SugarSync for Mac

4.1.1

4.1.1

See all Versions

the worst. they will steal your money and make it nearly impossible to cancel your subscription. I wish I could give them zero stars.

TOTAL FRAUD -- DELETE Sounded like a good idea in the beginning. Devolved into a money-grabbing scheme. Not worth the grief or risk – deleted months ago... moved on.

I found you can install this without having to logout and back in as an admin if you use Limit Point’s LaunchasRoot http://www.limitpointstore.com/products/launchasroot/

you must enter your credit card information for the 30 day trial?
ARE YOU KIDDING?

Latest news: The auto-updater from v3.4 silently fails and goes into an endless loop if you are not an admin.

Version 3.4 crashes everytime upon login on my 27" late 2009 iMac with OS X 10.10.2.

This is crazy! You can't install it unless you are an admin: "Cannot make directory /Applications/SugarSync.app: Permission denied"

I've been using SugarSync since it's inception. I've found it fast, stable, great support the few times I've needed them (like when a referral link didn't give me credit), and it doesn't' slow down my PC. I was bummed out they don't offer a free plan anymore, but it's worth paying for as I need more than just the free amount of space for my business. All in all I like what I get with them.

After they changed to pay per use.....hey sucked ever since

The worst company ever. I paid $80 for account for 1 years and weeks later they dropped support for 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. They told me I have to buy new computer if I can't upgrade to Mavericks. So I can't get my money back. I think $80 per year is pretty fat for such a service. Don't recommend at all!

I dropped SugarSync when they abruptly discontinued their "free" offering, and started charging for any amount of storage (in vast contrast to other cloud solutions). Also did not see any advantage to their offering over other services. There's lots of alternatives out there that don't gouge you like this one.

Im not gonna pay monthly fee for any web services! Never! I'm willing to pay a one-time free is a service is outstanding and useful, not paying it monthly? Absolutely no. And especially considered that there are many better services (dropbox, box, onedrive, copy etc) out there and free of charge.

Since the "similar software" is not finding it, look at BitTorrent Sync if all you want is to sync files between devices anywhere you have an internet connection. There is no need for your files to be stored in any server along the way. Do a general search here at MU or go to http://www.bittorrent.com/sync. You do not need any servers... cloud or otherwise... to sync. Though still in beta at this time, I have been using it since release without a glitch. Read the PDF manual for how to refine both what it does and how it does it to control impact upon your local network. It can be easily refined. And yes it is free. [I am not associated to this package / group / project in any way.]

It was OK while it was free and I used it for some years without problems. But paying a monthly fee for it? No. There are just too many competitors that offer the same or better for free.

I've UNINSTALLED SugarSync. They've gone to a PAID model for their slow, and buggy storage solution. DropBox may not be perfect - but the options, utility, and stability far-surpass anything SugarSync can offer. SugarSync is EOL and SOL in my book.

I have just received a mail informing me that the service will charged from Feb 2014 (there will no longer be the smaller free service), so I would suggest looking for another solution unless you intend to utilise a paid service.

The new version works very well, but the options for displaying status icons for files and folders I had to turn off in preferences. For me, causing problems in cooperation with the program XtraFinder. The rest works OK, a lot of useful features and a nice interface. You can sync any folder on your computer, so you do not need to change the directory structure on the disk (eg Dropbox need to use a separate program to creating symbolic links: MacDropAny - otherwise you have to use Dropbox folder subfolders)

I have been using both Sugarsync and Dropbox for some time, with a longer use of Dropbox. Both are good, with a better note for Dropbox, For the time being, SS interface seems a little bit unnecessarily complicated, but it does its job very well. I may be unjust with 3 1/2 stars, but do hope that its developers may offer a better product, even if free. Note that Finder crashed and restarted after upgrading to the last version, but otherwise seems a good and robust product.

Hello. Very useful to synchronize folders between mac and windows.

Your link is not correct - it does not go to the new SugarSync beta - it goes to a version incompatible with current Intel Macs.

