The rule that performs this sort of sync looks like this: Syncing is only one-way changes in the “Synced Folder” subfolder of “Destination Folder” do not sync back to “Synced Folder” in the “Monitored Folder.” That is, the contents of “Synced Folder” don’t sync directly to the top level of “Destination Folder,” but rather to subfolder “Synced Folder” within “Destination Folder.” Anything deleted from “Synced Folder” in the monitored folder is deleted from the “Synced Folder” at the destination. To be clear, if the monitored folder is “Monitored Folder” in the example below, the folder you want to sync-inside the monitored folder-is called “Synced Folder” and the destination is “Destination Folder,” the result after syncing will look like this: Here’s how you can set up Hazel to sync an entire subfolder of a monitored folder, including deletions. However, a side-effect of this approach (which may or may not be to your liking) is that the destination folder must contain a copy of the entire subfolder being synced-not just its contents-as described below. And, as a result, any files deleted from the source will also disappear from the destination. Once the subfolder matches your condition(s) and syncs, its entire list of files is processed. This works because, from Hazel’s point of view, the list of files in a folder is a property of that folder. You can work around this limitation by using a rule that looks for any change in a subfolder of the monitored folder. That’s because Hazel’s rules normally operate only on files and folders that match your conditions, and the absence of a file that previously existed in the monitored folder is not something a condition can match. Hazel was not designed for two-way sync, and it does not have the capability to handle conflicts and other complex situations the way a dedicated sync app such as ChronoSync can, nor will its syncing performance be anywhere close to that of a dedicated app.ĭeletions are not synced (by default): If a rule syncs files in the monitored folder with another folder, and then you delete an already-synced file from the monitored folder, that file will not disappear from the destination folder.

Although you could in theory create mutual syncing rules for both source and destination folders, we recommend against doing this. One-way syncing only: Syncing in Hazel is one-way files changed in the destination folder are not copied back to the monitored folder. Syncing items in Hazel differs from how some utilities use the word “sync.” You’ll get better results with the Sync action if you understand its limitations. So you can think of it as being like a smarter or more efficient Copy.

Hazel’s Sync action copies items from the monitored folder to another folder-but unlike the Copy action, Sync copies only those items that have been added since the last time the rule ran.

Sync folders osx