PhoneSync

Before you start

• Windows PC: open this page in Chrome or Edge.
• iPhone: open this page in Safari. In the Files app, create the folder you want to use (it can be empty).
• Both devices need an internet connection, and this page must stay open on both until the sync finishes.

First transfer: PC has files, iPhone folder is empty

1. PC: under Step 1, tap Choose folder, pick the folder with your files, and allow the browser to view and save files in it. A green tick shows the folder name.
2. iPhone: under Step 1, tap My folder is empty.
3. PC: under Step 2, tap Get a code on this device. A 6-digit code appears.
4. iPhone: type that code and tap Connect with this code. The iPhone shows a 2-digit number.
5. PC: check that it asks about the same number, then tap Yes, that's mine.
6. The sync starts by itself as soon as both folders are chosen, and every PC file is copied to the iPhone. (If you untick Synchronize right away on both devices, you see the list of differences first and tap Sync now: update both folders.)
7. Wait for the progress bar to finish. Keep both screens on.
8. iPhone: tap Save to my folder, choose Save to Files, open your folder and tap Save. Then tap I've saved them.

Syncing again later

1. PC: under Step 1, tap Use my folder. The PC remembers it, so you do not have to pick it again.
2. iPhone: under Step 1, tap Select the files in my folder, choose Choose Files, open your folder, then ⋯ → Select → Select All → Open.
3. Connect with a code, the same way as the first time.
4. The sync starts by itself and updates both folders with the newest files.
5. iPhone: always select all the files in the folder, including any "name 2" copies. Only tap My folder is empty when it really is empty, otherwise every file is sent again.
6. iPhone: Safari cannot overwrite a file in the Files app. If the iPhone offers Replace, choose it. If it does not, the update is saved as "name 2" and PhoneSync treats it as the newest version of "name".

The "Synchronize right away" option

• It is on the first screen, on both devices, and is ticked to begin with.
• Ticked: the sync starts by itself as soon as the devices connect (or, if a folder was not chosen on the first screen, as soon as it is chosen). There is no list to review and no extra button to tap. Older copies are overwritten by newer ones.
• Unticked on both devices: you see the list of differences first. Untick any file you want to leave alone, then tap Sync now: update both folders on either device.
• If it is ticked on either device, the sync starts automatically. Each device remembers its own setting.
• The iPhone always needs the last step, Save to my folder → Save to Files, because Safari cannot save into a folder by itself.

How the latest file is chosen

• A file that is on only one device is copied to the other.
• A file that is on both but different is updated in both places with the copy that was modified most recently. The older copy is overwritten.
• Files are compared by their content, not only by name and size. Two copies with the same content are never copied again.
• On the PC the newer file is written over the older one under the same name. The version that was replaced is kept in the sub-folder PhoneSync replaced files, in case you need it back.
• Numbered copies: "name 2", "name 3" and so on are what the iPhone creates when it keeps both files. On the iPhone the newest of these counts as the current version of "name" and is what gets compared and sent, under the plain name. They are never copied to the PC as extra files.
• Clean-up: with Remove duplicate copies ticked, the PC deletes numbered copies that are exactly identical to the file that stays. The iPhone cannot delete files, so after each sync it lists the copies you can delete in the Files app.
• To leave a file alone, untick Synchronize right away on both devices, then untick that file in the list.

Good to know

• Apart from exact duplicate copies on the PC, nothing is ever deleted. If you delete a file on one device, the next sync copies it back. Delete it on both devices to remove it for good.
• Only the files directly in the folder are synced, not sub-folders.
• Files go straight from one device to the other. The code is used once and only to connect them.
• The iPhone holds received files in memory until you save them, so send very large files (hundreds of MB) a few at a time.
• If you see Connection lost, tap Start over on both devices. Files already copied are kept.