Full and selective synchronisation

Full synchronisation and selective synchronisation are two ways to set up which files are copied between a cloud storage account and your linked devices.

Full synchronisation

In full synchronisation, every linked device stores a local copy of the synchronised file. That means each device holds the complete set of files, so you can open any of them even without an internet connection. The downside is that every device needs enough storage for everything, and copying all the files can use more data and take longer.

Selective synchronisation

Selective synchronisation is a setting in the sync app: instead of copying every file down to a device, you tick the folders and files you want it to hold. For example, a school music department might sync its whole shared folder to the office desktop, but only the current concert pieces to a classroom tablet with limited storage. This saves space and reduces sync time on that device. Anything you leave out stays safe in your cloud account and you can still open it when you have an internet connection, but it will not be available offline there.