Command Reference

Clean

parallel clean [--path] [--days] [--recursive] [--verbose]

Cleans up the local file system by removing older files. This only removes files outside of the RetentionPeriod in the main configuration file or by using the --days option.

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
days	-d	int	No	The amount of days to hang onto files.
path	-p	string	No	The source path to clean.
recursive	-R	bool	No	If to include subdirectories.
verbose	-v	bool	No	Shows verbose output.

Note: The days specified in the command cannot be lower than the RetentionPeriod in the main config.

Prune

parallel prune [--path] [--config] [--before] [--days] [--force]

Permanently deletes archived files from vaults. This is typically used to remove old archived files to reduce storage size.

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
before		datetime	No	Specified timestamp as the pruning reference point.
config	-c	string	No	The vault configuration to use.
days	-d	int	No	Specified number of days before the reference point.
dry-run		bool	No	Previews the command without executing it.
force	-f	bool	No	Forces pruning, bypassing safe guards.
path	-p	string	No	The source path to prune.

Warning: Pruning permanently deletes files and cannot be undone.

Pruning behavior

By default, files older than 180 days (6 months) are deleted. The prune period can be changed in the vault configuration file. Files older than the configured prune period are deleted. If --days is specified, the prune cutoff is calculated by subtracting the specified number of days from the reference point. Either when specified when using the --before option or the current system time.

It's important to note that both the --before and --days options bypass the default prune period, so it's recommended to test first with --dry-run.

Examples

Delete files older than 30 days from now:

parallel prune --days 30

Delete files older than 7 days before December 16, 2025:

parallel prune --before "December 16, 2025" --days 7

Delete files older than the configured prune period relative to December 16, 2025:

parallel prune --before "2025-12-16"

Restore

parallel restore [--path] [--config] [--before] [--remap] [--force] [--dry-run]

Restores files from a vault. By default, this will be the first enabled vault unless the --config option is specified. It's important to note that when using the --path option, the path refers to the local path on the computer that did the syncing.

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
before		string	No	Restores files before a certain timestamp.
config	-c	string	No	The vault configuration to use.
dry-run		bool	No	Previews a command without executing it.
force	-f	bool	No	Forces restoring, bypassing safe guards.
path	-p	string	No	The source path to restore.
remap		string	No	The output directory remapping.

Restoring previous versions

One of the benefits of using Parallel is its file versioning. This means that each time a file is synced, its previous version is preserved in the vault. This allows files to be restored to earlier states using the --before option. This is useful when a file has been modified over time, and you want to revert to an earlier version. To do this, simply specify a specific time in its history. It's important to note that version timestamps are based on when the file was synced into the vault, not its last-modified time. The restore command will also only restore missing or changed files unless the --force option is used.

Here are a couple of examples:

parallel restore --path "C:\Windows\System32" --before "12/16/25"
parallel restore --path "C:\Windows\System32" --before "December 16, 2025"
parallel restore --path "C:\Windows\System32" --before "2025-12-16 5:11 PM"
parallel restore --path "C:\Windows\System32" --before "2025-12-16T23:11:00Z"

Remapping files

Sometimes you might want to restore or move files between vaults or different computers. In these instances, it's recommended to use the --remap option. This will replace the original file path, allowing you to move files wherever you like while preserving the original folder structure.

For example, if you are having Parallel sync Windows fonts, these cannot be restored and will need to be reinstalled. In this case, you will need to convert the file path from C:\Windows\Fonts\Arial.ttf to C:\Users\Admin\Desktop\Fonts\Arial.ttf by running this command:

parallel restore --path "C:\Windows\Fonts" --remap "C:\Users\Parallel\Desktop\Fonts"

It's also important to note that this works between operating systems. If you're moving from Windows to Linux, you can sync all your documents and then restore them via:

parallel restore --path "C:\Users\Parallel\Documents" --remap "/home/parallel/Documents"

Sync

parallel sync [--path] [--config] [--force]

Backs up the current file system with the vaults. By default, it will only sync to enabled vaults unless the --config option is specified. Parallel can only sync files specified in the backup directories listed in the parallel vaults view <Vault ID> command. The default directories are the same across all platforms:

• Desktop
• Documents
• Music
• Pictures
• Videos

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
config	-c	string	No	The vault configuration to use.
force	-f	bool	No	Forces syncing, bypassing safe guards.
path	-p	string	No	The source path to back up.

Note: You can add or remove directories via the subcommands below.

Sync add

parallel sync add <path> [--config]

Adds a new directory to the backup list.

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
config	-c	string	No	The vault configuration to use.
path		string	Yes	The path to add for syncing.

Sync remove

parallel sync remove <path> [--config]

Removes a directory from the backup list.

Parameter	Short hand	Type	Required	Description
config	-c	string	No	The vault configuration to use.
path		string	Yes	The path to remove from syncing.