Why isn't there a 'disconnect share and safely delete locally' option

Feature
1

I am excited to try this app out, look great!

Seems like a better choice for a working folder with the bock level updates than some other apps

But, if I do want to use it for heavily used folder I many want to load and unload them often to save storage space…

So, why isnt there a way ‘say a context menu button’ to safely disconnect shared folder and delete the local version off my local computer to prevent accidental deletion on the other end? Am i missing something obvious, seems like a basic feature. Anyways, haven’t even tried the app yet, but this was my first thought when researching apps that would suit my usecases. If I’m off base and wrong, maybe a line in the FAQ might help when people decide if this is the right app for them.

2

There is no straightforward option like that, but this is easily achievable if you use ignore patterns to ignore everything in the folder first and delete the files from the disk afterwards. Then, if you want to download them again, simply remove the previously set ignore pattern.

1 Like
3

This is the first I’ve heard suggesting such a feature in the decade+ of developing Syncthing, so FAQ may be a little overstated.

That said I would just remove the folder from the Syncthing GUI and then delete the files on disk.

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4

To clarify the reasoning, Syncthing tries to avoid giving users easy ways to hurt themselves. A button might be clicked accidentally or there may be a misunderstanding as to what it does. We take the safe route and just build in as little “delete data” type actions as possible. Going to another app (file manager) and deleting the folder there, after removing from Syncthing should be a conscious process.

If you do happen to delete a folder while it’s still being synchronized, the chances of data loss are still rather low. Because a deleted file triggers a (partial) rescan with a delay of one minute by default. If during this time, the folder marker was already removed as well, Syncthing will stop right there and not propagate a single deletion to remote devices. It’s not bullet proof, but drastically lowers the risk of accidental remote deletion.