How to Sync Folders to Google Docs

This how-to guide explains how to sync any folder to Google Docs. Do this to backup your Google Docs or if you want offline access to your Google Docs.

Sync any folder on your computer or network

Previous versions of Syncdocs would only sync a specific main folder on your PC to Google Docs. You can now add extra folders to sync.

The “Add folder” feature lets you add folders that are anywhere on your PC to sync to Google. The folders you select do not have to be in your “My Google Docs” folder. They can be anywhere on your PC or network.

Syncdocs will show a link to these folders in your Google Docs folder, but the folders and data live elsewhere on your hard disk or local network.

How to sync any folder

To access the selective sync menu.

1. Right click on the Syncdocs taskbar icon, and select Preferences. Then in the folder tab, click the Select button

 

2. Click on “Add Folder” and select the folder to sync or backup:

3. That’s it. This new folder will be uploaded and synced to Google Docs.

Shortcuts

Syncdocs puts a shortcut (a link) to this new folder in your local “My Google Docs” folder, so that the Google and local folder structures look the same. No files are duplicated locally.

Removing Synced Folders

If you don’t want to sync the folder anymore, you can uncheck it in the list above.

You can also delete the folder shortcut in your “My Google Docs” folder and it will be removed from Google Docs, too, but the contents locally will not be deleted. This is because the folder shortcut is actually a link to the target folder that is synced. Note that the contents of this shortcut will not be deleted if you delete the shortcut. However, if you delete the contents, then they will also be deleted from Google Docs, so be careful.

Limitations

There are a few limitations to which folders you can sync: you cannot select your Windows system directory, or an entire drive. If the folder is on a removable drive, Syncdocs won’t let you sync it, and advises you to copy it instead.

The feature is not supported on Windows 98 or ME file systems (FAT32).

Network Folders

You can sync network folders. If the network link dies, or the Administrator removes your permissions, Syncdocs will stop syncing with an error message. You can un-check the resource in “Selective Folder Sync” menu to ignore this.

Syncing some network folders might require Administrative permissions on Windows 7, Vista or Server 2008. You can run Syncdocs as Administrator by clicking on this start menu link:

11 Responses to How to Sync Folders to Google Docs

  • jason says:

    I am looking to sync several gbs of photos between my home computer and the office computer. I is there a limit to the amount of space I am syncing? I will be able to access these photos at both computers (Home and Work). Is there a fee for the storage and syncing of these photos between the two computers and the cloud?

    • admin says:

      Google gives you 5GB of free space, but you can buy more from them.
      If you only want to copy Photo’s take a look at picasa.google.com

      For a mix of file types or to have sync capabilities Syncdocs and Google is a better option.

  • Sergio says:

    Is there a filter to select those files newer than a given date. These filter let me avoid oldest files, I don’t want to backup.

  • Yitzchak says:

    I need help in the situation where I’m Moving a folder or Network resource has been renamed. Sync of these items has stopped. I tried to update them but it says they are already being synced, I tried to remove them so I could re add them and find no option to remove them. I unchecked them, saved the change and re-entered and they are still there unchanged from before. How do I manage this?

    • admin says:

      From the symptoms you are seeing it appears that Syncdocs is running at a different privilege level than the user making the changes. This is normally caused by on Windows Vista, 7 or 8 when Syncdocs is running as a normal user, but the user is running as Administrator. This means Syncdocs does not have the rights to see the changes made.

      To fix it, either click on the Start menu Syncdocs shortcut to run it as Administrator, or right click on Syncdocs desktop shortcut and select the “Run as Administrator” option.

      It is also worth checking if the user has rights to these files on Google Drive.

  • RT says:

    How do I completely remove a folder from the Selective Sync folder list? I have another folder by the same name which I am trying to add to this list. Sync Docs will not let me add this folder; it gives me an error message – ‘you are already syncing a file or folder called ‘folder name’.

    • admin says:

      Syncdocs requires top level folders you sync to have a unique name. This is because Windows requires unique folder or file names.

      The easiest solution is to rename one of the folders.

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