macOS Menu Bar App

Sync your folders.
Set it once,
forget it forever.

FolderPulse keeps any two folders in sync — local to local, or local to cloud — silently from your menu bar. Powered by rclone.

Download free — macOS 13+ See how it works

Free during beta · No account required · Requires rclone

FolderPulse — Menu Bar

FolderPulse Syncing…

Folder A

~/Documents/Work

↑ ↓

Folder B

gdrive:Work/Backup

Syncing 47 files… 68%

✓ report-final.pdf 12:34

✓ notes.md 12:34

→ design-v3.fig now

How it works

Three steps to set-and-forget sync.

A short setup wizard walks you through everything. After that, FolderPulse disappears into your menu bar.

Setup wizard

Pick your two folders

Local folder, Google Drive, Dropbox, S3 — any combination. The wizard sets up rclone for you with a simple OAuth flow.

Sync direction

Choose sync direction

One-way A→B, the reverse, or fully bidirectional. Turn on Watch mode and changes sync within seconds.

Done

Minimize and forget

FolderPulse sits quietly in your menu bar. One click shows you what synced, when, and any errors. Nothing else to do.

Features

Everything sync needs.
Nothing it doesn't.

Built for people who just want two folders to always have the same files.

Bidirectional sync

Changes flow both ways, intelligently. Last-modified wins. Never lose a file to a naive overwrite.

Menu bar only

No dock icon. No app window taking up space. A single click shows you everything you need to know.

Watch mode

Detects file changes automatically with a 5-second debounce and kicks off a sync without any input from you.

Sync log

Every file transfer logged with timestamps. Errors surface immediately. See exactly what moved and when.

Smart error recovery

Auto-retries on known rclone bisync quirks. Surfaces clear, actionable error messages. No cryptic exit codes.

Cloud-ready from day one

Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, Backblaze — if rclone supports it, FolderPulse syncs it. OAuth handled in the setup wizard.

App preview

See what you're syncing,
at a glance.

All four app states — idle, watching, syncing, error — designed to give you the right information at the right time.

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Syncing

Progress bar, live file log, animated scan

While rclone bisync is running, FolderPulse shows a real-time file log, transfer count, and a scan animation on the progress bar. You always know what's moving and where.

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Idle

Last sync time, quick actions

When nothing is happening, the app shows you when the last sync completed and how many files were transferred. Sync on demand or just wait for Watch mode to trigger automatically.

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Watching

Monitoring for changes, 5s debounce

Watch mode listens for file system events on Folder A. Save a file and FolderPulse picks it up within seconds, debounces rapid changes, then syncs. A blue pill in the header confirms it's active.

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Error

Auto-expanded log, actionable message

When rclone encounters a problem, the Status accordion opens automatically and the first error entry expands. No raw exit codes — FolderPulse translates common rclone errors into plain language.

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Setup wizard

6-step guided setup, OAuth included

The wizard opens on first launch and handles everything — picking folders, authenticating with Google Drive, choosing sync direction, and running the initial sync. Done in under two minutes.

What gets synced

Any two folders.
Any direction.

Local ↔ Local. Local ↔ Cloud. Cloud ↔ Cloud. You choose the direction — FolderPulse handles the rest.

📁

Folder A

Local or Cloud

A → B One-way

A ↔ B Bidirectional

B → A Reverse

☁️

Folder B

Google Drive, S3…

Google Drive Dropbox Amazon S3 Backblaze B2 OneDrive SFTP + 40 more via rclone

The sync engine trusted by millions.

rclone is the industry-standard open-source tool for cloud file sync. Hundreds of thousands of developers, sysadmins, and power users rely on it every day. FolderPulse puts a polished macOS interface on top of rclone's battle-tested engine — you get all the reliability, none of the command line.

40+ cloud providers

Google Drive, S3, Dropbox, OneDrive, Backblaze, SFTP and many more — all via the same interface.

Bisync — true bidirectional

Not just mirroring — rclone bisync tracks changes on both sides and reconciles them intelligently.

Your data stays yours

rclone runs locally on your machine. No third-party servers, no accounts, no telemetry.

Learn about rclone →

Terminal

# Install rclone (once)
$ brew install rclone
# FolderPulse handles the rest
$ open FolderPulse.app

            ✓  Wizard will configure rclone automatically
          

            ↻  Watching ~/Documents/Work ↔ gdrive:Work
          

What's shipping now

Version 1.0 — MVP

Menu bar app — no dock icon

Bidirectional sync via rclone bisync

Watch mode — auto-sync on file change

6-step setup wizard with OAuth

Sync log with per-file status

macOS notifications

Local ↔ Local sync

Two local folders on the same or different volumes

Cloud services — v1.0

Google Drive Dropbox OneDrive Amazon S3 Backblaze B2 SFTP + expanding

Google Drive ships in v1.0 with full OAuth. Other providers follow as we test and certify each integration.

Coming soon

What's next

Next up

Multi-folder sync

Manage multiple folder pairs from a single app. Different sync directions, schedules, and cloud targets — all in one menu bar icon.

Sync scheduling — hourly, daily, on demand

Conflict resolution UI

Windows support

Where it fits

Built for people who work
across devices and clouds.

A few scenarios where FolderPulse quietly does the work.

Featured

Speed up your AI workflow

Claude and other AI assistants can read files from Google Drive, but your working files live locally. FolderPulse keeps them in sync automatically — so your AI always has access to the latest version of your documents, notes, and projects without you manually uploading anything.

~/Documents/Work gdrive:Work

Watch mode on → AI always sees current files

Continuous backup

Work locally, back up to cloud in real time. If your Mac dies, your files are already on Google Drive or S3.

Design asset sync

Keep a shared design folder in sync between your Mac and a team drive. Everyone always gets the latest exports.

Notes & writing

Obsidian, Typora, iA Writer — any local notes app synced to cloud so you can pick up on another device or share with an AI.

Sync your folders.Set it once,forget it forever.

Three steps to set-and-forget sync.

Pick your two folders

Choose sync direction

Minimize and forget

Everything sync needs.Nothing it doesn't.

Bidirectional sync

Menu bar only

Watch mode

Sync log

Smart error recovery

Cloud-ready from day one

See what you're syncing,at a glance.

Any two folders.Any direction.

The sync engine trusted by millions.

Version 1.0 — MVP

What's next

Built for people who workacross devices and clouds.

Your folders deserve betterthan manual backup.

Sync your folders.
Set it once,
forget it forever.

Everything sync needs.
Nothing it doesn't.

See what you're syncing,
at a glance.

Any two folders.
Any direction.

Built for people who work
across devices and clouds.

Your folders deserve better
than manual backup.