What’s the easiest way to set up your Mac for SugarSync?

SugarSync synchronizes files across multiple computers. So if you have a computer at work, but you want to do some work on files at home, you can sync your files from your office to your home computer. (SugarSync works for the PC and the Mac.)

It’s also a useful backup tool, as it means your files are stored on SugarSync’s servers as well as on your other computer(s).

So how should you set up your files and folders, to make it easy to sync your work documents with your home computer? Here are step-by-step instructions.

1. On your work computer, inside your Documents folder (which is inside your Home folder), create a new folder called “Work.”

2. Move all work-related files and folders into the Work folder. Perhaps you have a folder called Marketing, and another one called Sales, and another is Financial, and so on–just put all of them into the Work folder.

3. Download and install SugarSync on your work computer.

4. In SugarSync’s Manage Sync Folders, click Add Folders from this Computer, and then choose the following folders:

• the new Work folder, with all your work documents in it
• your Desktop folder, which is in your Home folder

That’s the first half. Now the items on your desktop and in your Work folder are getting uploaded to SugarSync’s server. (The upload can take awhile, depending on how much data you have. Be patient.)

5. Now it’s time to set up your home computer. On your home computer, Inside your Documents folder (inside your Home folder), create a new folder called “Work Files.”

6. Inside the Work Files folder, create 2 more folders: “Desktop” and “Work.” You want these to have the same names as your computer at your office, because it makes syncing so much easier. Don’t put anything inside these folders–leave them empty.

7. Download and install SugarSync on your home computer.

8. In SugarSync’s Manage Sync Folders, under the Other Computers column, click on the Work folder and then click the Sync button. To tell SugarSync which folder on your home computer to sync to, navigate to the Work folder on your home computer and choose it.

9. In SugarSync’s Manage Sync Folders, under the Other Computers column, click on the Desktop folder and then click the Sync button. To tell SugarSync which folder on your home computer to sync to, navigate to the Desktop folder inside the Work Files folder on your home computer and choose it. (Careful! Don’t sync with your home desktop–sync with the “Desktop” folder inside the “Work Files” folder.)

Now all the files on SugarSync’s server should be downloading to your home computer. And in future, anytime you make a change to any file in the Work or Desktop folders on either computer, the change will appear on the other computer.

Keep in mind that email, contacts and calendar do not get synced with SugarSync; it’s for files and folders (Word docs, PDFs, spreadsheets, and so on). Also keep in mind that you may need to purchase more storage space at SugarSync, depending on how much data you have.