FreeFileSync Open Source File Synchronization

About Tutorials Screenshots Vision Download Archive Forum F.A.Q. Manual Donate
It looks like an ad blocker has blocked the ads. The FreeFileSync project is 100% dependent on ad revenue and donations to stay alive. Instead of the ads, and after FreeFileSync has proven useful to you, please think about supporting with a donation.
All on
one page
FreeFileSync User Manual:
#Quick Start Command Line Comparison Settings Daylight Saving Time Exclude Files Expert Settings External Applications Macros Performance RealTimeSync RTS: Run as Service Schedule Batch Jobs Synchronization Settings (S)FTP Setup Tips and Tricks Variable Drive Letters Versioning Volume Shadow Copy

Macros

All directory paths may contain macros that are expanded during synchronization. The beginnings and ends of each macro are marked by a % character. In addition to special macros handling time and date, the operating system's environment variables may also be used.

Internal Macros

Macro Example Format
%Date% 2016-12-31 [YYYY-MM-DD]
%Time% 112233 [hhmmss]
%TimeStamp% 2016-12-31 112233 [YYYY-MM-DD hhmmss]
 
%Year% 2016
%Month% 12 [01–12]
%MonthName% Dec short name
%Day% 31 [01–31]
 
%Hour% 11 [00–23]
%Min% 22 [00–59]
%Sec% 33 [00–59]
 
%WeekDay% 1 [1–7]
%WeekDayName% Mon short name
%Week% 52      [01–52] calendar week

Environment Variables (Windows)

Macro Example
%AllUsersProfile% C:\ProgramData
%AppData% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming
%ComputerName% Zenju-PC
%LocalAppData% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Local
%ProgramData% C:\ProgramData
%ProgramFiles% C:\Program Files
%ProgramFiles(x86)% C:\Program Files (x86)
%Public% C:\Users\Public
%Temp% C:\Windows\Temp
%UserName% Zenju
%UserProfile% C:\Users\Zenju
%WinDir% C:\Windows

Special Folder Locations (Windows)

Macro Example
%csidl_Desktop% C:\Users\Zenju\Desktop
%csidl_Documents% C:\Users\Zenju\Documents
%csidl_Pictures% C:\Users\Zenju\Pictures
%csidl_Music% C:\Users\Zenju\Music
%csidl_Videos% C:\Users\Zenju\Videos
%csidl_Downloads% C:\Users\Zenju\Downloads
%csidl_Favorites% C:\Users\Zenju\Favorites
%csidl_Resources% C:\Windows\Resources
%csidl_QuickLaunch% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
%csidl_StartMenu% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
%csidl_Programs% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
%csidl_Startup% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
%csidl_Nethood% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts
%csidl_Templates% C:\Users\Zenju\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates
 

Note: Most of the macros above have a variant for public folders, e.g. %csidl_Documents% has %csidl_PublicDocuments%.


Hint: You can add flexibility to an ffs_batch configuration file by creating new temporary environment variables in a bat or cmd file that are evaluated by FreeFileSync at runtime:

Example:

The FreeFileSync batch file C:\SyncJob.ffs_batch contains macro %MyVar% instead of an absolute target folder and is invoked by a cmd file:
set MyVar=C:\Target
"C:\Program files\FreeFileSync\FreeFileSync.exe" C:\SyncJob.ffs_batch
::%MyVar% is resolved as C:\Target during synchronization

Note
Temporary environment variables created with the set command are only valid if the synchronization is started by calling the FreeFileSync executable directly. Using start /wait would create a new program context without these temporary variables.