Before posting, and to avoid disappointment, please read the following:

  • This forum is not for 2BrightSparks to provide technical support. It's primarily for users to help other users. Do not expect 2BrightSparks to answer any question posted to this forum.
  • If you find a bug in any of our software, please submit a support ticket. It does not matter if you are using our freeware, a beta version or you haven't yet purchased the software. We want to know about any and all bugs so we can fix them as soon as possible. We usually need more information and details from you to reproduce bugs and that is better done via a support ticket and not this forum.

Need to delete files over 30 days old

SyncBackFree is the freeware version of SyncBack. It is *not* an evaluation version of SyncBackPro/SE.
Post Reply
scubieman
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:13 pm

Need to delete files over 30 days old

Post by scubieman »

I have sync back to ignore files over 30 days. I also want to delete files from destination that are over 30 days.

I have backups that are much larger than what will fit on my destination. so therefore I backup the last 30 days only.

I have ignore files not modified over 30 days however that does not remove items that are already on destination but much older.

And yes source could have files from 3 months ago. Destination will not.
Swapna
Expert
Expert
Posts: 1026
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:22 am

Re: Need to delete files over 30 days old

Post by Swapna »

Hi,

You can create a HouseKeeping profile in SyncBackFree to delete older files from backup drive. Please read this forum post for additional details:

viewtopic.php?t=11761&p=45310

Thank you.
aquilatheeagle
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:53 pm

Re: Need to delete files over 30 days old

Post by aquilatheeagle »

The link to the "housekeeping" article is broken, can you provide a new link?
Swapna
Expert
Expert
Posts: 1026
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:22 am

Re: Need to delete files over 30 days old

Post by Swapna »

Hi,

There is no option in SyncBack to delete older files from the backup drive. However, you can create a Housekeeping profile in SyncBack with Source pointing to an empty (dummy) folder (created for this purpose, and ensured kept empty, e.g. C:\KeepThisEmpty\), and configure the Destination path to point to the Destination folder from which you want to delete files/folders.

Then set the profile type as Mirror Right for this housekeeping profile (so that it deletes files from the Profile's Destination that are not present in its Source).

You can configure to delete the older files on the Profile's Destination side in 2 ways:
1. Under Modify Profile > Expert > Decision-Files > 3rd section, “What to do if a file exists on Destination but not on Source” > configure the setting “Delete file from Destination if it hasn’t been modified within the last [XX] days”. It will thus ignore any files with Last Modified date/time stamps that are within the last [XX] days, but delete the older ones. However, this option uses fixed 'day' units, and involves rounding during the decision-making.

2. Alternatively, another option would be to use Date & Time Compare options. Under Modify > Expert > Compare Options > Date & Time, you can add a bespoke age-based limit to define which files to process.

For example: Ignore files that [have/have not] been modified and/or created [within the last] XX [seconds/minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years] OR [since] [calendar date][calendar time]

Bear in mind that any files that has Last Modified date/time stamps that is more than [X period] old, running such a housekeeping profile will delete those files without mercy! Remember you use such a profile/scheme at your own risk.

Thank you
Post Reply