Ignoring certain file types when syncing to Google Drive

The normal way of selecting what syncs is to select the folders in the selective sync menu in Syncdocs.

However, more advanced users may wish to ignore certain types of files or folders based on the name or attribute. Here’s how to do it.

Advanced file and folder exclusion

For advanced users, Syncdocs can be set to ignore specific file names or file types.

Note that doing this requires editing a settings xml file. You can break your Syncdocs if you destroy this settings file. If you do break the settings, you can repair Syncdocs, either by re-installing it, or by clicking on the “Default Settings” button in the Preferences.

To set which file types sync, first exit Syncdocs.

Then edit the settings file called appsettings.xml in the folder:

c:\Users\your_username\AppData\Roaming\Syncdocs\user_name@gmail.com\

and edit the section “FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore“

Not syncing certain file or folder names

To ignore all files called “thumbs.db”, add  thumbs.db to the list:

<FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore>
<string>thumbs.db</string>
<string>.dropbox.cache</string>
</FileAndFolderNamesToIgnore>

Files or folders (collections) in this list will be ignored.

Not syncing certain file types

Syncdocs can also ignore certain extensions:

<ExtensionsToIgnore>
<string>.lnk</string>
<string>.LNK</string>
</ExtensionsToIgnore>

The above will ignore all .lnk and .LNK extensions.

Extensions are case sensitive.

Ignoring Hidden Files

Many programs create hidden temporary files. Syncdocs ignores those used by common apps (like MS Word and Excel) by default.

You may also tell Syncdocs to ignore hidden files by setting this value in appsettings.xml

<UploadHidden>false</UploadHidden>
<ShowHiddenFiles>false</ShowHiddenFiles>

Restart Syncdocs when done.