If you don’t need offline file sync, here’s how you can fully disable Windows Sync Center and stop Mobsync.exe from running.
When enabled and configured, the Windows offline file synchronization always runs in the background to sync and keep a copy of network files and folders for offline usage.
This feature is useful if you want access to network files even if you are not connected to a network location. The offline file sync feature is managed by the Windows Sync Center tool. In fact, you can see the Sync Center icon in the taskbar and Mobsync.exe process in the task manager when the offline file sync is actively running in the background.
If you are no longer using the Sync Center feature in Windows, follow the steps listed below to stop the Mobsync.exe process and disable Windows Sync Center.
How do I Disable Sync Center in Windows
To turn off Sync Center completely, these are the steps you should follow.
- Right-click on the Start menu.
- Select the “Run” option.
- Type “control panel” and click “Ok“.
- In the control panel, set View By to “Large Icons“.
- Now, find and select the “Sync Center” option.
- Click on the “Manage offline files” link in the left pane.
- Click on the “Disable offline files” button.
- In the restart prompt, click “Yes” to reboot Windows.
After rebooting, Sync Center is completely disabled and the offline file sync feature is turned off. Of course, the mobsync.exe process will no longer run in the background.
To enable it back, follow the same steps but click the “Enable offline files” button and reboot the system.
GPO to Disable Sync Center using Group Policy Editor
To disable offline file sync with GPO, follow the steps listed below.
- Open the Start menu.
- Search for “Edit group policy” and open it.
- In the GP Editor, go to the “Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Network → Offline Files” folder.
- Find the double-click on the “Allow or Disallow use of the Offline Files feature” policy.
- Select the “Disabled” radio option.
- Click “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save changes.
- Close the Group Policy Editor.
- Reboot Windows.
Restarting will apply the policy system-wide and disables the Sync Center in Windows 10. Keep in mind that the policy is applied to the computer not to a specific user, just like with the control panel method.
To enable back the Sync Center via Group Policy GPO, follow the same steps as shown below but select “Not configured” or “Enabled” radio options.
What is Sync Center
Sync Center is a built-in Windows feature that lets you sync network files and keep a copy of those network files locally. Since a copy of the network files is stored locally, you can make any modifications to them as need even if you are not connected to the network location.
When re-connected to the network location, Sync Center will re-sync all the files, folders, and their changes. It can also manage sync conflicts on its own or send a notification when user interference is needed.
That is all. If it is that simple to turn off sync center in Windows 10. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible. Also, check out how to fix sync is not available Windows 10 error.
