ThirdDir

Moving files from one location to the other might not seem like such a big task, but having to do this on a regular basis becomes frustrating. This quickly came to the attention of developers that created different types of sync applications, such as ThirDir. It comes with an extended set of tools to compare and only move those files that meet specific criteria.

Once the application is fully downloaded, you can go ahead and fire it up. There’s no installation process involved, which means you can even store it on an USB flash drive to use on other computers as well. Health status remains intact, because registries are not modified.

A compact main window appears on launch, with all features in plain sight. Truth be told, you might end up scratching your head for a while if you don’t look over documentation files first, because the interface is not only crowded, but pretty confusing, especially for beginners.

The application isn’t your average folder sync utility. Two folders need to be compared before content is moved to a third one. This somewhat limits functionality and extends it at the same time. The limitation comes because you can’t just have a regular sync between two folders, while features are extended due to the flexibility provide by the middle, comparison folder.

Several filters can be set, so the application only targets specific files and directories. These need to be manually written down in dedicated fields, by name and extension. More rules can be applied so that dates, lengths, updates, and recursive files are compared.

By default, all fields are empty, even configurations, where it’s a shame you don’t find at least a few presets. However, history is saved to let you revisit previous task, and filters end up filling the configuration drop-down menu.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that ThirDir is not quite what you’d expect from a folder sync utility. Although some might find the required comparison folder frustrating because it can’t be omitted, it also helps you better filter data by saving everything in the two initial folders, while filling the third only with those files of interest.