# When sync asks you something

Most of the time sync needs nothing from you. When Niv can't tell what happened to a file, it stops and asks, instead of guessing. Nothing is deleted while it waits.

The sync line at the bottom of the sidebar tells you when this happens. Click it to get to the question. See [Sync status](/p/docs/sync-status).

## Notes that went missing while sync was off

If files Niv had synced are gone from the folder when sync starts again, Niv can't tell whether you deleted them or renamed and edited them. Renames it can identify are followed on their own. For the rest, the sync line says **on hold**, and Niv asks.

For each file, say what happened if you know:

- **Not sure — keep both**: the note stays in the Space, and any new file here becomes a new note. Nothing is deleted.
- **I deleted it**: the note is removed from the Space too.
- **It's now this file…**: choose the file it became; the note follows it and its edits merge in.

Keys 1, 2 and 3 answer the file in front. When many files are left, you can answer them all at once. Then choose **Apply and sync**.

If you'd rather look first, **Hold for now** keeps sync waiting. **Check again** looks at the folder again, after you've put a file back, for example.

## Files edited outside Niv

When a file was edited in another app and Niv can't find the version it started from, it keeps the file and the shared note apart rather than merging them blind. The sync line says **files to review**.

In **Settings › Sync › Files to review**, choose **Review**. Read both previews, then choose:

- **Keep both**: your file is saved as a separate private copy on this device, and the file takes the shared note's text.
- **Use this file**: the shared note takes your file's text. Your teammates receive it, including anything removed.
- **Use shared note**: your file takes the shared note's text.

Niv shows what each choice does and asks you to confirm before it replaces anything. **Save a private copy** keeps your file aside without choosing yet.

## Notes waiting to join the Space

The sync line says **notes need you** when a note can't go to the Space until you decide something:

- you marked it local only after it was queued: unmark it in **Settings › Sync › Local-only files**, or choose **Keep it local**;
- it's waiting for you to confirm the files joining the Space: see the next section.

## Files waiting to join the Space

New files in your folder usually go to the Space on their own. Niv asks first in two cases:

- the Space already has notes and this device has no record of which files they are, for example on a new computer, after a reinstall, or with a restored folder;
- many new files appear at once.

Opening a folder into a new, empty Space never asks: everything in it just goes.

When Niv asks, the sync line says **action needed**. Click it to see how many files are waiting and what happens to them: some link to notes already in the Space, some become new notes, and some notes come down from the Space. Choose **Sync now** to go ahead, or **Not now** to decide later. Until you do, the sync line keeps saying **action needed**, and the notes that are already linked keep syncing.

Home and **Settings › Sync** show the same question, with **Review**.

![The sync line says action needed, and its question: 30 files here are waiting to join the Space](https://niv.md/docs-media/sync-action-needed.dark.png)

## Changes the Space refused

Sometimes the Space says no to a change, and asking again would get the same answer: the note belongs to another Space, the Space no longer has it, or you're not a member. The sync line says how many. **Settings › Sync** lists each one, and **Forget these** clears them. Nothing on your device changes.

## Notes from another Space in this folder

One folder syncs with one Space. If notes here belong to a different Space, **Settings › Sync** says so and offers:

- **Use this folder only with** the current Space: your files stay where they are, Niv forgets the other Space here, and the folder syncs fresh with this one;
- **Unbind instead…**: stop syncing this folder, and use a different folder for the other Space.

## Properties Niv can't read

If the properties block at the top of a note has a mistake, **Settings › Sync** lists the note under **Properties Niv cannot read**, with the line to look at. The note's text keeps syncing. Fix the block in the note, or choose **Fix indentation** when Niv offers it.

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Published with [Niv](https://niv.md/) in the Space Docs.