Even if with a less intuitive interface as compared to Dropbox, I find it useful and reliable, also on my older 2004 PowerBook. Ultimately, what should I/we wish more than a large storage for free.

there is only a.. big complain: it sucks a lot of CPU!!!! I MUST switch it off, sucking by far more Watts than all other apps together!

Goes on ... 1. Actual version is 1.9.71 2. Update from 1.9.69 fails as known before (announces ask for admin password - nothing happens) 3. After manual update version 1.9.71 can be grabbed from the menu under Help/About -- Finder/Info: nothing, QL: 1.9.69. 4. QL-disabling bug has gone (until now at least) in 10.6.8

Had to look for a while to find the link to the last PPC version of this app. The one linked on here is Intel only, from 10.5 and up. If you need PPC or 10.4 version, then download it from here: http://www.sugarsync.com/downloads/83621/SugarSyncManager.dmg

What a mess. I have 1.9.68 and it crashes the Finder every time that the SugarSync Manager application is launched. The main window also has visual glitches in the toolbar and the window doesn't remember it's state between launches (10.6.8)

Buggy since .... with 1.9.68 came again: no more Quick Look in 10.6.8. Bugfix: OPen package suagarsync.app, Contents etc., delete SugarSyncShellExt.cocoa.plugin, restart Finder Can't understand the lack of quality control. Complicated App - no reasonable manual

I used this long ago before drop box got famous and loved it but it took a down turn becoming very buggy and using a lot of CPU. I have come back to using it, why...dropbox has become slow and buggy on large transfers it makes my Mac almost unusable. I have tested the latest version on large transfers and hardly notice it, I may yet convert back. Its smooth and a vastly superior GUI. Give it a try.

Just added this to update my star rating as well as the review comment: UPDATE: 9 APRIL 2012. The latest version appears to fix the beachball/CPU problem and my machines are back in perfect sync. With two laptops and my wife's machine all my key data is synced and I wouldn't be without SS. Tech support could have been better and the fix faster, but it was intermittent and varied by machine.

Sadly latest Feb/March12 version of the Manager is a disaster. Up until recently service was as good as gold with a few glitches but basically ket 2 machines in perfect sync. Now on my MBA the SS Manager hogs 110% CPU crashes the finder and fails to sync. Forum has similar reports. Support request so far unanswered. AVOID UNTIL SORTED

I've been using this one as online backup tool. I've got a dropbox account but I don't use it, too limited. I've been using this on Mountain Lion and works flawlessly, the synchronisation is great and I haven't experience none of the CPU problems... perhaps because I just used it as once per week or when I need to backup or synchronise something important, I never used it 24/7, because takes lots of resources as any other online tool, being Dropbox, Pogoplug,etc... it is slow, but that's the price to pay for something free

Current version listed on their site is 1.9.50. Give this a try before reading the reviews, maybe some of the issues have been addressed.

This is/was perhaps the worst sync and share service I've ever tried. Perhaps that's why they are offering the most free storage vs. many similar services. (And I don't count SkyDrive because of its closed system redirecting every share link back to MSLive before a shared file can be downloaded). The menu bar module wis indeed a memory hog... a real porker! Each time I relaunched it, it also lost all shares on my system that weren't in the preset default location. I verified this with at least a dozen relaunches in multiple environments, either VMed or on physically different machines. And unlike other services, the need link devices is suspicious. In two hours of testing with some small web size images, it never finished syncing one of them, even when I went in and shut down all security limitations and gave it carte blanche (and I hate doing that). The file manager portion of the app doesn't function like an app. Anytime it loses focus, tabbing between open windows never brings it up. I have to minimize all other windows to find it or go back to the menu icon to call it up again. Unlike DropBox and a few others, SS wasn't even able to keep up with local folder / file changes I made, meaning that even though no files ever synced (and on the web were all listed as pending upload), it couldn't even update the actual folder structure changes I made unless I killed the app, restarted it, relinked all the syncs I lost, and etc. Manual upload worked adequately, but again was slow. Oh, and by the by, I'm on a fiber optic connection. Sharing was a pain, and not well integrated into the local app, let alone working even half as well as say DropBox's intergration with internal file managers. (Yes, plural, as I test this on WinXP, Win7, and OSX 10.6.8). In the time I took to write this review, DropBox synced about 250mb. SugarSync... still nothing. If you plan on using it in the "out of the box" configuration, then maybe you will be okay. Maybe not. But I'll be deinstalling this waste of an hour plus right now.

