SugarSync

SugarSync syncs the folders you already have, where they already are. Right-click any folder on the computer, choose to sync it, and from then on its contents live in the cloud and on every other device signed into the account. There is no special folder to move things into.

The documents stay in Documents, the project stays on the second drive, the photos stay where the camera put them, and all of them are kept identical across machines. Each device chooses which of those folders it wants a local copy of, so a laptop with a small disk carries the current work and leaves the archive in the cloud.

That one design choice is the reason the service has outlived most of the sync tools of its generation. SugarSync also keeps versions of every synced file, holds deleted files for recovery, shares folders with other account holders for two-way collaboration and sends public links with passwords.

Its interface has not changed much in a long time, and a share of its long-time users report sync that needs nudging. The sections below cover the folder model, the devices, versions and recovery, sharing, the web and phone side, and where it shows its age.

Sync any folder, and the Magic Briefcase

The folder model is the whole SugarSync product. Add a folder from anywhere on the disk, an external drive or a network share included, and it syncs in place. On the other machines it appears in the cloud view, and you decide whether to download a copy there or leave it online. That is what the rivals that insist on a single sync folder cannot do, and it is why people with established folder structures choose this one.

For the simple case the Magic Briefcase exists, a folder created on every device that syncs everywhere automatically, in the style of the single-folder services. Drop a file in it on one machine and it is on all of them. Most users end up with both, the Briefcase for the files that travel and the per-folder sync for the structures that stay put.

Choosing what each device holds

Every device in a SugarSync account has its own list of what it syncs down. The desktop at home might hold everything. The laptop holds the current project and the Briefcase. The phone holds nothing locally and streams what it needs. Changing a device’s list is a matter of ticking folders in the cloud view, and a folder unticked on one device stays in the cloud and on the others.

That per-device selection is finer than most services offer, and it is also where the setup takes thought. A folder synced from one machine and downloaded to another becomes a two-way link, so an edit on either side travels. Conflicting edits made while offline are kept as separate copies rather than merged, which is the right behaviour and occasionally a surprise.

For a two-way sync between your own machines with no cloud in the middle, a peer-to-peer sync tool does the same job over the local network.

Versions and deleted files

Every file synced by SugarSync keeps its previous versions, and any of them can be restored from the web interface or the desktop app. A document overwritten with a bad edit on Tuesday comes back as it was on Monday. Deleted files go to a deleted items area where they wait for a period before they are removed for good. A folder emptied by mistake on one machine, and faithfully emptied everywhere by the sync, can be refilled from there.

Those two features turn a sync service into something closer to a backup, with one caveat. Sync is not backup. A file deleted everywhere is recoverable only while the deleted items area holds it, and a disk that dies takes the local copies but not the cloud.

For a true backup with its own history, kept separately from the sync, FreeFileSync or any backup tool writing to a different drive is the belt to go with the braces.

Sharing and collaboration

A SugarSync folder shared with another account holder becomes a two-way link between the two accounts, so a team keeps one folder current from several computers. Permissions set whether the other side can edit or only view. A file or folder shared by public link opens in a browser without an account, and the link can carry a password. Received shares can be downloaded and synced locally rather than used through the web, which several users single out as the thing they value.

Shared folders count against the owner’s space rather than the recipients’, and the web view shows at a glance what you have shared and with whom. For collaboration with the widest set of third-party apps plugged in, Dropbox remains the yardstick, and this service’s sharing is plainer but complete.

The web, the phone and the remote wipe

The SugarSync web interface shows every synced folder from every device, previews documents and photos, plays music and manages sharing and versions. The mobile apps open any file in the account, upload the phone’s camera roll automatically and stream media rather than downloading it. A remote wipe removes the synced files from a lost or stolen device from the web, which is a feature the consumer services rarely offer.

Email a file to a personal address and it lands in the Briefcase, a small convenience that still works. Everything here is reachable from a browser, so a machine with nothing installed can still fetch a file.

Where it shows its age

The SugarSync interface is dated, and reviewers have said so for a long time. A share of long-time users describe sync that stalls or needs a restart to resume, and a few describe a service that worked perfectly once and now needs troubleshooting. The storage is not encrypted with a key only you hold, so the provider can read it, which matters to some. Integrations with other apps are few.

Against those, the any-folder model and the per-device selection remain the reason to choose it, because they fit how people actually keep files. Set the folders once, let each device take what it needs, and check the deleted items area before anything else when a folder looks thin.

Conclusion

SugarSync suits people with an established folder structure they do not want to rearrange, who work across several machines and want each to carry only what it needs. The any-folder sync, the per-device selection and the versions with a deleted items area make it a flexible tool for exactly that person.

It is dated to look at, occasionally needs a nudge, and holds your keys. Set the folders once, treat the deleted items area as a first stop, and keep a separate backup, because sync is not one.