Is there an ideal or recommended place to put the syncthing folder?

[phi161308]

From what I understand there are 2 ways to setup Syncthing on Windows 11:

The first is the SyncthingWindowsSetup (Github). After setting it up and connecting it to another device, where is the location to the synced file?

It looks to me that it creates a folder named SyncthingServiceAcct. I open it, it asks for permission, and that is where I can find the my_synced_folder (from the other device). For convenience, I can create a shortcut for my_synced_folder and add it to my desktop (or wherever convenient). Is this the correct way to access that synced folder?

The 2nd downloads a zip file. After extracting, a folder named syncthing-windows-amd64-v1.28.0 appears. Inside is the syncthing.exe. Is there an ideal place to put this folder? For example, could I just leave it on the desktop? Or put it my user folder? Add it to c:\programfiles (requires permission)?

Maybe it doesn’t matter but I prefer the zip file method since it seems to add the my_synced_folder to my c:\users\username.

Apologies in advance if someone asked this question already, I didn’t see it anywhere.

Thank you!

[tomasz86]

1. When it comes to https://github.com/Bill-Stewart/SyncthingWindowsSetup, you can decide on how you want to install it. I would strongly suggest to read the manual beforehand. In general, if the computer is used by a single person with a single user account, then there is likely no reason to install Syncthing as a service. I would recommend sticking to the basic current user installation mode (see https://github.com/Bill-Stewart/SyncthingWindowsSetup#non-administrative-current-user-installation-mode). If you use this method of installation, Syncthing will also use your user profile folder (i.e. c:\users\username) as the default location for new folders.

2. If you download the zip file with syncthing.exe inside it, then there is no installation at all. You can just unpack and run it from wherever you want (e.g. the aforementioned desktop). However, you normally don’t want to put it in a location that requires administrative access (e.g. the Program Files, etc.), because then Syncthing won’t be able to automatically upgrade (unless run as Administrator, which isn’t recommended).

[phi161308]

Sounds good. I prefer the zuo file with syncthing.exe inside it. I was tempted to put in Program Files but when it wanted admin access I figured it was best not to.

Thanks for the information, it was very helpful and I appreciate the response.