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Settings Reference

General

Setting Default Notes
Theme — Light/dark UI theme
Time format — 12h/24h display
OS notifications On Desktop notifications for scan results/events
Tray Icon Dynamic Dynamic changes color with status (idle/scanning/warning/alert/update available); Static keeps one fixed color (currently white). A small preview icon is shown next to each option
Automatic Update Checks On Periodically checks filegriffon.com for a newer version; shows a dismissible banner and a distinct tray icon color when one’s available. Never downloads or installs anything automatically
Start with Windows Off Launches FileGriffon automatically at login (HKCU Run key). Windows-only; hidden on other platforms. Same key the installer’s optional “Start with Windows” checkbox writes at install time — this toggle just lets you change it later without reinstalling
Drive Health (Experimental) Off Basic SMART-based drive health, Windows-only via WMI. Off by default due to a known WMI concurrency issue — enable at your own risk
SMART Drive Health (Pro) Off Real SMART data via a separate helper service instead of WMI. Requires a Pro license and a one-time Administrator approval to set up the service; FileGriffon itself never runs elevated. Turning it on switches Drive Health above off (and vice versa) — only one is ever active
Email & ntfy Alerts (Pro) Off Notifies you by email (SMTP) and/or ntfy when a scan finds newly corrupt or newly missing files, or when a scan fails. Each event type is an independent checkbox, and each channel has its own “Send test notification” button. Requires a Pro license. SMTP password and ntfy access token are stored in the Windows Credential Locker, never in plain text — see Security & Encryption
Usage Telemetry Off Opt-in, minimal usage stats only — never file names, paths, or hashes
Diagnostic Logs Off Opt-in logging you can export as a bundle for troubleshooting/support
TeraCopy Sidecar Ingest Off If you use TeraCopy to move/copy files into a vault, FileGriffon can ingest its verification manifest instead of re-hashing those files from scratch. Also controls what happens to the manifest file afterward: archive it, leave it, delete it, or a custom action

“Export Diagnostic Bundle” (next to Diagnostic Logs) packages recent logs for sharing when reporting a problem. It’s only available while Diagnostic Logs is on — there’s nothing to export while it’s off.

The exported .zip contains only log text: the main application log and each vault’s scan log. It does not include your database, file list, settings, license key, or encryption secrets. Vault names, file paths, and hashes are redacted twice over — once as they’re written to the log files, and again at export time (vaults are relabeled VAULT_1, VAULT_2, etc.) — so the bundle is safe to send to support without exposing what’s in your vaults.

Database

Controls the automatic retention/cleanup sweeps and backups:

  • Grace window before a MISSING file is swept from history (default 2 days), settable globally or per-vault.
  • Event history retention: events older than 90 days are swept automatically.
  • Event detail redaction: sensitive detail fields on events are redacted after 2 days, independent of full event deletion at 90 days.
  • Manual “Clean now” with a preview of how many records would be removed before you confirm.
  • Orphaned parity file cleanup: deleting a MISSING file record (or matching it as moved) that had parity protection removes its database entry but deliberately does not delete its .par2 file automatically. A small orange badge appears in the nav bar when this has happened, linking here — use “Clean now” to review and delete the leftover .par2 files.
  • Local backups: FileGriffon keeps rolling backups of the database (default 3 copies) at a configurable location.

Security

See Security & Encryption for full detail: Enable/Disable encryption, Lock/Unlock, Change Passphrase, Cross-Machine Recovery Key.

License

See Licensing & Trial: Activate, Start Trial, Deactivate.

Advanced

Setting Default Notes
File hash protection Protected (HMAC-keyed) Default hash mode offered when creating a new vault: Protected (HMAC-keyed, recommended) or Raw (plain XXH3-64, no keying). Changing this default only affects vaults created afterward; it never touches an existing vault’s mode. Per-vault, this can be upgraded one-way from Raw to Protected later, but never downgraded — see Security & Encryption.

Per-vault settings

See Vaults: label, skip directories, schedule, scan size (Auto/Fixed-GB), Parity Protection, Parity Scope, Redundancy preset, parity storage location, and (Advanced, at creation only) File hash protection — see Security & Encryption.