This service/ software does not come close to Dropbox. IT takes forever to initialize, uses lots of CPU, and you have to tell what, how, where and when sync stuff. Dropbox is light, fast, reliable, and intuitive. SugarSync is a waste of money and patience.

Ive upgraded my account to 100GB then synced the entered "movie" and "Music" folder with sugarsync. then bad things happened. the app constantly occupied 200% of my cpu use cause my system extremely slow. Then i cannot open "system preferences" and "activity monitor" because sugarsync ate out all the resources...it kept reminding me "syncing folder changes" very good service but suck application

The functionality of the service is – without a doubt – superior to DropBox. But unfortunately the desktop application seems to be rather buggy: -- It consumes *constantly* between 1 and 1.5% CPU cycles, all windows closed. This is way to much for a menu-bar-only-style background application and means that I'll launch the application only when needed. But for this type of applications I want to see the application in the Dock, not in the menu bar. There is no GUI option to toggle this. -- After turning off the "file status icons" in the preferences and relogging-in the application refuses to start. After removing the SugarSync folder from Application Support it works again, but of course it restores his shell extension stuff in Application Support and the icon badges are there again.

I used Dropbox but that program was a bit to hard for me. Tried SugarSync, added 4 custom folders to sync between my iMac and MacBook and it worked immediately. Had some problems with syncing apple folders (music and documents) so I created my own set of folders to sync. Works like a charm. I use iCloud to sync email, iCal, Address book etc. SugarSync to sync files. I am very happy with it.

I'm not sure why we keep getting comments along the lines of: "I've worked out how to use it but it's really a bit too complicated for ordinary mortals". It's certainly more complicated to set up than using a Dropbox folder. However, if you don't want to reorganise your file structure to suit Dropbox's requirements but would like to sync folders that live elsewhere your computer then Dropbox is at least as difficult to set up. In fact I use both: I have a number of miscellaneous files that I want to keep in sync and that I'm happy to lump together in a single folder - Dropbox serves the purpose ideally. I also have a large (4+ GB) folder that I want to keep where it's always been. For that SugarSync is perfect - and still free! My only small gripe with SS is that I can't quite fathom why sometimes it seems to sync files instantly and others it leaves it till later.

Do NOT download version 1.9.34 or the newer 1.9.35 - using either of these "updates" on your Mac will cause Finder to enter into a looping crash. SugarSync is aware of this problem. Until they fix this issue, recommendation is to continue to use version 1.9.26.

Not intuitive as Dropbox, took me quite some time to sync two folders between two computers (because I defined them previously to be backup independently - I think). I agree with cstephen87 - too much for the average user. On top of that HOW DARE THEY to activate automatic check for updates without letting me turn this option OFF - I am NOT a windows user - just for that you receive a single star from me. In passing, their iPhone version is absolutely unusable.

My app is already at 1.9.28, I have no idea how the version listed here fits into things. My guess is that it is at least months old. If you have it installed then it auto-updates itself.

That should be 5GB

Actually it does offer 5MB free, check this site https://www.sugarsync.com/signup?startsub=5. However, I'm having serious memory issues. Up to 1.5 GB RAM!?! I'll contact tech support.

SugarSync is nice, it really is! However, for the average user, the features of SugarSync can become cumbersome and rather clumsy! The ideas of Dropbox are here, however it's far too advanced for MOST users. If you are an advanced or business user, you may appreciate SugarSync's vastness... Otherwise, stick with DropBox. Peace!

