Getting started with Syncplicity on a Mac is easy. Whether with a Business Edition or Personal Edition account, Syncplicity integrates with your operating system to provide seamless file management, backup, sharing, collaboration, and access to all of your files. There’s nothing complex to learn and it works with all of your existing files and file locations so you never need to move a thing, whether the files are on individual computers, file servers, or cloud applications like Google Docs.

 

This Getting Started guide will walk you through the process of setting up your Mac to work with your Syncplicity account. Before you start, you will need to have a Personal or Business Edition account and know your account’s e-mail address and password. If you don’t have an account yet, you will need to ask your company’s administrator to create one for you. If you are not part of a company or are setting up a company account for the first time, click here to create an account.

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Installing Syncplicity on your Mac

 

 

To install Syncplicity, go to www.syncplicity.com and log-in with your e-mail and password.

 

 

Click on the Install tab at the top, and then follow the instructions on the page to download and install the Syncplicity client for Mac OS X.

 

 

 

 

 

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Running Syncplicity for the First Time

Once Syncplicity is installed, you will need to start Syncplicity for the first time by double-clicking on the Syncplicity program in your Applications folder.

Note: After you run Syncplicity for the first time, you won’t need to run it manually. Syncplicity will automatically run each time each time you turn on your computer.

 

Once Syncplicity starts, enter your e-mail and password and click Register.

 

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Interface Basics

Syncplicity’s interface is tightly integrated with OS X and easy to use. A Syncplicity icon is displayed in the menu bar which provides both a menu to access Syncplicity’s functionality as well as at-a-glance status.

 

Shown here on the left-hand side, the icon changes to indicate information about the current status of your Syncplicity client or account.

 

	Computer is connected to the Syncplicity service and fully up-to-date
	Syncplicity is busy
	Syncplicity account is over quota
	Syncplicity client is not currently connected to the service

 

For more information on what Syncplicity is syncing, click on the Syncplicity menu icon to view detailed status.

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Adding and backing up a Folder

Adding a folder to Syncplicity is the first step to sync a folder with your other computers. In addition, syncing also provides real-time backup and instant restore for any file along with previous versions of the file through the online file browser. You can add any folder on your Mac.

 

To add a folder, simply control-click or right-click on a folder that you wish to add. Under the Syncplicity menu, select “Add Folder”.

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Syncing a folder with Your Other Computers

If you have more than one computer with Syncplicity installed, after you add a folder, a dialog will appear on each of your other computers that allows you to synchronize the newly added folder to your other computers.

Here we have added our Pictures folder on another computer and simply need to click “Synchronize” to begin synchronizing the Pictures folder to this machine to the folder at /Users/ataranto/Pictures. If you wish, you can change the location of this folder by clicking the “Change…” button before clicking “Synchronize”.

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Sync Indicators

After a folder has been added to Syncplicity, you can select viewing a folder by List View to display current sync and backup status for any given file or folder.

Files and folders with a green checkmark over them have been fully synchronized, backed up, and versioned through Syncplicity.

Click here to learn how to select list view within the Finder.

 

In addition to File and Folder indicators, if you have Growl installed, Syncplicity will display Growl notifications as file activity is occurring within your account.

If you don’t have Growl and you would like Growl notifications, visit http://growl.info/ to download and install Growl

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Sharing with Others

Sharing folders or files with others is simple. There are two types of shares within Syncplicity. The first is Sharable Links which are single web URLs which can be easily copy and pasted into things like e-mails and IM chats. Sharable Links are great for quickly sharing single files with others.

 

Sharable Links

To create a Shareable Link, control-click or right-click on the file you wish to share. Under the Syncplicity menu, select “Create Sharable Link”. A window will appear with a unique Sharable Link URL to this file. Copy the Shareable Link URL and provide it to any others who you wish to share this file with. Anybody who has a copy of the URL will be able to download and latest version of the file by downloading it through their web browser.

 

Shared Folders

The second type of share is Shared Folders. These are great if you wish to share multiple files or want to collaborate with others who may be editing the files you shared. Unlike Sharable Links, Shared Folders are per-folder and share every file and every folder within them. Shared Folders also allow richer permissions to you can grant Collaborator access to allow others to modify files and folders. This enables a team of people to edit and collaborate on the same documents.

 

To share a folder, control-click or right-click on the folder you wish to share.

 

Under the Syncplicity Menu, select “Share Folder”. In the web page that appears, you can enter in the e-mail addresses of the people you wish to share with, set their permission level, and provide an optional personal note to them. Click “Share Folder” to share the folder. People you share with are not required to have their own Syncplicity accounts in order to access the shared folder.

 

Note: If your company has a Business Edition account, your administrator may have set policies which restrict your ability to create new shares. Please check with your administrator if you are unable to share.

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Managing Folders

To move, include, or exclude existing synchronized folders, click on the Syncplicity menu bar icon. Under Syncplicity Folders is a list of all synced folders you have access to.

 

Folders in this list are synced folders your account has access to. Folders with a checkmark are ones you are currently synchronizing with this computer. Select any folder in this list to change the synchronization settings for the folder.

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For More Info

Your Mac is now configured with Syncplicity. For more information and to learn how to access your files anywhere you have internet access, connect Syncplicity with cloud applications, restore files, and all other Syncplicity functionality, browse the manual sections on the right to learn more.