Folder Settings Lifecycle
Copying, moving, or deleting a configured folder affects the rules attached to it. Use these operations to reuse a working setup, relocate it, or remove it deliberately. Check the destination's storage capabilities and inherited settings before relying on the configuration at its new location.
Copying Folders with Folder Settings
When you copy a folder, you can copy its supported settings onto the corresponding destination folder and subfolders. This lets you reuse a configured folder tree for another project without rebuilding its rules, notifications, and branding. You must have folder administration permission at both the source and destination.
Select Copy all folder settings to the new destination when copying through the Web App. The option applies to full copies and structure-only copies, so you can reuse the setup without copying existing files. Workspace destinations also support copied folder settings.
The API supports the same behavior. Set copy_behaviors to true when copying with either POST /file_actions/copy/{path} or POST /files/{path} to copy supported settings onto the destination folder tree.
The copy option includes supported file-processing rules, restrictions, and webhooks, as well as email notification subscriptions and per-folder branding. Notification settings and recipient opt-outs are retained, so copying a folder does not resubscribe recipients who opted out. Copied logos are independent: changing or removing a logo in one folder tree does not change it in the other.
Only settings configured directly on folders within the copied tree are duplicated. Settings inherited from folders outside that tree are not duplicated. Copied notifications must pass the same validation as newly configured notifications at the destination; a conflicting notification can cause the copy to fail.
Other supported settings include: Archive Removed Files, Automatically Create New User Folders Here When Users Are Created, Automatically Organize Files into Subfolders, File Expiration, GPG Encryption/Decryption/Recryption, Limit Uploaded Files By File Name Length, Limit Uploaded Files By Regular Expression, Limit Uploaded Files To Certain File Extensions, Lock Subfolders, Malware Scanning, Publish Events to Amazon SNS Topic, Publish Events to Google Cloud Pub/Sub, Remote Server Mount, Rename Uploaded Files, Send Microsoft Teams Notifications, Send Slack Notifications, Send Webhook, Storage Location (Region), Watermark Previews and Permission Fences.
Inboxes and Public Hosting settings cannot be copied with their source folder because they require unique URL keys for each entry.
Moving Folders That Have Folder Settings
You can move a folder that has Folder Settings configured for it.
As long as the destination is within the native storage of your Files.com site, the Folder Settings will be retained with the folder at the new location.
However, moving a folder that has Folder Settings configured for it into a Remote Mount will only retain those Folder Settings that are compatible with a Remote Mount.
A folder configured with the Remote Server Mount setting cannot be moved into another Remote Mount, because a Remote Mount cannot be nested inside another Remote Mount.
When you move a folder that has File Expiration set into a Remote Mount, the setting moves with the folder and continues to apply at its new location.
Deleting Folders That Have Folder Settings
Deleting a folder will also delete all of its associated folder settings.
Deleting through Files.com removes the settings immediately, whether the folder uses native storage or a Remote Server Mount. When a folder is removed directly on the remote system, cleanup is deferred for up to 72 hours so a temporary absence does not erase its configuration.
To preserve folder settings, consider moving or renaming the folder instead, using Files.com.