# How is "Internal two way sync" supposed to work? **URL:** \ **Category:** 🤖 Android\ **Tags:** android, grapheneos\ **Created:** [December 13, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610 "2024-12-13T15:49:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZoraItIs](https://help.nextcloud.com/letter_avatar/zoraitis/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@ZoraItIs](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/ZoraItIs)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610/1 "2024-12-13T15:49:18Z")
Hi all, I’m using nextcloud version 3.30.6 downloaded via F-Droid Store on my GrapheneOS phone. I wanted to use the “Two way sync” function, but I’m not sure, if its not working or I do something wrong or I even misunderstand something (I couldn’t find any documentation to that function). So whats exactly happening: I’m using the App “Signal”. For the Backups I chose the folder (on my phone) /Android/media/com.nextcloud.client/nextcloud/[username]@[server]/Signal. The Backups are done daily in that folder. Additionally I enabled “Internal two way sync” in my Nextcloud App. The “Singal” Folder is also shown in there (as I ticked the “sync” Checkbox on the Folder-Settings in my Nextcloud App). Signal only stores two backups (today and yesterday). If a new one will done, the oldest one will be deleted, so that there are only 2 Backups in the folder. What I expect: If a Backup will be deleted in that folder by Signal, it will also be deleted in Nextcloud. If a new Backup will be created by Signal it will also be automatically uploaded to Nextcloud What happens: Nothing. I also try deinstall/installing the NC App. I also tryed to sync manually via clicking on “Sync” on the Nextcloud Signal Folder. But nothing happens. So my question: How is it supposed to work? Where are my mistakes? Thank you really much in advance! EDIT: Can my problem be related to that bug? [BugFix - NPE internalFolderSyncTimestamp & File Existence Check by alperozturk96 · Pull Request #13612 · nextcloud/android · GitHub](https://github.com/nextcloud/android/pull/13612) Unfortunately I can’t find the bug itself but by reading the headline it sounds a bit like it could be related. ---
**Author:** ![guckuck](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/guckuck/32/11321_2.png) [@guckuck](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/guckuck)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2024, 9:40am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610/2 "2024-12-21T09:40:50Z")
I have the same problem. The sync of a folder don’t work. I am able to download only files. ---
**Author:** ![alexanderdd](https://help.nextcloud.com/user_avatar/help.nextcloud.com/alexanderdd/32/61096_2.png) [@alexanderdd](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/alexanderdd)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610/3 "2024-12-25T00:52:00Z")
I found this comment in the documentation [Desktop and mobile synchronization — Nextcloud latest User Manual latest documentation](https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/user_manual/en/files/desktop_mobile_sync.html) “Unfortunately, 2-way-sync, a.k.a bidirectional sync, isn’t fully implemented in the Android client yet. See [this issue on GitHub](https://github.com/nextcloud/android/issues/19) for the current feature’s status.” NOTE if you also want this feature, leave a 👍 on the first post in the github link above. (Do not comment “I need this too” or similar on github please!) ---
**Author:** ![excloud](https://help.nextcloud.com/letter_avatar/excloud/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@excloud](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/excloud)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2025, 8:56am UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610/5 "2025-01-12T08:56:47Z")
We should implement something called `Auto download` first… self explanatory right? Haha ---
**Author:** ![Sabo](https://help.nextcloud.com/letter_avatar/sabo/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Sabo](https://help.nextcloud.com/u/Sabo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 1:47pm UTC](https://help.nextcloud.com/t/how-is-internal-two-way-sync-supposed-to-work/212610/6 "2025-07-13T13:47:37Z")
I had exactly the same usecase as you: uploading my Signal backups to Nextcloud. Two way sync did not work for me so I built the following workaround. 1. On your Android phone add the Signal backup folder as an normal auto upload folder 2. Install the auto tagging app [Files automated tagging - Apps - App Store - Nextcloud](https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/files_automatedtagging) 3. Install the retention app [Retention - Apps - App Store - Nextcloud](https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/files_retention) 4. On your Nextcloud website in `Settings > Administrator Settings > Flow` add the following config to automatically tag newly uploaded backup files and delete them after a certain period. ![image](https://help.nextcloud.com/uploads/default/original/3X/7/7/7785a570406a8c313e4e0dad3bfc5c5447ee84b2.png) Here is the regex to match new files: ```auto /^signal-\d\d\d\d-\d\d-\d\d-\d\d-\d\d-\d\d\.backup$/ ```