myChat24 for Windows can keep your My Documents in an ordinary folder on your computer, the way Google Drive for desktop keeps "My Drive". Save a file into the folder from Word, Excel, a CAD program or File Explorer and it goes up to My Documents. Change something on the web and the folder follows a moment later.
What you need
- myChat24 for Windows, version 1.0.18 or newer. Download it from My Profile → Apps (see My Profile). An older version shows "A new myChat24 is available" when it opens: press Update.
- To be signed in to myChat24.
Turn it on
- Open myChat24 and click Settings (the gear).
- Find My Documents on this computer.
- Click Turn on. Your files go into
C:\Users\you\myWork Documents, which is made for you. To use another folder, click Choose another folder… instead.
If the folder you choose already has files in it, myChat24 asks first: those files are uploaded to My Documents, and a file with the same name on both sides is compared. If the two differ, both are kept.
The first sync downloads all of My Documents, so with a lot of files it takes a few minutes. After that, only what changes travels.
How it works
- A new file or an edit in the folder goes up. An edit becomes a new version, so the one before stays in the file's Version history on the web.
- Renaming or moving a file or a folder in File Explorer renames or moves it in My Documents, and its history goes with it.
- A change on the web, by you or by someone you shared a folder with as an Editor, comes down to the folder a moment later (within a minute at most).
- A file you have open in another program, such as Excel, is synced when you close it.
Syncing happens while myChat24 runs. It starts with Windows and waits in the tray, by the clock. Right-click the tray icon to see My Documents: up to date and Open the My Documents folder. In Settings you see the same, with when it last checked.
Deleting
- Delete a file or a folder in the folder and it goes to your Trash in My Documents, where you can restore it.
- Something deleted on the web goes to the Recycle Bin on your computer.
- A deletion only follows if the other side was not changed in the meantime. If it was, the changed file comes back instead, so an edit is never lost to a delete.
- More than 20 files at once: syncing stops and asks you, in Settings: Delete them (they go to the Trash in My Documents) or Keep them (they come back). This is there for a mistaken "select all, delete".
When a file changed in both places
If a file changed on your computer and on the web before the two could sync, both are kept. The web's version keeps the name, and yours is renamed "name (conflicted copy, your name, date)" beside it, on both sides. myChat24 tells you when this happens. Open both, keep what you need, and delete the other.
Pause, change the folder, turn off
In Settings → My Documents on this computer:
- Pause stops syncing until you click Resume.
- Change folder… points the sync at another folder.
- Open folder opens it in File Explorer.
- Turn off stops syncing. The files stay in the folder on your computer; they just stop syncing with My Documents.
If it says…
- "The folder … is not there": the folder was moved, renamed or deleted. Syncing stops, so nothing is deleted from My Documents by mistake. Put the folder back, or click Change folder….
- "Sign in to myChat24 to sync My Documents": you are signed out. Sign in again and syncing carries on.
- "Syncing is set up for Jane Smith" (someone else's name): the sync belongs to the person who turned it on, and it stops when someone else signs in to myChat24 on that computer. Sign in as that person, or turn syncing off and on again for yourself.
- "It is open in another program": close the file and it syncs.
Good to know
- Only your own My Documents is synced, not what is shared with you.
- Pages and sticky notes aren't synced: neither is a file, so they stay in myWork. Open a page in the browser.
- Every file is downloaded to the computer. There are no "online-only" files yet.
- The temporary files programs make while they work (such as Office's
~$files) are left out. - The files on your computer are as private as your Windows account. Don't turn this on on a computer that other people use under your Windows account.
A page is not a sticky note: for a reminder only you need, use My notes in the top bar. See Sticky notes: jot it, pin it, bin it.