Synchronize Files List Identical Files

I am synchronized files from two different folders on the same drive. I am using "two-way" sync and "byte comparison" and "hide unaffected files". The synchronize tool returns files in both directories - with blue arrows pointing at the other directories/folders. However, the stats for those files are exactly the same. So my question is why would Opus Sync want to file copy/sync both ways if the files are exactly the same? Thanks for your help.

You’re doing a byte comparison so presumably the content of the files is different if it wants to copy them.

Thank you for your super fast response! I thought of your explanation - but the blue arrows point both ways - so which byte version file would prevail ? or does one of the byte versions get copied with a different name so that both byte versions end up in both folders that I am synchronizing? (e.g. file.jpg & file(1).jpg).

Sorry - I am not technically astute - but I wonder if all of the other stats are the same - what would be the advantage of doing a byte sync (I primarily have photos and videos)? Perhaps "date & size" instead of "byte" would be as good but sometimes I change the date if the camera was not set up correctly? Although in this case the dates - and all states are the same - so it must only be the bytes are different.

Reading your first post more carefully, if you choose the "Two Way Copy" option, the option for how to compare things is disabled as it no longer makes sense to do anything other than a date comparison if you're copying in both directions and a file is in both places.

It also should not have arrows pointing both ways for the same file. One side or the other should be chosen, with an arrow indicating it will be copied, and a red X indicating the other file will be replaced.

Please show us a screenshot of what's happening, and how the Sync panel is configured.

If you like, I can close the "Results" screen and pull over the file sizes, dates, etc to show you they are the same.

Those aren't the same files/paths. Look at the very first folder they're all under. It has a different name on each side.

Ahhhh.... my mistake! So very, very sorry to trouble you. In general - when doing a one-way sync -- is it better to do a byte comparison instead of date/name?

Depends entirely on what you want it to do.

Over the decades - I have had 3 crashed computers and multiple hard drives. So - in most cases, I am trying to compare backups that I have made of photos and videos, and I want to preserve/keep the best copy and then copy to my new computer. As I mentioned, I will sometimes correct the date on a photo/video... (I also can add meta data but I don't know if that changes the bytes).

I thought using the byte comparison would prevent overwriting files that are the same but may have a different other stats (e.g. when I change the date). -- but now that I am trying to research this - it sounds like DOsync defaults to size/date in a two-way sync. So unfortunately, in reconciling old backups and my external backups from Cloud Services - I may have incorrectly overwritten some files using two-way.
I also think of bytes as the size ... but perhaps your program looks at bytes differently.