Sync Center was previously introduced in Windows 7, and then inherited in Windows 8 and Windows 10, which can help users sync files between computers and network drives. But some users report Windows 10 Sync Center missing, just like the following case.
Honestly, Sync Center is only available on Windows 10 Professional, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education edition. If you are currently using any of the advanced version, you can use enable offline files and sync files with Sync Center as normal. However, if not, syncing files using Windows 10 Home Sync Center alternative will be a great choice.
After getting the Windows 10 Sync Center is not working on the Home version, you may want the best free alternative software. This article will introduce you both software and you can choose either of them.
Windows 10 SyncToy is a free sync tool with easy-to-use graphical user interface, which can be used to sync files and folders. It has three sync modes, including Synchronize, Echo, and Contribute. Also, it supports syncing files in/between local drive, external drive, and network drive.
In addition, trust and reliable Windows file sync software like Qiling Disk Master Standard is also a great choice. It supports auto sync files in/between local disk, external disk, network drive, NAS, cloud storage like Microsoft OneDrive etc. Also, you can set email notification, make comment, support pre-command/post-command etc.
Then, let's have a closer look at how to sync files between two computers in the following.
Please note both methods can be used sync files, but SyncToy does not support any schedule sync settings. Therefore, if you want to sync files regularly at daily, weekly, monthly, you'd better use the third-party file sync software Qiling Disk Master Standard. It makes things easier.
In the first place, download SyncToy from Microsoft and set it up with the .exe program. Then, double-click the SyncToy 2.1 to open this freeware and sync files and folders with the following steps.
Step 1. Click "Create New Folder Pair" to start.
Step 2. Click "Browse..." under the Left Folder and select the local folder with all files you want to sync, ie: documents, pictures, audios etc. Then, click "Browse" under the Right Folder and select a directory on another computer. Finally, click "Next" to continue.
Step 3. Choose a sync method in the following picture and click "Next".
>> Synchronize: This method can reflect changes in both locations and finally have exactly the same files, either new, updated, renamed or deleted files.
>> Echo: This method transfers all changes from left folder to right folder.
>> Contribute: This method only migrates newly added and modified files in the left folder to right folder. It does not remove the deleted files in the left folder.
Step 4. Type a name for this pair and click "Finish".
Step 5. Click "Preview" to see the pending sync task. If everything is OK, hit "Run" to start the sync task and then pitch on "Close".
Notes:
◓ Although SyncToy does not have any schedule settings, you still can use Task Scheduler to Schedule SyncToy.
◓ .Network Framework 4.6 is not working on SyncToy 2.1 version, so you are supposed to download the .Network Framework 3.5 that's compatible with 2.0 and 3.0 versions.
Step 1. Download and install Qiling Disk Master Standard. Then, launch this software, click "Backup" and "File Sync" to start the file sync.
Step 2. Click "Folder" to select the folder need syncing. Then, click where the arrow point and select a shared folder on another computer.
Notes:
◓ Only the shared folder can be used as destination path to save and accessed data on different computers.
◓ If your computer is Windows 10, you could consider syncing local folder with OneDrive. Because it comes along with Windows 10 and can be a middle-man for you to access data on different computers.
Step 3. Click "Schedule" and "OK" to enable daily sync. Also, you can change it to weekly or monthly. At last, click "Proceed" and wait until the task is completed 100%.
Notes:
◓ Don't modify the source folder name of the schedule sync task, otherwise the program cannot synchronize the selected folder anymore.
◓ Qiling Disk Master currently only supports one-way file sync from source folder to destination folder.
◓ The schedule File Sync will not automatically sync the deleted files in the source folder, but you can choose to sync the deletion from source directory to destination in the Option settings.
◓ To monitor changes in real time and sync them immediately, you could consider using "File Sync" in Qiling Disk Master Professional.
There is no such thing as Windows 10 Home Sync Center here, because Windows 10 Sync Center is only available for the Professional, Enterprise and Education edition. However, you can still sync files between two computers with its alternative software – SyncToy and Qiling Disk Master Standard.
Both of them are very useful in syncing files and folders. But the SyncToy does not support automatic sync files. To ensure you always have the latest backup versions, Qiling Disk Master Standard is a better choice.
In addition, Qiling Disk Master can do more for you, including mirror folder, File Sync, sync server with Microsoft OneDrive, sync local folder to Google Drive, create bootable media, file backup, incremental and differential backup etc. Some of these features are paid and only available on Qiling Disk Master Professional or higher version.