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Sync folders + subfolders #269

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@iav

Currently option "make available offline" can be swiched only for files, not for folders.
Need a way to do it ffor folder tree.
And should be option to turn this off for some of subtrees.

Activity

  1. OlivierS1 commented on Jan 6, 2017

    @OlivierS1

    I concur.
    "Set as available offline" should be extended to folders.

  2. tobiasKaminsky commented on Feb 10, 2017

    @tobiasKaminsky
    Member

    We have #285 where we describe how to improve the current system to a real 2way sync.

  3. bkraul commented on May 21, 2018

    @bkraul

    Just migrated from owncloud to nextcloud and found the folder 'make available offline' feature is not available on Nextcloud for Android. Any plans on implementing? This issue seems to be almost 2 years old.

  4. bkraul commented on May 22, 2018

    @bkraul

    @tobiasKaminsky I don't mean to come across as offensive, but help me understand something. Nextcloud broke away from owncloud in part because owncloud was not listening to the community in a way that furthered the product. But yet, here we have a an almost 2 year old issue still largely unaddressed (one that owncloud has supported for a good while). So my question is, is nextcloud really more community-aware than owncloud is? I understand a comment like this does not make me look very nice (and I apologize for that), but I am just curious.

  5. smartens83 commented on Nov 29, 2018

    @smartens83

    I want to throw my hat into this ring, too. I'm using Joplin and the direct synchronisation isn't very fast. So my idea was to make the whole Joplin folder offline available, but it seems, that this isn't possible. Please create a offline sync for folders!

  6. Tonus1 commented on Feb 16, 2019

    @Tonus1

    @TheLux83 Exact same use case here!

  7. edmael commented on Sep 13, 2019

    @edmael

    Hi, any news regarding this bug/feature request?

    Having a whole folder available on the device is a major feature to have.

  8. iottt commented on Aug 26, 2020

    @iottt
  9. iottt commented on Aug 26, 2020

    @iottt
  10. tobiasKaminsky commented on Aug 27, 2020

    @tobiasKaminsky
  11. vincolus commented on Nov 24, 2020

    @vincolus

    I tried synching my selfmade ringtones / notification sounds via Google Drive to my Smartphone. It's about 150 files and clicking each file and manually downloading it would take longer than developing that feature, I guess...

    Sadly though, this feature and topic seem to have been buried!
    I cannot really understand why, because it's nothing new and in my eyes nothing too difficult to implement.
    There is/was dozens of applications capable of doing so, for example dropbox, owncloud, etc.
    I even wrote my own, long time ago. One using wget and the later one using rsync.

    So where is the big problem?

    In linux you simply use rsync with the correct parameters, comparing modification date and creation date, ignoring permissions and that's about it! Heck, you could even embed rsync into an app that then does this for you I believe.
    If you still do not believe people need this, then check out these works.
    People did invest lots of time and trial-and-error to implement that

    So it seems google has had an API that was capable of doing that, but they removed those features.
    Still, people managed to code their way towards their goal. If that ain't dedication, then I dont know...

  12. Passaita commented on Jul 31, 2022

    @Passaita

    Is there any change on the status or some workaround?

  13. added
    feature: transfers[WIP] Any uploading / downloading matters that aren't auto upload or sync specific
    on Oct 12, 2023
  14. removed
    feature: transfers[WIP] Any uploading / downloading matters that aren't auto upload or sync specific
    on Oct 3, 2024
  15. 50 remaining items

  16. pretubedongit commented on Mar 2, 2026

    @pretubedongit

    Fun fact: somebody once fixed it in version 3.32.0 GitHub release, tested in #15144, and then the developers decided to remove the fix and made the bug great again.

  17. l3pr-org commented on Mar 3, 2026

    @l3pr-org

    Fun fact: somebody once fixed it in version 3.32.0 GitHub release, tested in #15144, and then the developers decided to remove the fix and made the bug great again.

