How to rename shared folder on client

I know this has been asked before, but nothing I do seems to get it solved. I have a shared folder Foo, on all 5 of my devices. On one device D1, I have to move the folder to a different location. So I removed it from D1, copied the folder to the new location. But I can’t re-share it from D1 with the original ID because the share dialog has the ID grayed out – it seems to be auto-generated.

So I went to one of my other devices (D2) connected to D1, removed the share of Foo to D1, saved, then re-shared Foo to D1, and sure enough it showed up on D1 but the folder on D1 is now named after the ID: 1bacd-23456 and of course I’m now back to the original problem where it’s named wrong on D1. I suspect that’s because I have auto-accept turned on.

OK, I turned off auto-accept and then did the unshare/reshare on D2, then on D1 accept the share and pick the right folder name. But then I get an error about the folder ID being incorrect (sorry, I didn’t write that one down). Try again after deleting the local folder on D1, and I get an error “Folder path missing”. Try again after making an empty local dir Foo on D1, and I get an error “folder marker missing”.

I’m stuck at this point! How do I get the shared folder back on D1? Is there really no way on a client machine like D1 to say "re-accept shared folder Foo with ID 1bacd-23456?

The folder ID being greyed out when adding new folders is a bug in the current version. The simplest workaround in your case (without disabling auto-accept, etc.) would probably be to add the folder to Syncthing on D1 under the new path, then go to the Advanced Configuration and edit its ID to match the old one. It should then sync automatically, without having to un-share and re-share anything.

Thanks! I see that option now. I actually tried Advanced within the folder’s config, but the ID is not there. But going to the global menu Actions > Advanced > Folder does show the ID. Whew!

If I may be so bold, a bit of Googling shows a lot of people with similar problems mistyping or needing to change folder location (and not many solid workarounds). Perhaps Syncthing could make this a bit easier in the future.

Yeah, power users would probably prefer to have the “folder path” field simply editable. However, in inexperienced hands, this can easily lead to a disaster, e.g. if you by accident point the path at a different Syncthing folder, etc. That’s why the official method to change the path is to remove and re-add the folder. This ensures that the path is valid and also gives proper warnings when necessary.

If you know what you’re doing though, you can simply edit the path in the Advanced Configuration without removing the folder at all. I’ve done it plenty of times. The only precaution I always make is to pause the folder first, and only edit the path when it is in that state. This is when I move the actual folder on the disk to its new location too. Then, I resume the synchronisation.

It is though, in the advanced settings dialog.

Oh, sorry, you said that a bit later in the message. Anyway, bears repeating. :slight_smile:

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