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Sync OmniFocus with DropBox

By Joshua Schnell Mon, Aug 10, 2009 @ 11:50 AM

omnifocus Sync OmniFocus with DropBoxI’ve had a constant struggle with ToDo applications lately (or GTD apps if you prefer), I’m both hot and cold when it comes to their use in my work flow.  When things get really busy and out of control for me I start dropping things into the application, but once  things slow down I tend to neglect them.  It’s been a cat and mouse game for well over a year.  One thing that has always irked me was a lack of syncing between my todo lists and my multiple machines. All the applications seem to provide options for syncing, but none seem to integrate free, over the internet, options.

This is where dropbox comes in handy.

For those of you not in the “know”, dropbox gives you 2gb of syncable storage space, for free!  They give you an application that lets you sync those files between multiple computers.  If you need more space they also have a Pro accounts which gives you 50gb or 100gb (neither of which are free, and both of which are a monthly charge of $9.99, and $19.99 respectively).

These two applications can be mashed together to sync your OmniFocus todo’s across multiple machines very simply.

  1. Click preferences in OmniFocus,
  2. then the sync icon,
  3. then the “disk” option,
  4. then choose the location,
  5. then select your DropBox folder,
  6. click sync now,
  7. rinse and repeat on your other computers.

Now you can have your “todos” with you where every you are!

  • http://www.omnigroup.com Omni Support Ninja

    DropBox knows how to copy around data, but it doesn’t know how to resolve conflicts when data is edited in two places before being synchronized.

    OmniFocus does know how to do this during a sync, so if you want to avoid potential data loss when resolving conflicts I strongly recommend using OmniFocus’ built-in sync facility rather than using something else to try to synchronize your data.

    OmniFocus understands how to sync its data through the cloud (via MobileMe or WebDAV or a file server), through the local network (via Bonjour), and through portable drives (such as USB sticks).

    We maintain a list of no- and low-cost WebDAV providers in the OmniFocus section of http://forums.omnigroup.com. Syncing over free WebDAV will function very similarly to the way DropBox would function, without the additional risk.

    • http://www.macgasm.net Joshua Schnell

      Thanks for the additional information. It’s very much appreciated. :)

  • Mike

    I also like Dropbox. Recently I found out how to get 2.25GB for free instead of just 2GB. When you sign-up use a ref link such as this one https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTY5NDQzOQ

  • Pingback: Delving Deeper Into Dropbox – Mac.AppStorm

  • Scott

    I love dropbox for things like 1Password but with omnifocus there is still a problem. You can sync between different systems well enough but syncing to dropbox via your iPhone or iPad is another story. There doesn’t seem to be a good answer at the moment. I like the convenience of adding tasks to OmniFocus on my iPhone but would really like a transparent sync back to my laptop mac at home. Omnigroup doesn’t yet support dropbox.com and dropbox doesn’t support WebDav. Catch 22.

  • Natalia

    Hi, thanks for this. Already had dropbox and was still struggling with the whole WebDAV thing, although will look into it.
    Sorry if this sounds too stupid but, y question is, I am trying to sync an iMac, a MBP and an iPod touch, presumably the first two will be syncing with dropbox whenever there is web access but to sync the iPod I’ll need to have one of the computers on, (and omnifocus opened?) right?