Welcome to [i]PC-Phone USB Sync[/i] — offline, portable, and cloud-free backup and sync.

This guide is an overview that covers the essentials needed to use this app well.  In it, you'll find the following main sections:

— Introducing This App
— Usage Basics
— Running Content Backups
— Running Device Syncs
— Storage Choices
— More Essentials

To save memory and avoid pauses on phones, this tab is an in-app excerpt of this guide, with most of its content removed or abbreviated.  You can find the complete version of this guide online by tapping the Docs button below and then [i]Usage Overview[/i].  The online version has also been restyled as HTML for enhanced readability and usability.




[H1]Introducing This App[/H1]

This free and ad-free app makes content folders the same on your PCs, phones, and removable drives, with an offline-first design that keeps your content private.

This section has been removed from this in-app guide to focus on app usage.  If you're interested in a summary of this app's benefits and roles, see either the online version of this guide at Docs below, [i]Why This App[/i] in this app's main web page at Website below, or [i]About this app[/i] in this app's Play Store page at its link on the About tab.




[H1]Usage Basics[/H1]

This section provides a quick review of this app's usage model.  Later sections go into more detail on specific usage modes, but the basics introduced here are straightforward.  Covered here:

— Definitions
— Requirements
— How to Use
— How to Run



[H2]Definitions[/H2]

To get started, the following defines common terms used in this app and this doc:

— [i]Content[/i] is an entire folder (a.k.a. directory) and includes all the files of any sort and subfolders of any depth stored in that folder

— [i]Syncs[/i] propagate changes from one content folder to another on your request and are used for both content backups and device syncs

— [i]USB[/i] for brevity means any sort of removable drive and may include microSD cards and other kinds of devices in some usage modes

— [i]PC[/i] stands for any Windows, macOS, or Linux computer running a supported OS version

— [i]Phone[/i] means any device running Android 8 or later, including foldables and tablets



[H2]Requirements[/H2]

Before you use this app, you'll need to set up a drive and one or more versions of the app itself.  Specifically, this app's usage requirements vary per your goals:

— To use this [i]app[/i], you'll need a removable drive (e.g., a portable SSD connected by USB) to host backups and/or serve as a conduit for cross-device content transfers.

— To sync to or from [i]phones[/i], you'll need both the Android app and a phone that supports removable drives with a USB port or otherwise (nearly all do today).

— To sync to or from [i]PCs[/i], you'll need one of the versions of this app for each type of PC you wish to use (e.g., Windows).

For example, to sync your PC to or from a phone, get the Android app, the version of this app for your PC, and a USB drive.  To back up content only, get the app for your device plus a USB drive.

Install this app's Android version at the Play store and its PC versions for Windows, macOS, and Linux at quixotely.com; tap the About tab for links to both.  For most roles, you'll also need a removable drive to store and transfer content.  An SSD or thumb drive attached by USB is common, but microSD cards, cameras, media players, and other devices work in this app too.

For best results, removable drives used in this app should generally be formatted with the portable [i]exFAT[/i] filesystem.  All PCs and most phones support exFAT today, and most drives come preformatted with it.  FAT32 has timestamp limitations that can trigger spurious syncs when your devices' time changes, and other filesystems are not as portable.  See the web for formatting tips and "Why exFAT?" in Tech Notes for more info (tap Docs below).

Naturally, all the devices to which you'll be syncing — USB drives, phones, and PCs — must have enough free storage space to hold a copy of your content folder (or folders, if you'll sync more than one).  Most phones come with space to spare today, but bigger is better for content storage.

[i][color=YELLOW]Important[/color][/i]: while this app supports other types of storage covered in "Storage Choices" ahead, it cannot be used by [i]directly connecting[/i] a phone and PC by USB cable.  That mode runs MTP, a narrow protocol that is notoriously slow, lacks crucial utility, grants visibility only to PCs, and does not by itself mount drives as required by this app.  This app uses an intermediate drive to transfer content between devices, as the next section explains. 



[H2]How to Use[/H2]

With those preliminaries in hand, this section presents the general model of content syncs, which is simpler than its full details may suggest.

When using this app, you'll first collect your content files in a folder (or folders) using your local file explorer or other tool, and copy it to all your devices with this app's COPY.  Use subfolders to organize your content as desired; everything in your folder will be synced in full.

After the initial copies, you'll make changes on one device at a time, and propagate them to other devices with this app whenever you wish.  These change propagations (a.k.a. syncs) use your USB ports and removable drive, along with a simple [i][b][color=ORANGE]push[/color][/b][/i]/[i][b][color=ORANGE]pull[/color][/b][/i] model that varies by usage mode:

— To [i]back up[/i] your content on phones or PCs, you'll run this app's SYNC once: to [i][b][color=ORANGE]push[/color][/b][/i] changes from your device to USB. This leaves a mirror image of your content folder on your USB drive.

— To [i]sync[/i] your content between a phone and PC, you'll run this app's SYNC twice: to [i][b][color=ORANGE]push[/color][/b][/i] changes to USB on the source, and then to [i][b][color=ORANGE]pull[/color][/b][/i] changes from USB on the destination. This leaves a mirror image of your content folder on your phone, PC, and USB drive.