A bit misleading, it is not free - the lowest price is $30 for storage. That being said, it does have a very nice GUI. It works just like DropBox (I was able to sync my MoneyWell and 1Password database files across two Macs. But DropBox has an advantage here, it is integrated into the Finder - it opens and looks just like any folder. Unless you have a need to access very large files on a regular basis, SugarSync isn't for you.

Sorry about the double up, I just fixed my grammatical & spelling errors, and clarified a few things anyway, here we go! --------------------------- Well done! Better than DropBox for managing files across several machines. Each machine is displayed separately so it makes it easy to get a sense of what is where. PROS • 5 GB free! • Each machine you sync to your account has an idenity even its own icon. That comes in handy when you are accessing SugarSync from an iPhone like I often do. • “Magic Briefcase” (great when installing the same file across several machines) • Automatic iPhone photo syncing (questionable but I did use it once) • File Transfer status - I can see the individual files copying and prioritise them. • Important, if a machine that was being synced disappears, its sync folders are listed under “Disconnected Folders”. • Easy emailing of files • Upload files by sending them to a provided email address. • The last 5 verions of each files is just a click away • Much more storage - I now have 200 GB CONS • SugarSync appears to take longer than DropBox to upload files. I have an 8 GB file that has been uploading for almost 2 weeks now on a machine that's always on. I presume that its because program doesn't want to hog my connection (DropBox has forced me to kill it a few times when it slowed down my machine). Nonetheless, I want my files up as quickly as possible, that's the whole reason for using these programs. • The interface is a bit clunky as some pointed out here but I prefer function to form any day. Granted I would LOVE both! • Uploading files via email sends them to the “Magic Briefcase” which is by design a public folder (for your group of syncing machines). • I prefer how DropBox handles deleted files. SugarSync keeps everything in what appears to be a recycle bin. Granted I paid for "Packrat" unlimited undo history and I still don't know if this was worth the money. DROPBOX vs. SUGARSYNC DropBox creates a single folder on each machine, you can select which folders to sync but each machine is just dumping files into the same folder. Each machine therefore has no direct identity - granted that may not be a big deal for some. DropBox stops at 100GB. SugarSync goes up to 500 GB. Don't get me wrong, I still use DropBox and it's good but I find SugarSync better for how I manage files. From where I sit the design goals of the two products render them suitable for different sets of users each with different set of of storage objectives. All told, If I were to recommed one, I would recommend DropBox for my wife - a simple set it and forget it program. For people whose needs go beyind that, I'd recommend SugarSync. CONCLUSION For function it suits me well and I can't complain .... yet. I have just parked DropBox although I have a one year subscription – I now use it to keep files that I share with a group from church. We keep sermons, etc there. SugarSync is what I now use daily for business and personal archiving. Where the interface is concerned, I'm hoping improvements are on the way.

I think I set my rating to 3 in error and I don't know how to chnage it even while I write his review. Anyway - Well done! Better than DropBox for managing files across several machines. Each machine is dislpayed separately so it makes it easy to get a sense of what is where. PROS; - 5 GB free! - Each machine you sync to your account has an idenity even its own icon. - Magic Desktop (great when installing the same file across several machines) - Automatic iPhone photo syncing (questionable but I did use it once) - File Transfer status - I can see the indivudual files copying and prioritise them. - Important, if a machine that was being synced disappears, it's file a stored as disconnected. CONS - It appears to take longer than DropBox to upload files. I have a 8Gb file that has been uploading for almost 2 weeks now on a machine that's always on. I presume tht its because program doesn't want to hog my connection (DropBox has forced me to kill it a few times when it slowed down my machine) Still I want my files up as quickly as possible, that's the whole reason for using these programs. The interface is a bit clunky as some pointed out here but I prefer function to form anyday. Don't get me wrong, I still use DropBox and it's good but I find SugarSync better for how I manage files. DROPBOX vs SUGARSYNC DropBox creates a single folder on each machine, you can do select which folders to sync but each machine is just dumping files into the same folder. Each machine therefore has no direct identity - granted that may not be a big deal for some. CONCLUSION For function it suits me well and I can't complain .... yet. But for form I'm hping improvements are on the way.

