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Declutter Cloud Photo Libraries with RcloneView: Compare, Clean, and Protect Every Shot

· 3 min read
Tayson
Tayson
Senior Engineer

Tired of the same RAWs and JPEGs scattered across Google Drive, Dropbox, and a NAS? RcloneView lets you see what's duplicated, clean it up, and lock in protected backups -- all without wrestling CLI flags.

If your photo and video history lives in three or more places, drift is inevitable: duplicates, missing edits, and folders that no one remembers. RcloneView wraps rclone's power in a visual workspace so you can compare sources, mount clouds like local drives, and run repeatable sync jobs that keep a single, protected master library.

RcloneView app preview

Manage & Sync All Clouds in One Place

RcloneView is a cross-platform GUI for rclone. Compare folders, transfer or sync files, and automate multi-cloud workflows with a clean, visual interface.

  • One-click jobs: Copy · Sync · Compare
  • Schedulers & history for reliable automation
  • Works with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, S3, WebDAV, SFTP and more
WindowsmacOSLinux
Get Started Free →

Free core features. Plus automations available.

Why a Unified Library Matters​

  • Stop paying to store the same album twice across providers.
  • Keep a single source of truth for Lightroom, Capture One, or Photos.
  • Prove backup integrity with logged, checksum-verified runs instead of guesswork.

Connect Clouds and Mount a Clean Workspace​

Spot Duplicates and Drift with Compare​

  • Run Compare between any two locations (e.g., Dropbox vs NAS) to see newer, missing, or mismatched files before syncing: /support/howto/rcloneview-basic/compare-folder-contents
  • Filter by extensions to isolate RAWs, JPEGs, or sidecar files when reviewing differences.
  • Save the compare as a job so you can rerun audits monthly without rebuilding the view.

Build a Protected Master Library with Sync Jobs​

  • Choose your source of truth (often the NAS or the most complete cloud folder) and create a one-way sync to your backup target (e.g., S3/Wasabi with lifecycle policies): /support/howto/rcloneview-basic/create-sync-jobs
  • Use job presets for albums or years (e.g., 2020/, 2021/) to keep runs small and predictable.
  • Prefer copy for safety when consolidating; switch to sync only after you trust the target and have a history of clean runs.
  • Run a dry-run first with the embedded rclone flags to validate includes and excludes.

Schedule, Monitor, and Verify​

Serve Editors and Family Fast​

  • Keep a fast copy of current projects mounted locally while colder archives stay in S3/Wasabi.
  • Create a second job to push lightweight JPEG exports to a sharing cloud (Drive or Dropbox) while RAWs stay in your master vault.
  • For travel shoots, mount the cloud on a laptop and let the scheduler backfill to the NAS when you reconnect.

Quick Recovery Checklist​

  • Lost a card? Compare last night's backup to your working folder to confirm what is safe.
  • Changing providers? Run compare, then a one-way sync to the new destination; keep the old remote mounted until you have validated checksums.
  • Need proof? Export the job log showing skipped and updated files to hand off to stakeholders.

Ready to clean up the sprawl and stop paying for duplicate pixels? Mount, compare, and schedule your way to a single, protected library with RcloneView.

RcloneView app preview

Manage & Sync All Clouds in One Place

RcloneView is a cross-platform GUI for rclone. Compare folders, transfer or sync files, and automate multi-cloud workflows with a clean, visual interface.

  • One-click jobs: Copy · Sync · Compare
  • Schedulers & history for reliable automation
  • Works with Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, S3, WebDAV, SFTP and more
WindowsmacOSLinux
Get Started Free →

Free core features. Plus automations available.