Stop Manually Backing Up Photos Forever: The Ultimate Guide to SyncThing for Automated, Redundant Photo Storage

Manually backing up photos is error-prone and tedious. By deploying SyncThing—a free, open-source continuous file synchronization tool—you can create a self-healing, multi-directional backup ecosystem that protects terabytes of RAW photos without subscription fees or cloud bandwidth limits.

Why Manual Photo Backup Fails (And What to Do Instead)

If you are a photographer, content creator, or even a dedicated family archivist, you have likely experienced the silent dread of losing a memory because a manual backup was forgotten. Manual backups—the process of copying files to an external drive or uploading selected folders to cloud storage—suffer from three fatal flaws that no amount of discipline can fully overcome.

First, there is human forgetfulness. Life gets busy. You return from a week-long shoot, import hundreds of RAW files to your working drive, and tell yourself you will back them up to the NAS "tomorrow." Tomorrow becomes next week, and by then, your laptop's SSD could have failed. Second, there is inconsistency. You might remember to back up the RAW files but completely forget the sidecar XMP files containing your Lightroom edits, or you might back up the current month but skip the previous one. Third, and most dangerously, manual backups create single points of failure. If your primary drive dies ten minutes before your scheduled weekly backup, those photos are gone forever with no recourse.

As one long-time photographer noted after losing early cloud-stored images due to space constraints on Google Drive , “I still kick myself for that… I deleted pictures that I wish I could get back.” The solution is not more discipline—it is automation. Enter SyncThing, a free, open-source tool that continuously synchronizes folders between devices over your local network or the internet, with no cloud middleman required and no subscription fees.

What Makes SyncThing Different from Cloud Backups and Proprietary Tools

Before diving into deployment, it is worth understanding why SyncThing stands apart from the backup methods you might already be using, such as iCloud , Dropbox , or even external hard drives.

Unlike cloud storage subscriptions that charge monthly fees per terabyte, SyncThing costs absolutely nothing to use. Your only expense is the hardware you already own. Unlike manual external hard drive backups, SyncThing works in real time, continuously monitoring your photo folders for changes and syncing them the moment you save a file. Unlike proprietary NAS tools such as Synology Drive or QNAP Qsync , SyncThing is cross-platform and vendor-agnostic, meaning you can sync between a TrueNAS server, a Windows 11 gaming PC, and a macOS laptop simultaneously without vendor lock-in.

Another critical differentiator is sync direction flexibility. Most consumer backup tools assume two-way synchronization, where changes on any device propagate to all others. This is dangerous for a primary working library because an accidental deletion on your laptop would also delete the backup copy on your NAS. SyncThing solves this by offering send-only and receive-only folder modes, allowing you to create a one-way backup pipeline from your working machine to your storage server while maintaining a separate two-way sync between the server and a secondary desktop.

Finally, SyncThing respects your privacy. Because it uses peer-to-peer synchronization over an encrypted TLS connection, your photos never touch a third-party server unless you explicitly configure a relay. There is no risk of a cloud provider scanning your images for AI training, changing their terms of service, or suddenly increasing their prices. Your data remains on your hardware, under your control, forever.

Step-by-Step: Deploy SyncThing for a Professional Photographer’s Workflow

This guide adapts a real-world professional setup that has been tested with over one terabyte of RAW photos spanning a full decade. The workflow handles current-year files needing both local speed for editing and NAS backup for safety, while archive years live primarily on a network-attached storage system with secondary replication.

What You Will Need

Before you begin, gather the following components. You do not need expensive enterprise hardware. A Raspberry Pi 4 with an external USB drive can serve as a perfectly capable SyncThing node for smaller libraries.

A primary workstation (MacBook, Windows PC, or Linux laptop) containing your "current year" photo folder. This is the machine where you import photos from your camera and perform edits in software like Adobe Lightroom Classic .
A storage server or NAS to act as your central backup repository. This could be a dedicated NAS appliance like the Ugreen iDX 6011 Pro AI NAS , a Synology DiskStation , a self-built TrueNAS box, or even an old desktop computer running Ubuntu Server with shared drives.
An optional secondary PC for an extra layer of redundancy. Many photographers repurpose their gaming desktop or a home theater PC for this role, creating a third copy of their photo library without purchasing new hardware.

Step 1: Install SyncThing on Every Device

The first step is to deploy the SyncThing daemon on each machine that will participate in the synchronization mesh. Navigate to the official SyncThing download page and select the appropriate package for your operating system.

