How do I reduce the CPU usage when running a profile?


There are three main ways to decrease the CPU load:

  • Modify your profile and enable Expert mode (via the Click For Options button)
    • Go to the Misc. page and change the Priority. By default it is set to Normal. Try changing it to Lower or Lowest (do not use Idle as that may result in the profile never being run). This will not reduce CPU time but it will mean that other running processes will get more CPU time than SyncBack.
    • Go to the Copy/Delete > Network page and set the Limit the bandwidth usage to value (at the bottom on the page). What this does is specify how much of the network (in kilobytes) to use every second. By default a file is copied at maximum speed. Try setting it to 1000 (or lower or higher depending on how much CPU time you want to use and how long you want the file copy to take). For technical reasons, this setting is not available (and will be disabled/ignored) if using Compression*. It does not affect scan speed (only copy speed), but does also affect internal/local disk throughput when copying. However, it is not relevant for FTP or Cloud** protocols, which have their own dedicated settings at FTP > Advanced  section and Cloud > Advanced page respectively.
  • You may want to use the command-line parameters -affinity and -profaffinity. Theses can be used to limit which processors/cores SyncBack uses on a multi-core or multi-CPU system. There is also a command-line parameter version of the above -priority setting, and an additional -procpriority command-line parameter which affects the priority of the whole process (program), not just the thread that is running a particular profile. See the Help on Command-Line Parameters for more details on these settings. These command-line settings are not supported in SyncBackFree.


*  Note that Compression and Encryption will always use a lot of CPU time. If CPU usage is more important, and it is an option, you should switch off compression and/or encryption.


** SyncBackPro only. See the contextual Help on that Cloud > Advanced settings page for more detail, especially about the 'burst mode' used and thread settings.