A SyncBack profile can be run under one or more of the following situations/configurations:

  • Manually run, e.g. profile selected in main window and the Run or Restore buttons are pressed
  • Scheduled (note that schedules can also be set to run every x minutes, hours, etc. and not just once or daily, weekly, monthly etc.)
  • Run when a hot-key is pressed (see When > Hot-key)
  • Run on Windows startup or shutdown/logout (see When > Login/Logout) *
  • When files or folders in the source or destination are changed see When > Changes) *
  • Run when a device is attached/inserted, e.g. a CD, a USB flash key, etc. (see When > Insert) *
  • Set to run in the background (see When > Periodically)
  • Set to run when a third-party Program starts or stops (see When > Program) *
  • Set to run when the display is powered off or a screen saver starts (see When > Display) *
  • Run externally from the command line, a batch file, or another program
  • Run as part of a Group Profile which is run by one of the above methods


It is possible via burger menu > Global Settings > Easy > 'Stop background backups from starting' to globally suppress/enable any/all profiles from triggering Periodically, via detection of a file/folder change (When > Changes) or when a program is started or stopped (When > Program). This can also be toggled from the system tray icon. This will not affect profiles that are set to trigger on media insertion, or on login/logout/shutdown if such an event occurs. It will likewise have no effect on any Schedules, other command-line triggers, or being run c/o a Group that is triggered some other way. If a profile is (for example), set to trigger Periodically and also on Logout, this setting will disable the former but not the latter.


If you want to prevent a profile from being run by any means, then in the commercial versions you can Disable it via the profile context menu (right-click profile > Disable/Enable). The profile will appear 'ghosted' if Disabled, and the icon will change to reflect the Disabled state. Note that any reference to 'Disabled' in the Result column is the result of trying to run such a profile while Disabled. It is not a current-status indicator but a record of the last attempt to run it (whereby 'Disabled' is the reason it did not run at the date/time shown, not necessarily the current status). If you re-Enable the profile, the Result value will not change until the profile is run again, and a different Result is then appropriate/recorded.


Disabling/Enabling is not available for groups, only for individual profiles, and is not available at all in SyncBackFree.


* These features are only available in SyncBackPro/SE and not SyncBackFree.