For Windows 10 or 11, download the .exe installer. During installation, you can choose to have SyncThing run as a background service, which is ideal for a headless backup server. For macOS, download the .dmg file and drag the SyncThing application to your Applications folder. For Linux, the easiest method is to use your distribution's package manager. On Ubuntu or Debian , run sudo apt install syncthing. On Fedora , run sudo dnf install syncthing. For those who prefer containerized workloads, an official Docker image is also available on Docker Hub .

After installation, launch SyncThing on each device. It runs as a background service and exposes a web-based graphical interface at http://127.0.0.1:8384. This web UI is where you will configure all folder sharing and device connections. Bookmark this address in your browser for easy access.

Step 2: Connect Devices by Adding Remote Devices

With SyncThing running on all your machines, the next step is to introduce them to each other. On your NAS or storage server, look at the top right corner of the web UI to find its Device ID, a long string of alphanumeric characters that uniquely identifies that node.

On your primary workstation, click the "Add Remote Device" button in the bottom right corner. Paste the NAS's Device ID into the field. You can also give the device a human-readable name, such as "NAS-Storage," to easily identify it later. Repeat the process in reverse: on the NAS, add your workstation's Device ID. This bidirectional handshake establishes a trusted relationship between the two machines.

SyncThing uses global discovery servers by default to help devices find each other over the internet. If all your devices are on the same local area network, you can rely solely on local discovery, which uses UDP broadcasts to find peers without ever contacting an external server. For enhanced privacy and reliability, you can also run your own discovery server on a cheap VPS, though this is not necessary for most home users.

Step 3: Choose Your Sync Direction Carefully for Photo Safety

The most critical decision in your SyncThing deployment is choosing the correct synchronization direction for each folder. The original How-To Geek article highlights a powerful pattern that every photographer should emulate: one-way sync from the working machine to the NAS, and two-way sync between the NAS and a secondary backup computer.

For your main workstation (for example, your MacBook that runs Lightroom), create a new folder in SyncThing and point it to your "Current Year" photo directory. In the folder settings, change the Folder Type from "Send & Receive" to "Send Only" . This configuration means that any file added, modified, or deleted on your MacBook will be pushed to the NAS. However, any changes that occur directly on the NAS—whether from another device or from manual file manipulation—will not be pulled back down to your MacBook.

Why is this so important? Because it protects your working copy from accidental deletions or corruption on the NAS. If your NAS experiences a filesystem error, a ransomware attack, or an errant script that deletes files, your laptop remains untouched. Your ability to continue working is preserved, and you can then restore the NAS from backups without losing any recent edits.

For your storage server (the NAS), when you receive the folder shared from your MacBook, set its folder type to "Receive Only" . This creates a perfect mirror of your working directory on the NAS. Additionally, create a separate shared folder on the NAS for your archive years (photos from previous years that no longer live on your laptop). Share this archive folder with your secondary desktop using "Send & Receive" two-way synchronization, which allows either machine to update the other.

For a secondary desktop (such as your gaming PC or an older laptop acting as a backup node), add the NAS's archive folder as a two-way sync. This gives you a third copy of your entire photo history. If the NAS fails completely, your secondary desktop still holds the data. If the desktop happens to be where you occasionally import or edit photos, those changes will sync back up to the NAS automatically.

Step 4: Configure File Versioning to Prevent Accidental Deletions

By default, when SyncThing sees a file deletion on one device, it propagates that deletion to all other devices. This is usually what you want for active collaboration, but it is dangerous for a photo archive. To protect yourself from a slip of the finger or a software bug, you must enable file versioning on your backup nodes.

In the SyncThing web UI, navigate to the folder settings on your NAS and secondary PC. Under the "File Versioning" section, you will find several options. The "Staggered File Versioning" algorithm is ideal for photo libraries because it keeps versions at progressively wider intervals: one version per hour for the first day, one per day for the next week, one per week for the next month, and one per month for older files. This balances storage usage with historical coverage, allowing you to recover a photo deleted six months ago without keeping every single intermediate copy.

Alternatively, "Simple File Versioning" moves all deleted or overwritten files into a hidden folder named .stversions within the same directory. This is easier to understand but can consume significant storage if you delete large RAW files regularly. Whichever method you choose, consider pointing the versioning folder to a different physical drive than your main photo storage. This prevents a disk failure from destroying both your current files and their historical versions.

Step 5: Automate at Startup and Monitor Without Thinking

A backup system that requires manual startup is not truly automated. Configure SyncThing to launch automatically on each device so that synchronization begins the moment the machine boots.

