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FILES IN CLOUD STORAGE

IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO STORE, WORK IN, OR LINK FILES DIRECTLY FROM CLOUD STORAGE SERVICES WHEN USING ARCHICAD OR SIMILAR BIM/CAD APPLICATIONS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IF SERVICES SUCH AS DROPBOX "SMART SYNC" ARE ENABLED.

Although some users may not experience issues immediately, this workflow is not officially supported by Graphisoft and is used at your own risk. This is not unique to Archicad, the same applies to similar applications such as Revit and other BIM software.

Cloud storage solutions should only be used for backup purposes or file transfer between machines. Active project files should instead be stored locally or on the office server. Keep in mind that Archicad projects frequently contain linked files such as PDFs, DWGs, and images, which may unknowingly reside in cloud-synced folders. If these files are stored in Dropbox or similar services, problems may occur. Temporary data is continuously created during updates, saving, and publishing operations. If a project file is connected to a Smart Sync folder, this may lead to performance issues or, in worst cases, file corruption.

With BIMcloud (full version or SaaS), Archicad uses dedicated technology designed specifically to handle these challenges. This allows users to collaborate and manage linked files without relying on local storage or internal servers. Read more about BIMcloud and available solutions here.

Why is this problematic?

Archicad’s save operation is a complex process involving the creation of temporary files, lock files, and extensive disk operations. Most cloud synchronization clients lacks periodical checks for file changes and will attempt to synchronize data immediately when a change is detected. While the synchronization client tries to upload file changes, Archicad may still be completing the save operation. This can create a conflict where Archicad is unable to finalize the saving process, potentially resulting in file errors or corruption.

How to avoid these issues

Avoid storing Archicad project files inside folders that are actively synchronized with cloud storage services. If you need to back up project files to the cloud, use third-party software that performs scheduled synchronization or copying between local project folders and cloud backup folders. This allows synchronization to occur at controlled times rather than during active work.

Several third-party tools support this workflow. One example is FreeFileSync, a popular open-source application that enables scheduled synchronization between local and cloud folders. If you insist on working directly inside a monitored cloud folder, ensure that the synchronization software allows real-time syncing to be temporarily disabled, and pause synchronization before saving Archicad files.