— To [i]sync[/i] your content between many devices, you'll run the app's SYNC N times for N devices: once to [i][b][color=ORANGE]push[/color][/b][/i] from the device with changes to your USB drive, and then once to [i][b][color=ORANGE]pull[/color][/b][/i] from your USB drive on each of your other devices. This leaves a mirror image of your content folder on all your devices as well as your USB drive.
 
In all modes, this app supports automatic [i]rollbacks[/i] (i.e., undos) for all the changes its syncs make on each device.  This helps ensure the safety of your content.  You can even undo multiple syncs to reset your content to its state further in the past.  

Beyond copies and syncs, this app also has tools for verifying the content copies you'll create, along with portability utilities, configuration options, and help resources—topics covered later in this guide.



[H2]How to Run[/H2]

Finally, you'll implement the preceding section's model by running actions in the app, but this is similarly simple.  All of the app's primary actions live on its Main tab; to run any one of them:

1) Tap the [color=BLUE]blue[/color] FROM and TO buttons in the Main tab to select content folders

2) Tap the [color=RED]red[/color] storage-type buttons in the resulting popups to find and pick folders

3) Tap the [color=GREEN]green[/color] action-name button in the Main tab to process your chosen folders 

You can often skip right to step 3 because the app remembers your prior choices.  Each action opens a popup to explain what it will do, remind you of your folder picks, and confirm its run.  Main-tab actions all launch operations in the open-source [i]Mergeall[/i] system, which is included with the app and can be explored with its link in the About tab.

To monitor an action's progress and results, inspect its [i]logfile[/i] in the Logs tab: pick a file there, and click a [color=GREEN]green[/color] action button to view.  TAIL shows the selected file's end, WATCH samples the logfile of the running action every second, and OPEN and EXPLORE open the selected file and the logfiles folder in your local viewers.  

For ease, the Logs tab automatically selects and scrolls to the most-recent logfile at the top of its date-sorted list when opened.  You can also use double and triple [i]taps[/i] on logfile names in Logs to run TAIL and TAIL+OPEN, respectively; a [i]splitter[/i] allows you to resize the logfile viewing area; and the popup shown on action exit includes brief logfile [i]summary[/i] info that's often enough. 

Logfile reports are straightforward and include [i]indicator[/i] lines at the end if there are any messages that warrant investigation (popup summaries show indicators too).  If you see an indicator line, search logfiles for "*" to locate errors and notes, and see Tech Notes in this app's User Guide for more about logfiles in general (tap Docs below).

Although it supports a variety of actions, this app's main tool is the SYNC button on its Main tab.  This makes a TO folder the same as a FROM folder quickly, by updating TO only for changes made in FROM.  SYNCs detect changes by checking timestamps, sizes, and folder structure, to avoid slower full copies.  They can also be rolled back with UNDO if needed.

The way you'll use SYNC depends on whether you want to back up your content, sync it between PCs and phones, or both.  The next two sections provide step-by-step coverage of both usage modes.




[H1]Running Content Backups[/H1]

This section has been removed from this in-app help excerpt per this tab's introduction.  You can read its following sections online in [i]Usage Overview[/i] at Docs below:

— Initial Copy
— Backups
— Verify and Restore

[i]In-app summary[/i]: Backups use one Main-tab SYNC run on the phone or PC to be backed up.  For this run, set FROM to your source device and TO to your removable drive. This makes your content folder the same on your source device and removable drive.  Also in the Main tab, COPY initializes folders, and SHOW and DIFF report and verify.




[H1]Running Device Syncs[/H1]

This section has been removed from this in-app help excerpt per this tab's introduction.  You can read its following sections online in [i]Usage Overview[/i] at Docs below:

— Initial Copy
— PC-to-Phone Syncs
— Phone-to-PC Syncs
— Verify, Restore, and Undo
— Other Sync Modes

[i]In-app summary[/i]: Device syncs use two Main-tab SYNC runs—one on the source device and one on the destination.  For the first run, set FROM to your source device and TO to your removable drive.  For the second, set FROM to your removable drive and TO to your destination device.  This makes your content folder the same on your source, removable drive, and destination.  Also in the Main tab, COPY initializes folders, SHOW and DIFF report and verify, and UNDO rolls back the most recent SYNC.




[H1]Storage Choices[/H1]

This section has been removed from this in-app help excerpt per this tab's introduction.  You can read its following sections online in [i]Usage Overview[/i] at Docs below:

— PC Storage
— Android Storage 
— USB-Drive Storage
— Storage on Other Devices
— Storage Special Cases

[i]In-app summary[/i]: Folder choosers are opened by tapping FROM and TO in the Main tab.  They offer PHONE shared storage and APP app storage on phones, PC home folder and ROOT system drive on PCs, and mounted removable drives and other devices by drive-label name (e.g., MYSSD or CAMERA) on both phones and PCs.  On phones, APP is faster than PHONE but may be deleted on uninstalls and limited in file explorers.




[H1]More Essentials[/H1]

This section has been removed from this in-app help excerpt per this tab's introduction.  You can read its following sections online in [i]Usage Overview[/i] at Docs below:

— Changes
— Configuration
— Portability
— Performance
— Permissions
— Privacy

Please see the online [i]Usage Overview[/i] for these topics.




[H1]For More Info[/H1]

For this app's terms of use, privacy policy, download links, and version info, open the About tab.  For this app's website and your SYNC backups folder, tap Website and Backups below, respectively.  And for more usage info, visit the full online User Guide by tapping Docs below.