Now you can add items to your backups directly from the context menu in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. Just right click the item, select Backup this folder in the menu, and you're all set! This function is available for the items in your user folder only.

NOTE  This feature won't be available if your backup paths are locked via backup profile (see Lock or unlock backup preferences) or if the Backup paths controlled by administrator check box on the Backup Preferences window is selected.

We've made sync speed increases in File Protection Desktop a priority in this release. These enhancements include a number of back end changes that will improve sync performance across the service, as well as the addition of a new Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for Windows. Our improvements should result in up to two times our previous transfer speeds. We think you'll find these enhancements noticeable.

As you know, File Protection Desktop displays notifications having to do with File Protection functions, connectivity, etc. These notifications were sometimes a distraction and, at times, overlapped with notifications displayed by your own operating system, resulting in a less than ideal user experience.

In this release, we've leveraged the notification systems native to your operating system to remove redundancy and provide a more customizable experience. You can now control your File Protection notification settings as you would for any app:

Windows

Windows menu > Settings > Notification & actions

Mac

Apple menu > System Settings, click Notifications in the sidebar

We've changed the File Protection Desktop Preferences interface to provide a more modern look and feel. We've also streamlined the Network Preferences tab to be responsive to your team's policy profile settings and to display only the necessary settings.

You'll see the details in our documentation for the Network Preferences and Backup Preferences tabs, but here's a preview:

As the proverb goes, all good things must come to an end; the time has come for us to retire our support for File Protection Desktop for Windows v8.1. Consequently, you'll want to make sure that you're running a current and supported version of File Protection.

To check the version status of your own File Protection machine(s) or that of the users on your team, go to the Devices page in File Protection Online to see if you're due for an update or to confirm that all of your users' Windows devices are running the most recent version of File Protection possible.