On Windows, use the installer option to run SyncThing as a service. Alternatively, place a shortcut to syncthing.exe in the shell:startup folder. On macOS, go to System Settings > General > Login Items and add the SyncThing application. On Linux, the package manager installation typically installs a systemd service automatically. You can enable it with sudo systemctl enable syncthing and start it with sudo systemctl start syncthing.

For monitoring, you do not need to check the web UI constantly. However, it is wise to glance at it once a week to ensure all devices show as "Connected" and that there are no synchronization conflicts. For mobile access, the Syncthing-Fork application on F-Droid (or the official Android app) allows you to monitor your backup status from your phone. On iOS, Möbius Sync is a paid but functional client.

Advanced Configuration: Going Beyond Basic Sync

Once your core sync workflow is running, you can implement advanced configurations that elevate your backup system from good to exceptional.

Ignore Patterns to Exclude Thumbnails and Temporary Files

Photo editing software generates countless small, transient files that have no business being backed up. Adobe Lightroom creates preview caches and sidecar lock files. Darktable and Capture One do the same. Your operating system adds .DS_Store (macOS) or Thumbs.db (Windows) files to every folder.

Create a .stignore file in the root of each sync folder. This file uses glob pattern matching to exclude unwanted files from synchronization. A robust .stignore for a photography workflow might contain:

*.lrprev
*.lrdata
*.cache
*.tmp
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db
*.realm
*.realm.lock
*/.Spotlight-V100
*/.Trashes

Place this file in the folder before you start syncing, or add it later and restart SyncThing. The file will be ignored from synchronization itself, so each device can have its own ignore rules tailored to its local applications.

Limit Bandwidth for Busy Hours

SyncThing is efficient, but a large initial sync or a bulk import of hundreds of RAW files can saturate your local network or your internet upload bandwidth if you are syncing over the internet. To prevent this from interfering with video calls, online gaming, or streaming, set up bandwidth throttling.

In the SyncThing web UI, go to Actions > Advanced > Rate Limits. You can set separate limits for LAN (local network) and external (internet) connections. For example, you might cap external uploads to 20 Mbit/s during the day (9 AM to 5 PM) and remove the limit overnight. For LAN connections, a limit of 100 Mbit/s is often generous enough to not choke other traffic while still syncing a gigabyte of photos in under two minutes.

Encryption Over Untrusted Networks Using Untrusted Devices

One of SyncThing's most powerful and underappreciated features is untrusted encryption. If you want to back up your photo library to a friend's server across town or to an inexpensive VPS from Vultr or DigitalOcean , you can do so without worrying about that third party reading your files.

On your primary device, share a folder as "Send Only" and enable the "Untrusted" checkbox. On the remote device, add that folder as "Receive Only" . The remote device will receive and store only encrypted blobs of data. The file names, folder structures, and contents are all encrypted using keys that never leave your trusted devices. Even if the remote server is compromised, an attacker will see only random data. This transforms a cheap, untrusted VPS into a secure offsite backup target.

Integrate with Lightroom Classic’s Smart Previews for Remote Access

The original How-To Geek article notes a key workflow optimization: current-year photos live on the local SSD for editing speed, while previous years are stored on the NAS and accessed over the network. You can extend this concept using Lightroom Classic's smart previews.

Keep your master Lightroom catalog on your laptop's fast internal SSD. For archive years, store the original RAW files exclusively on the NAS, synced to your secondary desktop via SyncThing. In Lightroom, generate smart previews for all your archive photos. These previews are compressed, lossy DNG files that are about 5% of the size of the original RAW. You can browse, develop, and export from these smart previews even when your laptop is disconnected from the NAS. When you reconnect, Lightroom will seamlessly sync your edits back to the full-size RAW files on the NAS.

SyncThing then propagates those edited RAW files from the NAS to your secondary desktop backup, ensuring your edits are never lost even if the NAS suffers a catastrophic failure. This workflow gives you the speed of local editing for current projects and the safety of multi-location backup for everything else.

Real-World Success Story: A Photographer’s 1TB+ Library Fully Automated

To understand how these concepts come together in practice, consider the real-world setup that inspired this guide. The photographer in question has been shooting professionally for over a decade, exclusively in RAW format, resulting in a library exceeding one terabyte of images spanning from 2014 to the present day.

Their hardware consists of an Apple MacBook Pro for on-location tethering and initial edits, a Ugreen iDX 6011 Pro AI NAS with 64GB of RAM and dual 10-gigabit Ethernet as the central storage hub, and a custom-built Windows 11 gaming desktop with an 8TB internal drive serving as the secondary backup node.

The workflow is ruthlessly automated. Every time the photographer imports a new shoot to the MacBook's "Current Year" folder, SyncThing detects the new files within seconds and begins a one-way push to the NAS. The NAS, configured with staggered file versioning, keeps every deleted or overwritten file for months. Meanwhile, a two-way sync between the NAS and the gaming desktop ensures that a third copy exists in a different physical location within the home. As the photographer says, “I don’t even have to think about if a photo is backed up at this point. Automation equals peace of mind.”

The only component missing from this otherwise robust system is offsite backup. The photographer is currently evaluating solutions, but SyncThing itself can fill this gap. By renting a 2TB storage VPS from a provider like Hetzner or Linode and configuring it as an untrusted receive-only node, they could achieve true 3-2-1 backup (three copies, two media types, one offsite) for less than ten dollars per month.

Troubleshooting Common SyncThing Issues for Large Photo Libraries

Even a well-configured SyncThing deployment can encounter issues, especially when dealing with hundreds of thousands of RAW files. Here are the most common problems and their solutions.

Problem: Sync is stuck at "Scanning" for hours.
This usually happens when you add a very large folder with many deeply nested subfolders for the first time. SyncThing must scan every file to build its database. To mitigate this, increase the folder scan interval in the folder settings. The default is 10 seconds, which is unnecessarily aggressive for a static archive. Change it to 60 seconds or even 300 seconds for folders that rarely change. For the initial sync, be patient; one terabyte of small files can take overnight over a gigabit network.

Problem: High CPU usage on the NAS during sync.
Conflict resolution and file hashing are CPU-intensive operations. If your NAS has a low-power ARM processor, it might struggle. Exclude unnecessary files using .stignore as described above. Also, ensure that "Full Rescan Interval" is set to a high value (such as 86400 seconds for once per day) so that SyncThing does not constantly re-hash unchanged files.

Problem: Devices disconnect frequently over the internet.
This is often caused by aggressive firewalls or NAT timeouts. First, try forcing a direct connection by adding the remote device's IP address and port (default 22000) in the device settings under "Addresses." If that does not work, enable "Relay Servers" in the global settings. Relays add latency but punch through almost any firewall. For the most reliable connection, consider running SyncThing over a VPN such as Tailscale , which provides a clean, routable IP address to every device.

Problem: Files deleted on one device keep reappearing.
This is the classic "undeletable file" symptom. It happens when two devices have conflicting folder types. For example, if Device A is "Send Only" and Device B is "Send & Receive," deleting a file on Device B will cause Device A to send it back. The solution is to ensure your folder types are consistent with your intent. For a true backup pipeline, use Send Only on the source and Receive Only on the destination.

Why Other Tools Like Rsync, FreeFileSync, and Resilio Sync Fall Short

It is natural to wonder why you should choose SyncThing over other well-known synchronization tools. Each has its strengths, but for a photographer's automated backup workflow, SyncThing consistently comes out ahead.

Rsync is a powerful command-line tool that has been the backbone of Unix backups for decades. It is extremely efficient, only transferring the changed parts of files. However, rsync requires manual execution via cron jobs or scripts. It does not monitor folders in real time, so the best you can achieve is a backup that runs every hour or every night. If you delete a file five minutes after the last rsync run, it is gone. Additionally, rsync's bidirectional synchronization is clumsy, requiring complex scripts and the --compare-dest flag.

FreeFileSync offers a polished graphical interface and batch job support. It is excellent for one-off comparisons and manual syncs. However, its real-time monitoring feature is an afterthought, requiring a separate background process that is not as reliable as SyncThing's native watching. FreeFileSync also lacks native file versioning; you must manually enable "Versioning" on a per-job basis, and it cannot stagger versions intelligently.

Resilio Sync is the proprietary successor to BitTorrent Sync. It is extremely fast and offers a beautiful user interface. However, the free version limits folder creation and lacks fine-grained control over sync directions. More importantly, it is closed source, meaning you cannot audit its security or run your own discovery infrastructure. For photographers who value long-term control over their data, open source is a significant advantage.

Syncthing wins because it combines real-time monitoring, bidirectional and unidirectional sync, built-in staggered versioning, end-to-end encryption, and a completely free and open source license. No other tool offers all these features in a single package without recurring fees.

The Verdict: Is SyncThing the Best Free Backup Tool for Photographers?

Yes, for technical users who already own a NAS or a spare computer. SyncThing is not a set-it-and-forget-it appliance like Backblaze . It requires initial configuration, an understanding of network concepts like Device IDs and folder types, and occasional troubleshooting. But the payoff is immense.

SyncThing is better than manual copying because it works automatically in the background without any human intervention. It is cheaper than cloud subscriptions for large RAW libraries—saving you hundreds of dollars per year once you exceed one terabyte. It is more flexible than rsync due to its real-time, multi-directional synchronization options. And it is more private than Google Drive or iCloud because your data never touches a third-party server unless you explicitly configure a relay or an untrusted node.

For a typical photographer with a home server or NAS, deploying SyncThing as described in this guide will eliminate the question "Did I back up my photos?" from your life forever. You will know, with certainty, that every RAW file, every edit, and every export exists in at least two places at all times.

Next Steps: Your 30-Minute Deployment Plan

You do not need a full weekend to get started. Follow this 30-minute deployment plan and join the ranks of photographers who have finally stopped worrying about backups.

Tonight, in the first 10 minutes: Install SyncThing on your main PC and your NAS using the links on the SyncThing download page . Connect the two devices by exchanging Device IDs. Do not share any folders yet—just establish the connection.

Tomorrow morning, in the next 10 minutes: Create a small test folder on your main PC, such as C:\SyncTest. Share it with your NAS as Send Only on the PC and Receive Only on the NAS. Add a few dummy files and watch them appear on the NAS within seconds. Delete a file on the PC and confirm that it remains on the NAS (because of Receive Only mode). This verification step builds confidence.

Tomorrow afternoon, in the final 10 minutes: Point your real "Current Year" photo folder to the same sync relationship. Enable staggered file versioning on the NAS side. Then, add your secondary desktop or laptop as a third node, establishing a two-way sync between the NAS and that device. Configure .stignore to exclude preview caches and system files.

One week from now: Check the SyncThing web UI on each device to ensure they all show "Up to Date" with no conflicts. If everything looks clean, remove your manual backup reminders from your calendar. You are done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can SyncThing back up photos from my iPhone or Android device?
Yes, but with caveats. On Android, install Syncthing-Fork from F-Droid. It can sync your camera roll folder to your NAS automatically. On iOS, the options are more limited. Möbius Sync is a paid application that works, but iOS's background task restrictions mean it may not sync in real time. For iOS users, a better approach is to use iCloud as a temporary buffer and then run a periodic rclone command on your NAS to pull photos down from iCloud.

Does SyncThing work over the internet, or only on my local network?
SyncThing works perfectly over the internet. It uses global discovery servers to find peers, and if a direct TCP connection cannot be established, it falls back to relay servers. For best performance, consider setting up a free Tailscale VPN, which gives every device a stable IP address and allows SyncThing to connect directly as if they were on the same LAN.

What about backing up to an external USB drive attached to the NAS?
SyncThing sees any mounted filesystem as just another folder. On your NAS, mount the external USB drive to a path like /mnt/usb-backup. Then, in SyncThing, share that path as a Receive Only folder. You can even configure the NAS to automatically share this folder with a second SyncThing node, creating a cascade of backups.

Will SyncThing work with a commercial NAS from Synology, QNAP, or Asustor?
Absolutely. Synology and QNAP both have SyncThing packages available in their community app stores. For TrueNAS SCALE , you can install SyncThing as a container app from the built-in catalog. For Unraid or OpenMediaVault , use the Docker image.

How do I know my photos are really backed up without manually checking every folder?
The SyncThing web UI shows a clear "Up to Date" indicator for each folder when all files have been synchronized. For absolute verification, you can run a monthly script that compares file counts and modification times between your primary machine and your NAS using syncthing cli commands. However, most users find that trusting the real-time synchronization combined with staggered versioning provides sufficient peace of mind.

Final Thought: Open Source Is Not Just Free—It Is Empowering

The original How-To Geek article ends with a simple truth: “Sometimes, open source software is the best option.” SyncThing gives you total control over your backup infrastructure. No company can change the pricing, shut down the service, scan your photos for AI training, or arbitrarily limit your storage. Your memories are priceless. Do not entrust them to a manual process or a fragile single hard drive.

Deploy SyncThing this weekend. Configure it once. And then, for the first time in years, stop thinking about whether your photos are backed up. They just are.

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Stop Manually Backing Up Photos Forever: The Ultimate Guide to SyncThing for Automated, Redundant Photo Storage