rclone bisync

The two-way sync command is used to keep two locations synchronized with changes flowing both ways.

Feature	bisync	sync	copy
Direction	Both ways	One way	One way
Deletes at destination	✅	✅	❌
Handles conflicts	✅ (newer wins by default)	N/A	N/A
Requires initial setup	✅ (`--resync`)	❌	❌
Complexity	High	Medium	Low

Quick start

Prepare Locations

# Make sure both locations exist
mkdir -p /local/sync-folder
rclone mkdir remote:sync-folder

Initial Resync

# Establish baseline (choose direction!)
# This makes remote match local:
rclone bisync /local/sync-folder remote:sync-folder --resync

# Or make local match remote:
rclone bisync remote:sync-folder /local/sync-folder --resync --force

Test Regular Sync

# Test bidirectional sync
echo "test" > /local/sync-folder/test.txt
rclone bisync /local/sync-folder remote:sync-folder
# File appears on remote

# Make change on remote and sync back
rclone bisync /local/sync-folder remote:sync-folder
# Changes flow both ways!

Safety features

Access Check Files

# Create check files for safety
touch /local/folder/RCLONE_TEST
rclone touch remote:folder/RCLONE_TEST

# Sync with access check
rclone bisync /local/folder remote:folder \
  --check-access \
  --check-filename RCLONE_TEST

If check files disappear, sync stops (preventing accidental mass deletion).

Limit Deletions

# Stop if too many deletions
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --max-delete 10

# Percentage-based limit
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --max-delete 50%

Conflict Resolution

# Default: newer file wins
rclone bisync /local remote:path

# Keep both versions of conflicts
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --conflict-resolve newer \
  --conflict-loser delete

# Options: newer, older, larger, smaller, path1, path2

Common use cases

Keep Laptop and Desktop in Sync

#!/bin/bash
# Sync work folders between computers

# On laptop
rclone bisync ~/Documents remote:Documents \
  --check-access \
  --max-delete 10 \
  --filters-file sync-filters.txt

# Same command on desktop
# Changes flow both ways!

Sync Phone Photos

# Bi-directional photo sync
rclone bisync /phone/DCIM remote:Photos \
  --check-access \
  --include "*.{jpg,mp4,png}" \
  --max-delete 5%

Collaborative Folders

# Team shared folder
rclone bisync /local/team-share remote:team \
  --check-access \
  --conflict-resolve newer \
  --backup-dir remote:conflicts

Advanced

Filters and Exclusions

# Exclude certain files from sync
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --exclude ".git/**" \
  --exclude "*.tmp" \
  --exclude ".DS_Store" \
  --exclude "Thumbs.db"

# Using filter file
cat > bisync-filters.txt << EOF
- .git/**
- node_modules/**
- *.tmp
- .*.swp
EOF

rclone bisync /local remote:path --filters-file bisync-filters.txt

Backup Conflicts

# Save conflicting versions
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --conflict-resolve newer \
  --conflict-loser rename \
  --conflict-suffix .conflict

Manual Conflict Resolution

# 1. Dry run to see conflicts
rclone bisync /local remote:path --dry-run

# 2. Manually review and fix conflicts

# 3. Force resync after manual resolution
rclone bisync /local remote:path --resync

Scheduled Sync

# Cron job for regular sync (Linux/Mac)
*/30 * * * * rclone bisync /local remote:path --check-access >> ~/bisync.log 2>&1

# Windows Task Scheduler
rclone bisync C:\Local remote:path --check-access

Recovering Files

# 1. Stop all sync operations

# 2. Check both locations
rclone ls /local/path > local-files.txt
rclone ls remote:path > remote-files.txt

# 3. Restore from backup if needed
rclone copy remote:backup /local/restored

# 4. Reset bisync state
rm -rf ~/.cache/rclone/bisync/
rclone bisync /local remote:path --resync

Troubleshooting

"Need --resync" Error

# Sync state is broken, needs reset
rclone bisync /local remote:path --resync

# Choose direction carefully!
# --resync makes destination match source

Too Many Deletions

# Bisync stopped due to safety limit
# Check what's being deleted:
rclone check /local remote:path

# If deletions are intentional:
rclone bisync /local remote:path --force

# Or increase limit:
rclone bisync /local remote:path --max-delete 100

Sync Loop

# Files keep changing every sync
# Usually due to timestamp issues

# Fix with:
rclone bisync /local remote:path \
  --ignore-times \
  --check-first

⚠️ Careful

Bisync is powerful but complex!

Used in production, but in active development
Requires careful setup
Can cause data loss if misconfigured (use --dry-run before running, use --max-delete to limit deletions)
Not suitable for syncing multiple devices at once

Check out the full documentation if you need more information.

Bisync

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