I first found Sugar Sync Manager to be a little clunky to use compared to Dropbox so I rarely used it. Recently though I saw that they now give 5gb free so I downloaded the latest copy and took a deeper look. The manager has some UI peculiarities compared to other Mac applications but I was able to just make a single sync folder, drop it in the Finder side bar and now it works just like a second Dropbox. Nice.

SugarSync now offers 5GBs of free storage -- that's more than twice as much as my preferred Dropbox. Here's to hoping Dropbox ups their ante too.

Does anyone know why when i open sugarsync in Mac OS X it just shows the sugarsync window and immediately disappears ? very annoying..it works flawssley in windows and with my ipad ? Thanks. Edgar

I was referring to the "whats new" thing.

Description should say "File Sharing with ANY body Any where" not folder sharing sync. That is weird way to promote your product.

This app is really nicely done. It works flawlessly from what I can see after trying it for over a month now. I have about 2gb of uploaded files in sync with a couple of computers. I am using it to keep 3 folders synced between a couple of macs. I also use the "brief case" feature to have access to certain files on my android phone which works well. You can see the files on the phone client and then download the ones you want to the SD card on your phone. This works great for music, pics, docs, estimates etc... and anything else you want on your phone. It also has other cool features like automatically uploading all your phone pictures so they are available on the computer when you get home. You can email your account anything. This works good for little notes or saving attachments from your phone. There are a ton more features I have not even used yet. You can let people edit documents, share folders or files with a url link other cool stuff. The interface is done really well on the mac and you also have web access and a phone client. Not that I care what service people use but as far as I can tell this does everything that dropbox does and much more.

Just downloading - slow connection - 1.7.7 I hope the ugly bug will have gone: the Contextual Menu of SugarSync (aimed at doing nearly nothing at all) is crashing all Office2004 products when invoking a contextual menu !!! And after deletion it is reinstalled by the app. What helps? Opening the SugarSync-CM-package, delete the folder Contents:MacOS. Close.

I do use drop box, but this is the app I recommend for online backup and especially for syncing two macs again it is simple, seamless (you do have to learn what to do) and i use it mainly for linking a desktop mac with my macbook air.

Love that it's free (up to 2gig, plus 250megs extra for each friend you refer). Intuitive, easy-to-use, no learning curve etc. Quite slow to upload, but that's probably more my connection (DSL 1mb/sec in China). Says "faster upload with paid version", obviously. Main gripe: when I add or edit files, it uploads them, but it always still says "152 files pending upload". But it looks like all files have already been uploaded? It may be a bug.

This is not really v. 1.7 - it's still 1.6x. The SugarSync client keeps reporting an available update but then fails. The download available on the SugarSync site still seems to be 1.6x. Can the developers please address this issue?

It does what it says, but it's bloated and extremely slow. If you want backup, Mozy is 10x faster and just as easy and secure to use. For remote access to your files via iPhone or other computers, just use built-in AFP, SSH, and Screen Sharing tools. Sugarsync blows!

