Synology Drive Setup Guide: How to Set Up File Sync and Access Across Devices (Australia)

Synology Drive is a file sync and collaboration platform included with DSM that replicates files between your NAS and connected devices. Windows PCs, Macs, Linux machines, iPhones, and Android phones. Without routing data through a third-party cloud. It functions similarly to Dropbox or OneDrive but uses your NAS as the server, keeping data under your control with no per-user subscription cost. For Australian users this means no US-jurisdiction data storage, and sync speeds that aren't capped by cloud provider throttling. You're limited only by your local network and NBN upload for remote devices.

Synology Drive vs Synology Cloud Sync. What's the Difference?

Synology has two different sync products and they're often confused:

• Synology Drive. Syncs files between your NAS and end-user devices (PCs, phones). The NAS is the central server. Users access the Drive through a desktop client, browser, or mobile app. Designed for personal file access and team collaboration.
• Cloud Sync. Syncs files between your NAS and cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3, etc.). The NAS is a local mirror of the cloud. Used for cloud backup or hybrid workflows where you want files in both places.

This guide covers Synology Drive for device sync. If you want to mirror a cloud service to your NAS, that's Cloud Sync. A different package entirely.

Step 1. Install Synology Drive Server on the NAS

On DSM, open Package Center and search for Synology Drive Server. Install it. When prompted, select a volume to store Drive data. This volume hosts the sync database and any files uploaded directly to Drive (as opposed to syncing existing folders). Choose your main data volume.

After installation, open Synology Drive Admin Console from the App menu. Here you configure which shared folders are accessible via Drive, set version history depth, and manage team folders. You don't need to configure anything to get started. The defaults work. But spend a minute reviewing the settings before deploying to users.

Version history: Drive keeps previous versions of synced files. The default is 32 versions per file, which is practical for most use cases. You can change this in Admin Console > Global Settings. For design or development workflows where files change frequently, increasing to 64+ versions gives better rollback options. Each version only stores the file's changed blocks (not full copies), so storage overhead is lower than you'd expect.

Step 2. Install the Desktop Client on Windows or Mac

Download Synology Drive Client from the Synology Download Centre (search 'Synology Drive Client' and select your OS). Install it on each PC or Mac that should sync files.

On first launch, the client asks for your NAS address and DSM login. For local network connections, enter the NAS IP (e.g. 192.168.1.x). For remote access from outside the home, use your QuickConnect ID (yourname.quickconnect.to) or a DDNS hostname. Sign in with your DSM user account credentials.

The client runs in the system tray and provides two modes:

• Sync Task: Creates a two-way sync between a NAS folder and a local folder on your PC. Changes on either side propagate to the other. This is the Dropbox-equivalent mode.
• Backup Task: One-way. Backs up a local folder to the NAS. The NAS gets copies; the local folder is unaffected by NAS changes. Use this for photos, documents, or project folders you want backed up but not modified from another device.

Step 3. Configure a Sync Task

In the Drive Client, click Create > Sync Task. Choose the NAS folder to sync (typically your personal home Drive folder, or a shared Team Folder. More on those below). Choose the local folder on your PC that will mirror it. Click Next and configure:

• Sync direction: Bidirectional (both NAS and PC can make changes. Standard Dropbox behaviour), Download only (NAS changes sync to PC, PC changes don't go up), or Upload only.
• Selective sync: If the Drive folder is large, tick only the sub-folders you need on this device. A work laptop doesn't need the full 2TB media archive. Just the Documents sub-folder.
• Sync on Wi-Fi only: Available on mobile clients. On the desktop client, you can pause sync manually or throttle bandwidth in Settings > Transfer Settings if you don't want Drive consuming your full upload speed.

The initial sync downloads (or uploads) all files in the selected scope. On a local Gigabit network, syncing 50GB of documents takes 10-20 minutes. For a remote laptop syncing over NBN, the first sync is limited by the NAS's upload speed (~20Mbps on NBN 100, roughly 2.5MB/s).

Step 4. Set Up Team Folders for Shared Access

Team Folders let multiple DSM users access the same synced folder. Equivalent to a shared Dropbox folder or SharePoint document library. This is how Synology Drive handles team or family file sharing.

Create a Team Folder in Drive Admin Console > Team Folder > Create. Select an existing Shared Folder on the NAS to expose as a Team Folder, or let Drive create a new one. Set which users or groups can access it and whether they have read-write or read-only access.

Once created, the Team Folder appears in the Drive Client's available sync targets for all permitted users. Users sync it like any other Drive folder. It shows up in their local file system as a normal folder.

Conflict handling: If two users edit the same file simultaneously, Drive creates a conflict copy (named filename_conflicted_copy_YYYY-MM-DD.ext) alongside the original. Users can then manually merge or choose a version. This is the same behaviour as Dropbox. For document collaboration, Office files trigger conflict copies; Synology Office (included with DSM) handles concurrent editing with change tracking if you use it instead of desktop Office apps.

Step 5. Mobile Access

Install Synology Drive on iOS or Android. Sign in with your NAS address and DSM credentials. The app gives you file browsing, upload/download, and a Favorites feature for offline access (pin files or folders to download and cache locally on the device).

The mobile app is primarily for accessing and uploading files on the go. It doesn't create a local sync folder on your phone the way the desktop client does. For automatic photo backup from your phone to the NAS, use Synology Photos instead (separate app, uses the Personal Space in the photo folder).

For mobile access outside the home network, ensure your NAS is reachable remotely. See the remote access guide for CGNAT, QuickConnect, and DDNS options specific to Australian NBN connections.

Practical Sizing and Performance Notes

Synology Drive's server component runs on any current Synology NAS. For 1-3 users syncing primarily documents and small files, a DS225+ ($585 at Mwave) is more than adequate. For 5+ users syncing large files (design assets, video) or with frequent concurrent access, a DS925+ ($1,029 at Mwave) or DS1525+ ($1,285) provides the CPU and RAM headroom for smooth indexing and multi-user performance.

Drive's version history database grows over time. On a high-change folder (software projects with many small files), the version database can become large. Monitor it in Admin Console > Storage. Setting a reasonable retention limit (32-64 versions, or a maximum storage quota for version history) prevents unchecked growth.

Australian Consumer Law applies to all Synology hardware purchased from local retailers. Mwave, PLE, Scorptec, and Umart are all AU-based and ABN-registered, providing full ACL coverage including the right to a reasonable remedy if the hardware fails within its expected lifespan.

Related reading: our NAS buyer's guide, our Synology brand guide, and our NAS explainer.

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