Folder Settings attach rules and processing to the place where files are stored or arrive. They let administrators give a folder a consistent purpose, such as an intake point that organizes incoming files or an archive with a retention rule. Some settings can apply recursively to subfolders; others apply only to the folder itself.

A setting's scope determines where its rule applies; its trigger determines when it acts. A recursive rule can cover a whole folder tree without running for every operation on those files. Check both before combining settings or delivering files through a Sync or Automation.

You can configure multiple Folder Settings on a single folder, although some settings prohibit the use of others on the same folder.

Managing Folder Settings

Folder Settings on the site's root folder have their own site-level settings. With Root Folder Settings, you can allow only Site Administrators to change them, and supported settings can apply in every Workspace. A parent site can manage them on all of its Child Sites using Child Site Management Policies.

Folder Admins can see Folder Settings configured on folders above theirs, including the site root, only when those settings are recursive and apply to a folder they administer. This lets them understand inherited rules affecting their folders. Non-recursive settings and settings whose scope does not reach their folders are not included through ancestor visibility. This visibility is independent of the restriction on changing root settings and does not grant permission to change an ancestor's settings.

Full administrative configuration is available only to Site Administrators and users with admin permission at or above the folder where the setting is configured. Folder Admins whose permission starts below that folder see limited configuration details with protected credential fields omitted. They can understand inherited settings without receiving credentials for integrations outside their administrative scope.

Email notifications are separate subscriptions to folder activity with their own management permissions. They are not Folder Settings and are not covered by the restriction on changing root Folder Settings.

Hierarchical Folder Structures

A folder hierarchy determines which files a rule affects. Scope and inheritance determine whether a setting applies to descendants and whether a subfolder adds to, replaces, or disables an inherited rule. Those choices matter when teams share a parent folder but need different processing in their own subfolders.

Mounts, site connections, and Partner Channel routes have different inheritance boundaries. The path used to reach a file does not always identify the folder or site that owns its settings.

Processing Order for New Files

When a folder has multiple Folder Settings configured at once, the settings applicable to an operation run in a fixed order. Some settings apply to uploads and copies; on mounts, GPG and Auto Unzip also process moves and Sync arrivals. Malware Scanning applies only to uploads.

Folders on Remote Servers

Remote Server Mounts support most Folder Settings, including recursive settings inherited from folders above the mount. File Expiration requires a rule on or within the mount; Archive Removed Files and Storage Location (Region) apply only to native storage.

Using a Sync with Folders That Have Folder Settings

Destination Folder Settings can affect which files a Sync transfers. With After Copying set to keep, GPG encryption, decryption, or recryption settings cause affected files to be skipped; a rule that would rename an incoming file also causes that file to be skipped. Review Sync destination folder processing before choosing source cleanup, because delete can remove a source file even when a matching destination file needs no transfer.

Moving or Copying Files to Folders That Have Folder Settings

For folder moves or copies between different parent folders, every filename restriction at the destination must already apply to the source as the same Folder Setting. Shared inheritance can satisfy this check; separately configured rules cannot, even if their values match or the destination's rules are less restrictive. This includes restrictions based on specific file extensions, filename length, or regular expressions.

Files copied or moved into a mount must meet its filename restrictions, including those inherited from folders above the mount. This applies to destinations anywhere within the mount, even when the destination subfolder has no settings of its own.

A copy or move that replaces a file covered by Archive Removed Files archives the replaced file. The archive move disregards these destination restrictions when preserving deleted or overwritten content. The exception applies only to archive moves; Files.com's path requirements still apply.

Malware Scanning protects upload intake so new content is checked before your workflow uses or distributes it. Moving or copying a file into a protected folder does not start a scan, including when an Automation performs the move or copy. Apply scanning to the folder that receives the original upload.

Copying or moving the configured folder itself has a different effect from placing files into it. The Folder Settings lifecycle explains which settings are copied, retained, or removed with the folder.

Available Folder Settings

Available Folder Settings include: