SYNCDATE DocsSync details: name, history, and how far ahead
The sync-wide settings: a sync's name, how much history it copies on its first run, and how far ahead it reaches.
Last updated
Three settings that describe the sync as a whole rather than any individual copy. The name is the page title; the other two sit in the fourth section of the sync screen, How far back and ahead (How far ahead once the sync exists).
Sync name
Fills in automatically from the calendars you picked. Click the pencil beside it to change it to anything; it's only ever shown to you.
It can't be blank. If you clear it, the previous name stays.
That name is separate from what the copies say. Their title, description, location, privacy and free-or-busy status are set in What copies look like, including the Custom tile that builds them from your own text and rules: Custom text and rules.
Past events
None, Past week, or Past month. None is the default, so a new sync starts from today and leaves your history alone.
This only runs the first time the sync starts. Choosing None and changing your mind later doesn't reach back and fetch anything — the setting isn't offered again once a sync exists. There's also no way to go further back than a month, and no full-history backfill to request.
If you need years of history in another calendar, export and import it directly rather than syncing it.
How far ahead
30 days on Free, 1 year on Plus, No limit on Pro. Events starting beyond that window aren't copied yet.
Nothing is lost. The event isn't deleted, just not copied yet. Don't count on it copying itself in as time passes, though: whether that happens depends on your calendar provider, and on some it doesn't. If something's missing, open the sync's menu and choose Re-sync — that's the reliable way to bring in anything that's now inside your window.
This is the usual reason a healthy sync looks incomplete. March copied, July didn't, and it reads as broken. Find an event that didn't copy, check its start date, count the days.
A per-sync window can only be narrower than your plan allows, never wider. Pick 30 days on Pro and you get 30 days.
Repeating events ignore this entirely. A weekly standup transfers as one repeating event with its repeat rule attached, including occurrences years out, so the window has nothing to apply to. A Free plan with a 30-day window can still show a repeating event five years ahead.
After you upgrade
Change the setting on the sync. An upgrade widens what you're allowed to pick but doesn't move an existing sync's window for you. Set the wider option, then open the sync's menu and choose Re-sync.
The catch-up takes a while. A year of events is a lot to write, and calendar providers limit how fast anyone can write to them. Give it a few runs.
Known limitations
- Free users setting up their first sync never see the window control. 30 days is the only option available, so the choice is hidden. Worth knowing if someone tells you to check your window and you can't find it.
- Downgrading narrows the window immediately. Going from Pro to Free means copies beyond 30 days stop being maintained.
- There's no option between 30 days and 1 year. The three choices are all there is.
- Past events disappears once the sync exists. It's a creation-time setting; the edit screen doesn't show it.
Related
Sync is active but events are not showing
What to check when a sync looks healthy but an event has no copy: direction, filters, how far ahead, then one Re-sync.
Why events further ahead aren't copied
Your sync window is 30 days, 1 year or unlimited depending on plan. Why a healthy sync can still look incomplete, and what repeating events do instead.
Custom text and rules: decide what each copy says
Write a copy's title, description or location yourself with pieces of the original dropped in, and use if-this-then-that rules for text, privacy and free or busy.
Plans and limits
The five numbers that limit a setup, what each one means, and which one actually stops people.
What SYNCDATE can't do
The limits no plan removes: syncs don't chain, special event types are Google-only, feeds are read-only, and colour is approximate between providers.