Introduction
The Egnyte Desktop Sync is now End of Life as of April 30th, 2024 and we strongly encourage users to transition to our Desktop App as soon as possible.
To help with the transition, here are five, easy steps to keep the process simple.
- Find location of data folder
- Uninstall Desktop Sync
- Remove synced data
- Install Desktop App
- Sync the necessary folders for offline access
For Admins or users that have local folders redirected to a synced location or file types that were excluded from sync, review the For Admins section before proceeding to avoid data loss.
Locate Data Folder
Before you uninstall Desktop Sync, it's important that you find where your synced data is being stored since you'll need to remove it later in the process.
Open the Desktop Sync icon from the icon tray on your desktop, click Settings, and expand the Advanced Settings section. Note the location of the Data Folder, as you'll need it later.
The location may be different for Mac and Windows users, so please verify the location in Advanced Settings.
Uninstall Desktop Sync
The steps to take to complete a clean uninstall of Desktop Sync will depend on the Operating System (OS). To do a clean uninstall of Egnyte Desktop Sync, do the following:
Windows
- For Windows 7, 8, & 8.1: Click on the Start button and then navigate to Programs.
Egnyte ended support for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 on January 14th, 2020.
For Windows 10: Click on the Start button of the Computer and go to Add or remove programs. - Select Egnyte Desktop Sync and click on the option to Uninstall. Follow the instructions to complete the uninstall.
- If necessary, continue to the Data Removal section of this article to remove any synced folders from the computer.
MacOS X
- Navigate to Finder and select Applications.
- Double-click on the Egnyte Desktop Sync Uninstall. Entering the computer (Admin) password may be asked to continue.
- If necessary, continue to the Data Removal section of this article to remove any synced folders from the computer.
Data Removal
If removing all the synced data from the computer is needed, locate the Desktop Sync data folder where it was created during the setup and delete the Egnyte folder.
Error While Uninstalling
Desktop Sync installation is not supported on a Network Drive. If it is accidentally installed, it will need to be uninstalled. During the uninstall, it may encounter an error: Installer Error Code 2318.
Remove Synced Data
Once Desktop Sync has been uninstalled, you can remove any unneeded data that you were syncing from Egnyte to your desktop using Desktop Sync.
If your Desktop, Documents, or other locations are redirected to your sync folder, we recommend moving those folders back to their original locations before deleting the sync folder to avoid losing your data. You can synchronize them using connected folders in the Desktop App.
- Navigate to the location found in step one of the Locate Data Folder section on Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder.
- Delete the Egnyte folder to remove all previously synced content.
Install Desktop App
User Installation - Windows
For all of our Windows users, follow the steps outlined in this article to install Desktop App.
User Installation - macOS
Mac users will employ this article to complete an installation for Desktop App.
Admins that want to mass deploy the Desktop App can use the following articles for help completing the process: Windows Mass Deployment or Mac Mass Deployment.
Sync Folders on Desktop App for Offline Access
To free up disk space on your hard drive, make sure the data folder containing any previously synced data from Desktop Sync has been removed before you complete this step.
You can access all of your content from the Desktop App when you have an internet connection. However, if you want to work while offline or when you have a poor internet connection, you can select folders for offline access, so they'll always be available. This article can provide additional details on how to sync for offline access.
For Admins
If any file types or extensions were excluded from sync, or if local folders, like My Documents, Downloads, or Desktop, were redirected to a location within Desktop Sync, you'll need to complete some additional steps. These actions will ensure you've preserved the data before you delete the synced data folder.
- After completing the final sync, go to the Configure Folders tab, deselect all but one folder (can be an empty, "dummy" folder), and click Save.
- Find any local folders, like My Documents, that were being redirected to a synced folder and Restore Default or Move to a location outside of Egnyte and Desktop Sync.
- Navigate to the location found in step one of the Locate Data Folder section on Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder.
- Any remaining content (excluded files) will need to be moved to another location to avoid data loss.
- Proceed to step 2 of the Remove Synced Data section.
Reporting
If you want to see how many of your users are still actively using Desktop Sync, you can find this information in the Device Dashboard.