Hello, I’m making a thread here because I have a question.
I am using Scrivener window version through two computers and mobile devices. All three are synchronized with Google Drives. Project folders are stored on the drive, and folders exported for mobile are also stored on the drive. The problem is, the ’ Sync with External Editor’ function only works on one computer. It’s clearly the same project, but try to use a function on another computer, you get this error message.
The selected folder is already in use by another project.
To sync the project with the selected folder, Scrivener needs to create ‘Draft’, ‘Notes’ and ‘Trashed Files’ subdirectories as necessary to store the project files. The selected folder already contains files or folders using these names, which suggests that it is already being used to sync another Scrivener project.
(Note that the folder sync feature cannot and should not be used to try to sync a project between two different machines - this will result in data loss or project corruption. Folder sync is purely intended for editing files, and syncing the changes made, in external applications other than Scrivener.)
Is there a solution in this case? This is probably not a Google drive’s problem (synchronization is working well between the two computers).
I would appreciate your kind reply.
Please tell me if there is a sentence that you can’t understand. I am using a translator because I am not an English user.
My first recommendation is to move your unzipped, working projects from your Google Drives, as per this advisory.
The external folder you’ve set up isn’t intended as a syncing service between the user’s two computers. That point is stated in the error message you’re seeing.
Instead, it’s more typically used by a writer who wants to let someone read and edit a few documents when that person does not have Scrivener. For example, a writer might use it to get an editor’s feedback and then import the edits back into the project from that folder.
For syncing your projects between multiple computers, you’ll want to review some of the recommendations on this Knowledge Base article about using cloud-syncing services.
Are you using Scrivener for iOS on the two mobile devices? If you are, you can use Dropbox syncing.
But, if they are not iOS devices, then you can use that synchronized folder to edit documents from your Scrivener project on those devices and then bring those edits back into your project as noted in Section14.3 of the Scrivener manual.
You can access a PDF of the manual via Scrivener’s Help menu. While it’s only available in English, I know that some translation websites have the ability to upload a PDF and have the website translate it. DeepL.com is one that I know offers that feature.