How (and Why) to Opt Out of Dropbox and Sync Files Using BitTorrent Sync

Dropbox (and similar cloud services) are great, but they don’t give you that much control, security, or privacy over your files. If you want to take control without losing the functionality of cloud sync services, BitTorrent Sync is the service for you. Here’s how to use it.

Why use BitTorrent Sync via Dropbox

We love Dropbox (and other file syncing services ), but they tend to be quite expensive if you need more than a few gigabytes of storage. There is also an inherent security flaw when storing your files on a third-party server, and while most cloud storage services offer two-factor authentication, there is always the possibility that these servers could be compromised at some point. Conversely, private cloud services like OwnCloud are great, but you’ll need your own server to use them.

BitTorrent Sync solves both of these problems. Your files are never stored on the server. They only reside on your computers, and data is transferred between them using peer-to-peer file exchange . BitTorrent Sync is also completely free and you can transfer files of any size you want, making it great for projects with large file sizes (like videos). Storage capacity is only limited by your own hard drive, not by how much space you pay. Let’s take a quick look at the advantages and disadvantages of BitTorrent Sync compared to other file sync services.

Benefits of BitTorrent Sync over Dropbox

• Is free
• Storage is only limited by how much space on your hard drive
• Your files are never uploaded to a third party server
• High speed of data transfer, which is limited only by the speed of the Internet connection on your devices.
• Server downtime does not affect you as your files are never uploaded to another server
• Synchronize any folder or file from anywhere on your hard drive
• You can install it on your own NAS, so it will work much like Dropbox.

Disadvantages of BitTorrent Sync Over Dropbox

• At least one of your computers should be syncing.
• The people you share folders and files with need to have BitTorrent Sync installed, there is no web app to access your files
• You must share folders and cannot share individual files (although the Pro tier is expected to offer this feature)
• Doesn’t have collaboration features and built-in file editing features like other services.
• Doesn’t work as well as cloud backup as it only syncs between computers.

For most of us, BitTorrent Sync is not a good dropbox replacement if your primary use of backups, but for sharing and syncing files, it’s great. However, running BitTorrent Sync on a NAS makes it work similar to Dropbox and OwnCloud, but with faster speeds and no additional software costs to worry about. You don’t need to set up a server, which is why BitTorrent Sync also tends to be incredibly secure as you are the only one with the keys to access your files.

How to set up BitTorrent Sync

To use BitTorrent Sync, you need to set up a few different things. For this tutorial, we’ll be using the newest beta version of BitTorrent Sync, 2.0 , which should be officially launching soon. However, the process is the same in older versions of the app.

1. Download BitTorrent Sync for your operating system
2. Open the app
3. Select the folders you want to sync across computers. Click the “+” button and select your folder. These folders are now ready to be shared.
4. Click on the gear icon and select “Pair device”.
5. Click “Pair Desktop Device Manually”, you will get a 35-digit code.
6. Move to another computer and repeat steps 1 and 2.
7. On the second computer, click the gear icon> Pair Device> Pair Device Manually> Enter Key and enter the 35-digit code from step 5.

Now every folder you choose to share is synced across the two computers. You can repeat this process on each of your computers. You can also set up syncing on your mobile phone. The process is very similar:

1. Download the mobile app for Android , iOS or Windows Phone
2. On the desktop, click the gear icon> Pair device to receive a QR code.
3. Back on your mobile device, click Add Folder and use your phone to scan the QR code on your computer.

One thing to note, mobile apps are not currently configured to work with BitTorrent Sync 2.0, so for now you will want to use version 1.4 if you need mobile access.

That’s it for setting up standard sync. From now on, your files are synchronized between all computers and devices on which BitTorrent Sync is installed, if at least of these devices are connected to the network.

How to send folders to other people

However, syncing between your devices is just one part of using BitTorrent Sync. The most useful feature is sharing folders with other people. There is no file size limit, so you can share just about anything you want. This is how it works:

1. Highlight the folder you want to share and click the Share button.
2. Select the permissions you want to grant to the recipient (read-only or read-write)
3. Select the level of security you want to provide (“Sites I invite must be approved on this device” means you must approve them before they can use the link, “Link expires in x days” grants access for a set number of days, and “Link can be used x times” sets a limit on the number of clicks a link can receive)
4. Choose how you want to share the link (by email, copy it to your clipboard, or generate a QR code)

That’s all. Send this link to anyone you want and they can access the folder from their version of BitTorrent Sync. You can also use this method to share only selected folders with other computers, which is handy if you have a laptop that’s low on hard drive space.

Additional functions: setting up version control and automatic backing up of photographic film.

Aside from the usual syncing and sharing that comes with BitTorrent Sync, it also has a couple of features we’re used to seeing in file sync services: version control and automatic camera backups. Both are easy to customize, but it’s also easy to overlook the fact that both exist at all.

Check out earlier versions of the files

Like Dropbox, BitTorrent Sync keeps snapshots of all changes made to a file for 30 days. This is useful when you mess something up and need to revert to an earlier version. Here’s how to access these files:

1. Click the three-dot icon next to the Share button in the folder where you want to view the old version.
2. Select “Open Archive” to open the folder in File Explorer or Finder.
3. The files are hidden here, so you need to enable hidden items in your operating system ( Windows / Mac ).
4. You will see a folder named .SyncArchive, inside you will see a collection of old versions of files (this can take up a lot of space if you are working with a lot of large files).

That’s all. If you need to, BitTorrent Sync also has a guide on how to change the default version control behavior so you can customize it to suit your needs.

Turn on back up your camera roll on your mobile device

Like most file syncing services, BitTorrent Sync also has an automatic film download feature for mobile apps. Once it’s turned on, everything in your camera roll will be copied to your computer. The process is very simple here.

1. On the mobile app, tap Film Backup.
2. You can copy the link or email it. If you click on an email, email it to yourself so you can access it on your home computer.
3. Go to the computer with BitTorrent Sync installed.
4. Click the link and select a folder to sync your photos. This will add your camera roll photos to BitTorrent Sync.

Now all your phone’s photos are automatically sent to any computers running BitTorrent Sync.

BitTorrent Sync may not be a perfect Dropbox replacement for everyone, but it does pretty much everything that Dropbox can do if you don’t need cloud storage. If you’re tired of spending a ton of money, or just looking for a little extra privacy, this works incredibly well.

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