Connect the official desktop and mobile clients with the exact server address, choose what syncs, and handle app passwords correctly.
The web interface is for visiting. Sync clients are for living in - your folders on every computer, your photos uploading themselves from your phone. ownCloud official clients are free and visual to set up, but one detail decides success or failure: the server address must be exact. This guide covers the clients, that address, and the two behaviours - deletion mirroring and app passwords - that surprise everyone once.
ownCloud publishes its own free clients: a desktop client for Windows, Mac and Linux, and apps for Android and iPhone. Download them only from ownCloud official site or your phone official app store - a cloud client holds the keys to all your files, which makes look-alike download sites a genuinely bad idea. Installation is a normal next-next-finish; the interesting part is the one screen that follows.
Every client asks for your server address first, and this is where most setups fail. The address must match what you see in your browser when you use the web interface - including any subfolder.
https://cloud.yourdomain.com and https://yourdomain.com/owncloud are different servers as far as the client caresSyncing everything to every device is the beginner default and the small-laptop disaster. The desktop client lets you choose which folders download in full; large or rarely used folders can be left on the server and fetched when needed, where your version offers that option. Start small: sync the working folders, leave the archive on the server, and grow only when a folder proves it is needed offline. Remember the mirror rule that governs all sync: deleting on one device deletes everywhere - sync is a mirror, not a backup, and the backup guide in this series exists because of that sentence.
In the mobile app, the setting everyone actually came for is automatic camera upload - turn it on and new photos flow into your cloud without a cable. Two honest notes. First, photo upload still respects your quota and your disk; the cloud is not bottomless. Second, if you switched on two-factor sign-in, the apps cannot use your main password for direct connections - create an app password in your personal security settings in the web interface and use that in the app. For other apps that connect by WebDAV, the classic ownCloud address ends with remote.php/dav after your server address.
The video builds the server - this page connects every device you own to it.
Watch Full VideoThe server address - it is the cause in most failed setups. Copy it from your browser address bar exactly, including https and any subfolder, and paste it rather than typing from memory. After that, check the username is your normal account and the PC clock is correct, since a badly wrong clock breaks secure connections.
Yes - that is what sync means. The client mirrors changes in both directions, including deletions. Deleted files usually sit in ownCloud trash bin for a while, which saves accidents, but the rule stands: use sync for access, and keep a real backup for safety.
Because two-factor sign-in is on. Apps cannot answer the second-factor prompt, so ownCloud lets you generate a dedicated app password in your personal security settings for each app or device. It is the designed behaviour, and you can revoke one app password without touching the others.