Running as a service
Normally SyncThemAll is an app: you open it, it works, you close it. Service mode turns it into part of the machine — it starts with the computer, before anyone signs in, and keeps your routines running with no window and no user session at all.
This is what turns a spare computer into a small sync server.
First: do you actually need it?
Most people don't, and the cheaper option is already in the app. People often confuse two different things here:
| What you want | Use this |
|---|---|
| Syncing keeps running while I'm signed in, without keeping the window open | Autostart — Settings → System → Run in background and Start at login. Free, no admin rights, nothing to set up. |
| Syncing must run when nobody is signed in — the machine reboots on its own and carries on | Service mode — this page. Requires a Business license. |
If the first row describes you, turn on those two switches and stop here. The service is for machines that work with nobody sitting at them.
What actually gets installed
A real operating-system service, registered natively for your platform:
| OS | Mechanism | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Service (SCM), start type Automatic | SyncThemAllService |
| macOS | LaunchDaemon in /Library/LaunchDaemons | com.neowise.syncthemall.service |
| Linux | systemd unit, WantedBy=multi-user.target | syncthemall.service |
It starts with the machine and restarts itself if it crashes. Installing, starting, stopping and removing it all require administrator rights — the app asks for them at the moment it needs them.
Installing
Open Service in the left sidebar, then Install as service. Confirm the admin prompt.
The service starts automatically right after installation. Once it's running, the status line reads Running on port 8328 — a different port from the app's own 8327, because both can run at the same time and each needs its own.
At install time there's one checkbox: Copy my accounts to the service right away. Leave it on unless you have a reason not to — see below for why the service needs its own copy.
Your license is transferred to the service automatically. You don't activate anything twice: the license is tied to the machine, and the service is on the same machine.
On macOS there is one extra, unavoidable step — you grant the service access to your files manually. The app warns you before installing, and macOS service access explains why and how.
Why the service has its own accounts and routines
Because it has to. A service runs with no user signed in, so it cannot reach anything that lives in your personal user profile. It gets its own machine-wide store:
- Windows —
%ProgramData%\Neowise\SyncThemAll\service - macOS —
/Library/Application Support/Neowise/SyncThemAll/service - Linux —
/var/lib/neowise/syncthemall
Its own accounts, its own routines, its own encryption key. That's why moving work over is an explicit step rather than something that happens on its own.
Moving your work over
In the Service dialog, under Move data:
Copy accounts to service — your cloud connections are copied. They stay in your own session too, so the app keeps working exactly as before. Both sides can talk to your clouds.
Move routines to the service — routines are moved, and removed from your session. This is deliberate and it is not a copy: a scheduled routine present in both places would run twice, transferring the same files twice. Accounts a moved routine depends on are copied along with it automatically.
Managing it day to day
Everything lives in the same dialog — Service in the left sidebar:
- Start / Stop — the service keeps its install; stopping just pauses it.
- Uninstall — removes the service from the operating system.
- Switch to the service — points this window at the service instead of your own session, so you can see its routines and history. The window title gets a (Service) tag so you always know which one you're looking at.
- Open service window — the same view in a second window, side by side with your own.
The icon in the sidebar carries a small status light once the service is installed: green means running, amber means installed but stopped.
Management actions are available only from your own session. Looking at the service, you get status and a way back — stopping the service from inside its own window would stop the very thing drawing that window.
Removing it
Uninstall removes the service registration from the operating system and stops it. Your data stays: the service's own accounts and routines remain in the folder listed above, so reinstalling picks up where you left off.
If you want it gone for good, delete that folder yourself after uninstalling. It needs administrator rights, which is exactly why the app doesn't quietly do it for you.
Troubleshooting
The status says "Not installed" right after I installed it. Give it a few seconds — the app waits for the operating system to confirm and updates on its own. If it stays that way, the install didn't complete; try again and watch for the admin prompt.
"Permission denied" on my own folders (macOS). Expected behavior, and fixable in a minute: see macOS service access.
The service runs but doesn't sync anything. It has its own routines — check that you moved them over, and that the accounts they need are present in the service's own account list.
Still stuck? Contact us with your OS and what the Service dialog shows — that's usually enough to spot the issue immediately.