    Looks like it was still a bit buggy. My build is a little buggy as well- it's kind of slow (takes ~30 seconds to start downloading on a folder with ~40 subfolders and ~200 files) and re-downloads files that have already been synced when the option to sync is selected again. Also, some of the reviewers didn't like that I added a new function when the existing functions could have theoretically solved this problem.

  18. godfuture commented on Mar 5, 2026

    @godfuture

    This feature is a must have. I am sitting in hostel trying to get fotos others have uploaded in my shared folder. Nextcloud for android keeps refusing to sync my subfolders in share. Really annoying. Syncing parent folder should sync the whole tree.

  19. silverSl1DE commented on Mar 9, 2026

    @silverSl1DE

    Fun fact: somebody once fixed it in version 3.32.0 GitHub release, tested in #15144, and then the developers decided to remove the fix and made the bug great again.

    Looks like it was still a bit buggy. My build is a little buggy as well- it's kind of slow (takes ~30 seconds to start downloading on a folder with ~40 subfolders and ~200 files) and re-downloads files that have already been synced when the option to sync is selected again. Also, some of the reviewers didn't like that I added a new function when the existing functions could have theoretically solved this problem.

    suggestion:
    EnterpriseQualityCoding/FizzBuzzEnterpriseEdition#509 (comment)

  20. jcdescy commented on Mar 9, 2026

    @jcdescy

    Wow! Almost 10 years. I have the same problem. Pretty much defeats the purpose of Nextcloud for me. Sad.

  21. alperozturk96 commented on Mar 24, 2026

    @alperozturk96
    Collaborator

    Hello

    I discussed this with the team and we will implement it.

    Here is the flow:


    1. When the user taps “Sync all”, first calculate the total size of the folder and compare it with the available local storage.

      • If possible, warn the user that the process may take time (e.g., “This will download the entire folder and may take a while.”).
    2. If there isn’t enough storage, show a warning such as:

      • “Not enough storage available to download this folder.”
    3. Even if there was enough space initially, the available storage might decrease during the download (for example, due to other apps).

      • In that case, download as much as possible, then stop the process and show a single error notification indicating that storage ran out.

    I will create a PR for this.

  22. alperozturk96 commented on Mar 24, 2026

    @alperozturk96
    Collaborator

    Hello

    I’ve created a PR for this feature, and you can find the generated APK attached there (for every change it takes some time to show in the PR). It would be great, if you could test it and share your feedback, especially regarding performance, user experience, and robustness.

    We are already testing it on our side and hope to include it in the next release.

    What to test:

    Sync → downloads only the first level of the folder
    Sync all → downloads the entire nested folder hierarchy

    Before downloading the entire folder, the user must be warned about the process and the available disk space.

    Even if the user has not navigated into nested folders, they must still be able to download the entire folder hierarchy without any issues.

    If the device storage becomes insufficient during the download, the user should see only one notification.

    Thank you.


    Link: #16744

  23. gohrner commented on Mar 25, 2026

    @gohrner

    alperozturk96:

    I’ve created a PR for this feature, and you can find the generated APK attached there (for every change it takes some time to show in the PR). It would be great, if you could test it and share your feedback, especially regarding performance, user experience, and robustness.

    I'd love to test, though I fear that if I try to use this APK with sideloading, it will probably wipe my Nextcloud client configuration and I have to re-connect and re-download everything I already synced folder-wise - am I right?

  24. loonarmax commented on Apr 26, 2026

    @loonarmax

    @alperozturk96 What's the status ? Would it speed up things, if I tested this ? I'm a java dev, but I really need this feature for my private cloud stuff (I need a full sub-folder two-way sync for photos).

  25. Whiskeysaurus commented on May 19, 2026

    @Whiskeysaurus

    @alperozturk96 Wondering where this is at. It's been almost two months. Do you need testers?

  26. gohrner commented on May 19, 2026

    @gohrner
  27. alperozturk96 commented on May 21, 2026

    @alperozturk96
    Collaborator

    Hello

    This feature planned for v34.0.0. You can download the latest generated QA APK from the PR and share your feedback.

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