Sync Triggers

Syncs can be triggered and started in several different ways.

A sync's settings, your plan, a remote server's maximum allowed connections, and a remote system's maximum number of running syncs all affect when and how often a sync starts.

Any particular sync runs only one sync job at a time, regardless of its trigger settings. If a sync run is already in progress when the next sync run would start, the second sync run is skipped.

Automatic Interval (in minutes)

The Automatic Interval (in minutes) option starts a sync repeatedly, for example every 45 minutes or every 240 minutes.

The number you enter determines how many minutes apart each job starts. Your plan determines the minimum value you can enter.

Automatic Interval syncs start running immediately when they are saved or enabled, unless the sync is disabled or already running.

Schedule Interval

A pre-defined Schedule Interval runs a sync on a recurring calendar boundary, such as the first day of each month or every Sunday. This is often helpful for a sync that does not need to run every day.

By default, a Schedule Interval sync runs at midnight UTC on the interval date. An optional holiday region skips runs that fall on observed public holidays. When the schedule also includes one or more times of day and an optional time zone, the sync starts within those time windows on the interval date. For example, a Schedule Interval sync can be configured to run monthly on the 2nd at 6 PM Eastern Time Zone.

Recurring Day

A Recurring Day trigger runs a sync once per month on a configured day other than the first or last.

For example, if you need to push items to a remote server by the 14th of every month, you could schedule your sync to run on the 13th.

By default, a Recurring Day sync runs at midnight UTC on the configured day. An optional holiday region skips runs that fall on observed public holidays. When the schedule also includes one or more times of day and an optional time zone, the sync starts within those time windows on the configured day.

Custom Schedule

A Custom Schedule runs a sync on one or more days of the week at one or more times of day. Both the day(s) of the week and the time(s) of day are required.

For example, an after-business sync could run on all seven days of the week at 5:00 PM in your local time zone. A weekday business-hours sync could run Monday through Friday with a time range of 9:00-17:00 for hourly runs across the day.

A time zone and a holiday region are optional.

Schedule Timing Options

The Schedule Interval, Recurring Day, and Custom Schedule triggers share a common set of timing options. Schedule Interval and Recurring Day syncs accept these as optional refinements over their default midnight UTC behavior. Custom Schedule syncs require at least one time of day to decide when each run occurs.

A Time of day is an individual value like 06:00 or 14:00, or an hour range like 09:00-17:00. Each configured time defines an hour-long window in which the sync starts; the exact start moment within the window is not guaranteed. An hour range (like 09:00-17:00) extends this to one run per hour across the range, useful for spreading load across business hours or restricting activity to an off-peak interval.

An optional Time zone determines how each time-of-day value is used. Without a time zone, times are treated as UTC.

A Holiday region prevents the sync from running on days that are observed public holidays in the region. This avoids unattended sync activity on days when staff are not available to monitor for failures or downstream delivery problems.

External Trigger

The External Trigger option allows your sync to be started by a Run Sync Automation.

When this option is chosen, the sync can only be triggered "as needed" rather than on a schedule.

This option is intended to be used in conjunction with an Automation. Create an Automation configured with the Run sync option to trigger this sync.

Combining a sync with an Automation this way allows you to trigger the sync via an incoming webhook by using the Incoming webhook trigger for the Automation.

Manual Start

You can manually start a Sync using its Run now option.

Run now does not start disabled Syncs and does not interrupt or restart a Sync that is currently running.

Dry Run

Using Dry run allows you to validate Sync configuration, review expected behavior, and identify potential issues before running a live Sync, helping reduce the risk of unintended file transfers and changes.

Dry run simulates the results of a Sync without performing any file transfer or modification actions.

When Dry run is used, the Sync Runs Log displays the projected changes that would occur during a normal sync, but Files.com does not make any changes to either side of the sync.

Save and Enable Triggers

Only Automatic Interval type Syncs start running when they are saved or enabled.