Macros

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Macros

All directory paths may contain macros that are expanded during synchronization. The beginnings and ends of each macro are marked by a % character. In addition to special macros handling time and date, the operating system's environment variables may also be used.

Internal Macros


Macro	Example	Format

%Date%	2025-02-14	[ YYYY-MM-DD ]
%Time%	022842	[ hhmmss ]
%TimeStamp%	2025-02-14 022842	[ YYYY-MM-DD hhmmss ]

%Year%	2025
%Month%	02	[ 01–12 ]
%MonthName%	Feb	[ Jan–Dec ]
%Day%	14	[ 01–31 ]

%Hour%	02	[ 00–23 ]
%Min%	28	[ 00–59 ]
%Sec%	42	[ 00–59 ]

%WeekDay%	5	[ 1–7 ] week begin may vary locally
%WeekDayName%	Fri	[ Mon–Sun ]
%Week%	07	[ 01–52 ] calendar week

Environment Variables (Windows)


Macro	Example

%AllUsersProfile%	C: \ ProgramData
%AppData%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming
%ComputerName%	Zenju-PC
%LocalAppData%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Local
%ProgramData%	C: \ ProgramData
%ProgramFiles%	C: \ Program Files
%ProgramFiles(x86)%	C: \ Program Files (x86)
%Public%	C: \ Users \ Public
%Temp%	C: \ Windows \ Temp
%UserName%	Zenju
%UserProfile%	C: \ Users \ Zenju
%WinDir%	C: \ Windows

Special Folder Locations (Windows)


Macro	Example

%csidl _ Desktop%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Desktop
%csidl _ Documents%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Documents
%csidl _ Pictures%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Pictures
%csidl _ Music%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Music
%csidl _ Videos%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Videos
%csidl _ Downloads%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Downloads
%csidl _ Favorites%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ Favorites
%csidl _ Resources%	C: \ Windows \ Resources
%csidl _ QuickLaunch%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Quick Launch
%csidl _ StartMenu%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu
%csidl _ Programs%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs
%csidl _ Startup%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ StartUp
%csidl _ Nethood%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Network Shortcuts
%csidl _ Templates%	C: \ Users \ Zenju \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Templates

Note: Most of the macros above have a variant for public folders, e.g. %csidl _ Documents% has %csidl _ PublicDocuments%.

Hint: You can add flexibility to an ffs _ batch configuration file by creating new temporary environment variables in a bat or cmd file that are evaluated by FreeFileSync at runtime:

Example

The FreeFileSync batch file C: \ SyncJob.ffs _ batch contains macro %MyVar% instead of an absolute target folder and is invoked by a cmd file:

set MyVar=C: \ Target
"C: \ Program files \ FreeFileSync \ FreeFileSync.exe" C: \ SyncJob.ffs _ batch

::%MyVar% is resolved as C: \ Target during synchronization

Note
Temporary environment variables created with the set command are only valid if the synchronization is started by calling the FreeFileSync executable directly. Using start /wait would create a new program context without these temporary variables.

Macros

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