that your file or folder has been filtered out and has not been synced. Possible reasons include: a system default filter, sync rules filter, server profile settings, or ACL permissions. You can untick Show icon overlay for unsynced files in Global Settings > Display if you do not wish to see this icon.
	This icon indicates that sync is currently in process.
	This icon indicates that you have read-only permission to the synced file or folder.

Status indicator for On-demand Sync tasks

For tasks set with On-demand Sync on, the below icons indicate the current sync status.

Icon	Description
	This icon indicates that your file or folder is available when online and does not take up disk capacity. You may open and download a local copy to the computer, or right-click on the file, select Synology Drive > Pin local copy permanently to maintain a local copy.
	This icon indicates your file or folder has been downloaded to a local computer and can be viewed offline. You may right-click on the file, select Synology Drive > Free up space to manually delete the local file and release the space. However, when your computer is low on disk capacity, these local copies will be automatically deleted to release space. The icons will change to the cloud icon and these files and folders are still available when online.
	This icon indicates that the file has been permanently pinned to the local computer and can be viewed offline. When your computer is low on disk capacity, these permanently pinned copies will not be automatically deleted to release space.

Configuring Your Backup Tasks

You may create backup tasks to back up your files from multiple client computers to Synology Drive server to protect computer data.

To create a backup task:

1. Enter the IP address or QuickConnect ID, username, and password of your Synology NAS. For domain users, use your domain name or username to sign in. For LDAP users, use "username@Base_DN" to sign in. You can also connect via IPv6 or proxy service. Click Next.
   • If you are unable to connect to your Synology NAS, please make sure you have installed Synology Drive Server and check the Internet connection, or go to Global Settings to configure the proxy.
   • You can also click the search icon on the right, and Synology Drive Client will automatically search for Synology NAS devices within your LAN.
2. Select Backup Task and click Next.
3. Select the local folders that you want to back up.
   • You may click Backup Rules to further modify backup settings.
     • Max file size: Any files larger than the size specified here will not be backed up.
     • File name: Any file with the designated file name will not be backed up.
     • File extension: Any designated file extension will not be backed up. Add *.extension to the table, e.g., *.iso.
     • You may tick Back up files and folders with the prefix "." if you wish to back up such files.
     • You may tick Back up temporary files and folders if you wish to do back up temp files.
     • You may tick Keep locally deleted files on the remote backup destination folder to prevent backed up files from being deleted.
     • Click Apply to save the settings.
   • The destination of the backed up data will be shown at the bottom of the window. If you want to modify your backup destination, click Select:
     • Destination folder: Synology Drive will create a folder with your computer name in the backup destination to back up to.
     • Select a backup destination on you NAS: Choose a remote folder path for the backup destination folder.
     • Click OK to save all the settings.
4. After configuring your backup settings, source and destination folder paths, click Next.
5. Select a backup mode for the backup task and then click Next.
   • Continuous backup: Back up files whenever changes are made to the selected backup source.
   • Manual backup: Back up files whenever you click Back up now.
   • Scheduled backup: Back up files as you scheduled.
     • Select the days you would like to run the backup task from the Run on drop-down menu.
     • Select the time you would like to start the backup task from the Start time drop-down menu.
     • Select the frequency you would like the backup task to run with from the Frequency drop-down menu. You may choose to run it once a day or every certain period of time.
     • If you choose to run at the frequency other than Once a Day, you may select the time for the last backup in the days selected from the Last run time drop-down menu.
     • Select the time you would like the last backup task to end in the scheduled day or its next day from the End time drop-down menu.
     • Tick the checkboxes if you wish to enable Shut down automatically after running the last backup task of the day or Continue any uncompleted backup tasks when the system is in operation again.
6. Check the backup settings summary and click Done to complete the setup.

Managing your Backup Tasks

Double-click the Synology Drive Client icon in the system tray to launch the application and go to the Backup Task page to manage your backup tasks.

To manage your backup:

1. Click Pause to pause your running backup task or scheduled backup task.
2. Click Resume to resume your backup.

To modify the folder you want to backup:

1. Click Backup Settings > Backup Source.
2. Tick the folders you want to back up, and untick those you don't want to back up.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To change your backup rules:

1. Click Backup Settings > Backup Source.
2. Click Backup Rules button, and make changes to your settings.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To change your backup mode:

1. Click Backup Settings > Backup Mode.
2. Make changes to your settings.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To edit the backup task connection:

1. Click Backup Settings > Connection.
2. Make changes to the server connection or username and password.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To delete a backup task:

1. Click Backup Settings > Connection.
2. Click the Unlink button to delete the task.

Back up your files effortlessly

To automatically back up your files, do any of the following:

• Place files you wish to back up into the backup folder on your computer.
• While backup is running, files uploaded will be shown in Logs tab in the application.
• If you want to pause or resume your backup, click Pause or Resume in the Backup Task page in the application.