SugarSync does indeed work well - and it works quickly. I could wholeheartedly recommend it without reservation if it weren't for the glaring problems of data loss caused by SugarSync's servers' inability to handle certain Mac-only files (those that contain resource forks). And it's not that SugarSync (or anyone using Windows Server 2003/2008 or Linux server software) is unique in this regard. My complaint is that warnings concerning very serious data loss are not conspicuously noted on SugarSync's website or in their guides and ReadMe files. Examples: .webloc files - these URL files, created by either saving a URL or dragging a web browser bookmark on to a folder, are often rendered empty (Zero K) once saved, backed up, sync'd with a different Mac and re-opened. .textclipping - these clipping files are rendered empty (Zero K), same as above .qdfm - Quicken data - sync'ing sometimes leaves these Quicken data files corrupted, resulting in total data loss - Quicken users, beware! .pages - SugarSync can corrupt a Pages file once it is saved, sync'd, opened in a different Mac, and saved again - resulting in partial data loss (also true for Keynote files) .domain and .domain2 - iWeb files, same as Pages files above Is this unique to SugarSync? No! Dropbox exhibits the same behavior. Alternatives? In my tests, JungleDisk handles Mac files properly - but does not provide near the functionality of SugarSync. MobileMe - well, if they didn't handle Mac files properly, what's the point? But using iDisk to sync and backup a lot of content from different Macs is like watching a slug read a James Joyce novel. Mozy.com - Mozy seems to handle Mac files properly, but again, there is a sacrifice in usability. My solution? So far, it has been to remember that URLs (.webloc files), text clippings, and Mac-unique file formats are going to get trashed - and to ZIP them before saving them. SugarSync seems to handle the resource-laden Mac files fine if they are .zipped (and obviously, one doesn't make "incremental" versions of .zipped files - you save one, open it, trash it, and re-zip it. Also, SugarSync's pricing structure is reasonable, even for large data sets.

I'm liking this more and more and more. Have been with it for a few months now, and the company keeps regularly upgrading the Mac software with useful features - the new system for managing sync folders is a great addition. I'm running iDrive at the same time, and their software feels clunky and Windows-centric, there's no revision notes for new versions, and the syncing process is just horrible. I don't want revision stored, or to have to manually weed out ghost files. I just want my stuff backed up. Tried DropBox briefly and found it too restrictive. With SugarSync, it all just works. Not to mention the useful little iPhone app... which I've used several times in real-life situations. Sugarsync's upload speed is excellent, and the whole system is very reassuring - I've got very used to glancing up at my menubar to check whether the little bird has finished backing my last snippet of work up. It can still be a bit hinky with package-based files (like those from Scrivener), but if you're careful to close out of all open documents before using them on another machine, it's not a major problem. The Sync Manager software could do with a buff for full-on Leopard loveliness, but that's being really picky. If you want a good system for living on working on more than one computer - with the added peace of mind of having everything backed up all the time - SugarSync is very definitely worth a try.

Hype is an amazing thing and if you can get the media onboard a true feeding frenzy can result. Now don't get me wrong. Media darling Dropbox is fine and yes the 1st 2GB are free, but SugarSync offers a MUCH broader suite of features while including Dropbox's syncing of one folder in it's Magic Briefcase feature. With SugarSync you don't have to download a file, edit it locally, and then re-upload it manually to your personal website. SugarSync lets you work with your files cross platform on remote computers as if you were on your own desktop. Also keeps last 5 versions of the files you've chosen to sync (which don't all have to put in a special folder 1st, but just selected for syncing from where they reside). Synchronization speed is very quick. There's a very generous 45 day, 10 GB free trial and then plans start at 10GB for only $2.49/month - well worth it for this mature and evolving feature set in my view. And their support is prompt and very helpful including follow up phone calls if necessary! Just so this isn't a complete rave, the SugarSync Manager window doesn't remember resizing its panes between start ups of SugarSync.

After some initial problems with an early beta version (I had to restart the syncing from scratch), I've found SugarSync to be very good. Speed has improved with the newer versions and, while it isn't the fastest, I find this to be outweighed by the convenience. Taken in combination with the iPhone version, you really do have access to your files from anywhere - without them having to be on your local machine. The other big benefit to SugarSync is that you can tell it the directories to sync - you don't need to move your files into a special “sync directory”. I use it to sync a limited set of files - I certainly wouldn't look to sync my entire hard disk. Given that you use it to access a limited set of files that will actually be useful from other machines then I can definitely recommend it.

Looks good on paper / website. In all actuality, slow slow slow slow slow. I really wanted this to work as the user interface is great. But, way too slow to upload (3GB/day, maybe). Amazon's S3 is much faster as is Mobile Me. Maybe 'they'll' fix it one day.