Software & Apps Apps 57 57 people found this article helpful The 5 Best File Syncing Apps Keep your information backed up and up to date across multiple devices by Melanie Uy Writer Former Lifewire writer Melanie Uy has 5+ years' experience writing about consumer-oriented technology and is an expert telecommuter. our editorial process Melanie Uy Updated on November 12, 2019 reviewed by Jerrick Leger Lifewire Tech Review Board Member Jerrick Leger is a CompTIA-certified IT Specialist with more than 10 years' experience in technical support and IT fields. He is also a systems administrator for an IT firm in Texas serving small businesses. our review board Article reviewed on Nov 11, 2020 Jerrick Leger Apps Best Apps Payment Services Tweet Share Email A file syncing app is a service or program that offers a convenient way to automatically synchronize your files across more than one computer or mobile device. Anywhere you're logged in to the file syncing app, the same files are available for you to open, edit, copy, stream, and so on, just as if you were on the device on which you initially uploaded them. File syncing apps have plenty of uses, and the apps we've chosen work well in all occasions. For example, Dropbox stores your files online so that you can access them anywhere, while Resilio Sync skips servers altogether and syncs via a peer-to-peer connection. Most of these apps are free, but some require a monthly subscription, especially if you want online storage too. Dropbox: Access Your Synced Files Anywhere Melanie Pinola What We Like You can manually set bandwidth limits Thirty days of undo history to recover deleted or changed files All files are encrypted on the Dropbox website Files can be uploaded to and downloaded from the Dropbox website (without needing to use the app) What We Don't Like Data must be stored online first in order to sync to other devices Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud storage services, and for good reason. Anything you put into your Dropbox folder gets backed up online and downloads to any other device that's logged in to the same account. In other words, Dropbox is a file sync utility because the folder on your computer in which you can store files is replicated to all of the computers and mobile devices that your account is connected to. Dropbox is free for the first 2 GB of data. You can pay for more storage with the Plus and Professional plans, which offer 1 TB and 2 TB, respectively. Visit Dropbox Download Dropbox for iOS Download for Android Resilio Sync: Sync Any Folder With Any Other Computer Melanie Pinola What We Like Your files are not stored online You get to choose which folders to sync Each folder can have its own permissions: read-only or read and write No user account is needed; data is synced by special links or codes Bandwidth control options are available You can change the listening port Encrypted folders can be created and synced What We Don't Like Can't access your files from a web browser because they aren't stored online Resilio Sync (previously called BitTorrent Sync) is a peer-to-peer synchronization program Unlike Dropbox where you have to put every file you want to sync into the Dropbox folder, Resilio has you pick folders on your computer that will be synced to your other devices. For example, select your iTunes folder to share all your music between your different computers. When you accept a folder share from another computer, you get to pick which folder on your computer is used to download the files. From there, any changes you make are reflected back to the other computer's original folder. Some features, like selective syncing to sync only certain files from a folder, are available only if you upgrade out of the free version of Resilio. Visit Resilio Sync GoodSync: A File Syncing Tool With Tons of Options Melanie Pinola What We Like Lots of options Supports folders from a variety of locations Filtering options let you exclude subfolders from a sync Can sync files to and from your phone Each device can browse through files on all the other connected devices Also works as a one-way sync, backup service Supports encryption and bandwidth control What We Don't Like Can get confusing with all the available settings If you're looking for a file syncing program with the most options and greatest flexibility, you can't go wrong with GoodSync. Tons of options can be customized, and it works seamlessly between desktop and mobile devices. Like most file sync apps, GoodSync keeps two folders in sync with each other. However, you can take it a step further and connect the program to your phone to back up your photos and videos automatically, or to send files from your computer to your phone on a schedule. Unlike most file sync software programs, GoodSync lets you connect to a variety of locations in addition to your computer folders, like FTP servers and cloud storage services. If you don't use an online service, then GoodSync works like a P2P file sync program (i.e., no data is stored online). The free version of GoodSync has some limitations, like a maximum number of files that you can sync for any single job and a maximum number of jobs you can make in any one account. You can buy GoodSync to get more features beyond the free version. For example, you can get GoodSync2Go to use on a portable device like a flash drive. Download for Windows Download for Mac Download for Linux Download GoodSync for iOS Download for Android SyncToy: The Easiest Way to Sync Two Local Folders SyncToy. What We Like Completely free with no limitations Really easy to set up Lots of optional settings, like file, subfolder, and file attribute exclusions Supports not only synchronize but also echo and contribute, two other ways to keep two folders in sync What We Don't Like Works on Windows operating systems only Only Windows 7, Vista, and XP are officially supported Can't sync to computers outside your local network SyncToy is like a lesser version of the other syncing apps from above. It lets you keep two folders in sync but doesn't span across multiple networks. In other words, the SyncToy file syncing program is handy if you like to keep a copy of your files in two locations like on your local hard drive and a flash drive, or on your external hard drive and a computer on your same network. A practical use for SyncToy might be to pair your Music folder with Dropbox so that any changes you make to your music collection will automatically be copied over to Dropbox for online backup. Download for Windows Tip You can download a 32-bit or 64-bit version of SyncToy. Click the x86 option for 32-bit, or x64 for 64-bit. SyncBack: Sync With Online File Storage Accounts SyncBackPro. What We Like It's free if you don't need the extra features Lots of advanced customizations Can be used to back up, sync, or mirror files and folders You can sync with a variety of folders: FTP, Amazon Drive, Backblaze, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, SugarSync, and more What We Don't Like macOS and Linux users can only use SyncBack Touch among the SyncBack options SyncBack Touch is required if you want to sync to another computer off of your network SyncBack is another syncing application that you install on computers you want to back up and synchronize. Several versions of this program are available, each with different features, including SyncBackFree, SyncBack Lite, SyncBackSE, and SyncBackPro. All versions of SyncBack let you sync select files and folders, back up to FTP, compress files, and set other basic options. However, SyncBack Lite also supports copying locked files; SyncBackSE can works for business use and includes a USB app, incremental backups, and file versioning; and SyncBackPro can save to DVD with disc spanning, and keep emails backed up. You can sync your files within your same network, such as another drive on your computer or a shared folder on a different computer. You can also sync your files to an online account like Dropbox or Google Drive. To sync to another computer not in your network, you have to buy SyncBack Touch. In short, SyncBack is a powerful software application with many other backup and syncing features. Visit SyncBack