Managing backed up files and historical versions

Synology Drive saves historical versions of each modified file according to the settings in Synology Drive Admin Console. Every time you modify a file, a backup version is created, just in case you make mistakes or wish to revert to an older version. On the client computer, double-click the Synology Drive Client icon in the system tray to launch the application and go to the Backup Task page. Here you can browse historical versions of backed up data as well as restore files from a specific point in time.

To download previous versions of a backed up file:

1. Click Restore to open the Restore window.
2. You can view the history of files by selecting a specific date and time from the Time drop-down menu.
3. Select a file you want to download, and then click Download.
4. You can also click Browse previous versions to view all historical versions of the file at once and then click Download to download the selected version.

To restore a backed up file or folder to a specific time:

1. Click Restore to open the Restore window.
2. You can view the history of files by selecting a specific date and time from the Time drop-down menu.
3. Select a file you want to restore, then click Restore. The file will be restored to its directory on the computer.

To download or restore a deleted file or folder:

1. Click Restore to open the Restore window.
2. Check the box next to Show deleted files. After choosing this option, all deleted files will be shown in the file chooser below.
3. You can download or restore a deleted file or folder using the same steps as regular files.

To check the download or restore progress:

1. Click Restore to open the Restore window.
2. Click the task icon on the upper-right to open the task list.
3. Both download and restore task progress will be shown in the task list.

To access your backed up files on your Synology NAS, do any of the following:

1. Sign in to Synology Drive web portal with your credentials and click Computer Backup in the left panel.
2. Files backed up from your computers will be saved here.

Application Management and Settings

You may make changes to general settings and view event status in Synology Drive Client.

Logs

To view logs:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon in the system tray to launch the app.
2. Go to the Logs page to view your sync and backup events.

Notifications

To view notifications:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon in the system tray to launch the app.
2. Go to the Notifications page to view notifications of sync and backup events.

Global Settings

You can modify general application, notification, display and proxy settings on the Global Settings page.

To edit your settings:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon and go to Global Settings.
2. Under the General tab, you may adjust the following:
   • Select whether to start Synology Drive application upon login.
   • Select a default action for when application restarts and syncing connection resumes.
   • Select a file version conflict resolution.
     • Keep the latest modified version: When a file conflict takes place between the server and the desktop application, the latest file (the one with the latest modified time) will be retained. If the latest file is the local file on the application, the file on the server will become a historic version. If the latest file is on the server, the local file will be discarded, but you can tick the option Rename to keep the discarded version.
     • Keep the version on the server: When a file conflict takes place between the server and the desktop application, the file on the server will always be retained and the local version will be discarded. You can tick the option Rename to keep the discarded version.
   • Select a default folder for Synology Drive when you click on Synology Drive Client in the system tray.
   • Select the language to be displayed in the application.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To edit notification settings:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon and go to Global Settings.
2. Under the Notifications tab, you can change the setting for Show desktop notifications for file events.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To edit display settings:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon and go to Global Settings.
2. Under the Display tab, you may modify below options:
   • Select to show tutorial tips the next time Synology Drive Client is launched.
   • Select to use minimalist tray icon.
   • Adjust the style of the icon and context menu in the synced local folder.
3. Click Apply to save the settings.

To configure proxy settings:

1. Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon and go to Global Settings.
2. Under the Proxy tab, you may select Auto-detect to use proxy settings provided by the operating system.
3. You may also manually specify your own proxy server IP and port.
   • Tick Enable proxy authentication and enter username and password for proxy authorization.
4. Click Apply to save all the settings.

To enable SSL data transmission encryption:

• For new connections:
  1. Click Create.
  2. Select Another Synology NAS and enter your user credentials.
  3. Tick the Enable SSL data transmission encryption checkbox.
• For existing connections:
  1. Select the connection you want to modify and click the drop-down menu to the right of the server name.
  2. Click Edit Connection, enter your user credentials and tick the Enable SSL data transmission encryption checkbox.

To monitor personal usage in Team Folders:

• Double-click on the Synology Drive Client icon and go to Global Settings.
• Under the Usage tab, you will find your personal storage usage of each team folder or My Drive. The total capacity is only shown if the quota limit has been set for the user. Please note that the usage calculation is not available for ext4 file system.

Removing Synology Drive Client from your computer

To remove Synology Drive Client on macOS:

1. Go to Finder > Application and right-click the Synology Drive Client application, then select Package Contents.
2. Go to Contents > SharedSupport.
3. Copy and paste Remove Synology Drive Client onto your desktop.
4. Double-click on Remove Synology Drive Client to uninstall the Synology Drive desktop application from your macOS computer.