Device and Folder Management

Once you have a running mesh, you need to actively manage it: decommissioning old devices, pausing folders during maintenance, and auditing what is being shared with whom.

Learning Focus

Treat every device removal and folder unshare as a deliberate action. Understand the difference between "remove from Syncthing" and "delete files from disk."

Managing Devices

Renaming a Device

Device names are just labels. Rename them anytime for clarity.

1. Click the device card in the GUI.
2. Click Edit.
3. Update the Device Name field.
4. Click Save.

This is purely cosmetic — it does not affect the Device ID or any connections.

Pausing a Device

Pausing stops all sync activity with a specific peer without removing the connection configuration. Useful during maintenance windows.

1. Click the device card.
2. Click Pause.
3. The card shows "Paused" — no data flows to/from that device.
4. Click Resume to re-enable.

Or via the Syncthing API:

# Pause device DEVICEID
curl -s -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8384/rest/db/pause?device=DEVICEID" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

# Resume
curl -s -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8384/rest/db/resume?device=DEVICEID" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Removing a Device

Removing a device from Syncthing stops all sync relationships with it permanently.

warning

Removing a device does not delete files that were already synced to disk. File deletion must be done manually. Syncthing only stops future syncing.

1. Click the device card.
2. Click Edit → Delete Device.
3. Confirm the dialog.

What happens on the other side? The removed device will show a connection attempt notification. If you want to prevent reconnection, also delete the device from the other side.

Managing Folders

Pausing a Folder

Pausing a folder stops all sync for that folder (all peers) without removing data or configuration. Use this during destructive operations like bulk file moves.

1. Expand the folder card.
2. Click Pause. The folder status changes to "Paused".
3. Click Resume when ready.

# Pause via API
curl -s -X POST "http://127.0.0.1:8384/rest/db/pause?folder=FOLDER_ID" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Removing a Folder

Removing a folder from Syncthing means this device stops participating in that folder pair.

warning

Removing a folder does not delete files from disk by default. You can choose to delete local files in the confirmation dialog — be sure you understand this before confirming.

1. Expand the folder card.
2. Click Edit → Remove.
3. Read the confirmation dialog carefully.

Unsharing a Folder from One Device

You may want to stop sharing a specific folder with one device while keeping it shared with others.

1. Expand the folder card → Edit.
2. Go to the Sharing tab.
3. Uncheck the device you want to stop sharing with.
4. Click Save.

The folder stays active with all other linked devices.

Auditing: Who Has Access to What?

Use the GUI to review all sharing relationships:

• For each Folder, check the Sharing tab → lists all devices this folder is shared with.
• For each Device, check the Folders section in the device dialog → lists all folders shared with that device.

Or use the API for a programmatic audit:

# Get all configured folders and their shared devices
curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8384/rest/config \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" | python3 -m json.tool | grep -A5 '"folders"'

The Config File

All configuration is stored in XML at:

# User service
~/.local/share/syncthing/config.xml

# System service for 'syncthing' user
/home/syncthing/.local/share/syncthing/config.xml

You can directly edit config.xml for bulk changes, but always restart the service after:

sudo systemctl restart syncthing@syncthing

Operations Checklist

When decommissioning a device:

• Pause the device in the GUI on both sides.
• Confirm all in-flight syncs have completed.
• Remove the device from Syncthing on both sides.
• Decide whether to delete synced files from the decommissioned node.
• Update any automation or monitoring that referenced the device.

What's Next

• How Syncthing Handles Conflicts