Exclude specific files from being synchronized on Shadow Drive
Updated
Shadow Drive will exclude or ignore certain files from the synchronization process.
Some system-wide file patterns that are used to exclude or ignore files are included with the client by default and Shadow Drive allows you to add new custom patterns.
In this article, we'll show you how to synchronize a folder and exclude some specific files and folders from being synchronized.
For example, you might not want to synchronize sensitive files with "SECRET" in their name or the folder "Bank".
It could also be a development resource or a bank statement you wish to keep private.
Note: By default, some files and folders are automatically set to not be synchronized by Shadow Drive.
See this section to remove or restore the default exclusion patterns from Shadow Drive.
On which Shadow Drive versions can I use this feature?
This feature is available on the following platforms:
Windows
macOS
Linux
Exclusion Patterns that cannot be altered or removed
Files and folders will not be synchronized if they meet at least one of the conditions below:
Files and Folders will also not be synchronized if they match a custom exclusion Pattern. This can be changed via the "Edit Ignored Files" window.
⚠️ It is not possible to edit or remove the conditions below.
Files with characters that cannot be synced to other file systems.
Files with a name longer than 254 characters.
The file "Desktop.ini" in the root of a synced folder.
Files matching the pattern "_conflict-*" unless conflict file uploading is enabled.
Files that caused individual errors while trying to be synced three times.
These are listed in the activity view.
On the desktop clients, there also is a button "sync now" to retry the sync for another three times on the main dialog.
Exclusion Patterns specific to Windows:
Files containing characters that do not work on typical Windows filesystems "\, /, :, ?, *, ", >, <, |".
Files with a trailing space (a space that is located after the final character in a text entry field) or dot.
Filenames that are reserved on Windows.
How to Add New Exclusion Patterns
Follow the steps below to exclude new specific files and folders from being synchronized:
Open your Shadow Drive client.
Note: To install and use the Shadow Drive client, see our Helpcenter article: Getting Started with Shadow Drive.
Click on your account name.
Click "Settings" in the dropdown menu.
In the Settings menu, in the Advanced section, click on the "Edit Ignored Files" button.
Click the "Add" button on the right. A pop-up window opens.
Add a pattern. See the table in the dropdown menu below for example patterns according to what you want to exclude:
Click "OK" to save your new exclusion pattern.
Notes:
Pre-existing files and folders that correspond to the exclusion pattern will not be deleted & unsynchronized unless you follow the steps from this section.
You can choose to automatically exclude hidden files from synchronization by unchecking the "Sync hidden files" option.
By default, hidden files are synchronized.
By default, some files and folders are automatically set to not be synchronized by Shadow Drive.
See this section to remove or restore the default exclusion patterns from Shadow Drive.
How to delete and unsynchronize pre-existing files and folders that correspond to a new exclusion pattern
Open your Shadow Drive client.
Note: To install and use the Shadow Drive client, see our Helpcenter article: Getting Started with Shadow Drive
Click to the arrow next to your account name.
Click "Settings" in the dropdown menu.
In the Settings menu, in the Advanced section, click on the "Edit Ignored Files" button.
Check one or several box(es) below "Allow Deletion".
Click "OK" at the bottom in order to automatically delete the new and existing files and folders that correspond to the exclusion pattern(s).
Notes:
Items where deletion is allowed will only be deleted if they prevent a directory from being removed. This is useful for meta data.
By default, some files and folders are automatically set to not be synchronized by Shadow Drive.
See this section to remove or restore the default exclusion patterns from Shadow Drive.
How to remove an exclusion pattern
Open your Shadow Drive client.
Note: To install and use the Shadow Drive client, see our Helpcenter article: Getting Started with Shadow Drive
Click to the arrow next to your account name.
Click "Settings" in the dropdown menu.
In the Settings menu, in the Advanced section, click on the "Edit Ignored Files" button.
Select the one or several exclusion pattern(s) by clicking on it/them.
Click "Remove".
Click "OK" at the bottom to apply the changes.
Notes:
You can choose to automatically synchronize hidden files by checking the "Sync hidden files" option. By default, hidden files synchronized.
By default, some files and folders are automatically set to not be synchronized by Shadow Drive.
See this section to remove or restore the default exclusion patterns from Shadow Drive.
Remove All or Restore default exclusion patterns from Shadow Drive
Here are some steps to ensure that all files/folders that were previously not being synchronized will be synchronized in the future.
You can also restore the default exclusion patterns at any time by clicking "Restore by default".
Note: By default, 3 default patterns are excluded (".csync_journal.db*", "._sync_*.db*", and ".sync_*.db*").
They correspond to files created by the Shadow Drive client to keep track of synchronized files and are excluded from synchronization by default since there is no real utility in keeping them synchronized.
If you still want to remove these exclusion patterns, follow the steps below.
You can include them again at any time by clicking the "Restore by default" button.
Open your Shadow Drive client.
Note: To install and use the Shadow Drive client, see our Helpcenter article: Getting Started with Shadow Drive
Click to the arrow next to your account name.
Click "Settings" in the dropdown menu.
In the Settings menu, in the Advanced section, click on the "Edit Ignored Files" button.
Use the "Remove all" button to remove every exclusion patterns from the list or "Restore by default" button to restore the default exclusion patterns list.
Click "OK" at the bottom to apply the changes.
Still have questions after reading this article?
Feel free to check out our other articles.
You can also contact Shadow support via our form.