how does sync work
I have two PC's I have Firefox on both and I have some time in the past set up sync as from the firefox (top left) icon it has listed 'sync now'
What I would like to know is what exactly gets synced !
When clicking 'Sync Now', is this an upload or a download from the PC ?
If a download then how do you do an upload of changes and if a download how do you do an upload of changes from either PC.
I am totally confused how it works please explain as my two PC's only seem to have been synced once after the first time I joined them with the code !
All Replies (12)
Hi,
I don't use Sync personally but I can share what I know. My responses will be after your questions.
What I would like to know is what exactly gets synced !
You can actually choose what gets synced. See the link below:
When clicking 'Sync Now', is this an upload or a download from the PC ?
I'm not sure about this. I think your PC does an upload to your Android and the Android grabs the download from your PC. All I know is that it gets synced!
If a download then how do you do an upload of changes and if a download how do you do an upload of changes from either PC.
You can press Sync now on Firefox Desktop to get the items from your Android or you can press Sync on your Android to get the stuff from your Desktop Firefox and vice versa
Modified by Moses
Thanks but it sounds like your guessing and I can do that !
I would like an answer from someone who understands the mechanics of what is happening.
No problem! You can wait for a response.
There is a "Sync Options" button at the bottom of the Sync set up window to select what to sync.
- Add-ons - Bookmarks - Passwords - Preferences - History - Tabs
If you choose the merge data then the transfer can be in both directions to keep the data in sync.
Your data is encrypted locally before it is uploaded to the Sync server for better protection.
If you lose the Sync key then you can no longer access data stored on the Sync server and it is lost.
I don't seem to have a merge data option "
I do not seem able to get an answer to my question so I guess I am not explaining myself very well !
So here goes again.
I have 2 PC's both with Firefox and both with sync set up using the link code.
They both have different Bookmark toolbars which I presumed sync should make the same ??? But this does not happen. So......
My puzzle is: If I press sync now on PC 1 what happens? i.e. does it upload a copy to Firefox server ? Or does it download a copy from Server? Similarly if I do the same on PC 2 what happens? Or are both PC's automatically uploading and merging the Bookmarks in some magical way.
I would like my bookmarks on PC1 to get transferred to PC 2
H...E..L..P (No guesses please, I can guess)
Hi,
http://www.howtogeek.com/105389/how-to-sync-your-browser-data-with-firefox-sync/
Have a look at the part "Troubleshooting Sync" . Assuming the sync is working you should be able to sync your data across your PC's.
If not then first unlink both PC from synching. Setup sync again on one PC but let it generate a new recovery key. This will wipe any data on the sync server and will make sure that all data from both PC's will be fresh and accurate.
This new Sync for Firefox 30 is missing many parts and the instructions don't help.
I set up Sync and a new Firefox account. But I don't get any Merge choice button, nothing showing that my first computer will be the "primary." When I set up a 2nd and 3rd computer, it does ask for the account, but that is all. No indication of what will happen to the bookmarks in the 2nd and 3rd computers. OK, so I searched and got no information, so I backed up the first computer and installed that to the new computers manually No what? I make a change in computer 1 and nothing shows in 2 and 3? Finally, no mention of a restore key? Is there a link I missed? Using new Firefox 30 on each computer.
All devices are equal in the new Sync version that is based on a Firefox account and all data from all devices will be merged. The first sync can take some time, so best is probably to leave the computer idle for some time. You can also check the about:sync-progress page via the location bar.
The Sync version used in Firefox 29 and later will still use a Sync key to encrypt data locally before uploading, but this Sync key is generated internally from the password of the Firefox account, so you no longer need to worry about it.
OK, if that is true and all works as you suggest, then once set up, a change on any of the connected computers should make a change on the cloud copy and then at some point, that change should show up on the other computers. Is that correct?
Yet, I have made a few changes on computer 2 and after several hours and starts and restarts, these changes did not show up on computers 2 and 3.
What is and where is the "location bar?" I don't see one on Firefox 30.
Thansk.
Modified by wteague
OH, one more question.
When you set up the 2nd and subsequent Firefoxes, shouldn't you be told to first import or "restore" a full set of the Bookmarks, etc.? Otherwise, wouldn't an "empty" new Firefox, casue the Cloud and others to delete all missing Bookmarks?
Seems to me these things are quite important to know when you first set up.
The location bar is the address bar on the Navigation Toolbar where you type the address of a website where you want to go to.
A Firefox profile that doesn't have bookmarks shouldn't cause bookmarks to disappear on other devices. This only means that nothing has to be synced to other devices and that only bookmarks from other devices need to be added to this device.