Rescanning & watching for changes
Updated Oct 11, 2026 · 3 min read
Meshory watches your sources and follows files as you rename or reorganize them on disk.
Once a source is added, Meshory keeps up as your library changes. Local folders and drives get a live file watcher: new files are indexed and rendered as they appear, and files you delete on disk drop out of the library. Network sources are checked on a timer instead, since live watching doesn't hold up well over SMB and friends.
How often network sources are checked
Check network sources, in Settings → Scanning, sets the timer. Every 30 seconds is the default, and in that mode Meshory also checks when you come back to the app window. Each check reads the share's folders, which can wake a NAS whose drives have gone to sleep, so Every 5 minutes and Every hour are there for a NAS you'd rather leave idle. Only when I rescan stops the checks altogether: new and changed files on a network share appear when you use Rescan source in the sidebar. Local folders are watched for changes whichever you pick.
Rename and reorganize freely
When you rename a file or move it to a different folder within a source, Meshory matches it back to its existing entry by its file fingerprint, so your tags, notes, and thumbnails follow it. You can reorganize your library on disk without losing the work you've done in Meshory. You don't have to leave the app to do it, either: right-click a model or folder and choose Rename to rename it on disk from inside Meshory.
The matching is best-effort: it needs a clear one-to-one match. In rare ambiguous cases (say, several identical-size files renamed in one sweep) a file can be re-indexed as new instead.
If a source changed while Meshory wasn't running (for example a NAS that was offline), trigger a rescan of that source to catch up. Only the differences are processed, so a rescan is far quicker than the first scan. A rescan also replays the automatic tagging rules over the source, so a rule tag you removed by hand comes back; Automatic tagging covers how to keep it off.
When the differences aren't enough, the source's ⋯ menu has Rescan from scratch. Every file is re-read: archive contents are re-indexed, 3MF colors and slicer metadata are re-derived, and automatic tags are re-applied, while the tags you added yourself, your notes, collections and thumbnails are kept. It asks before it starts, because on a large or network source it takes a while.
When a source goes offline
Unplug the USB drive, or lose the NAS mount, and the library says so: an amber bar across the top names the source and offers a Recheck button. Its files can't be reached, so thumbnails and previews for it wait until the drive is back. Meshory keeps rechecking in the background (unless Check network sources is set to Only when I rescan, where a share that drops comes back through Recheck), and Recheck asks straight away, reporting Still unreachable if nothing has changed. Hover a model from that source whose thumbnail didn't render and the tooltip says the same, so a blank tile isn't a mystery. The index and the thumbnails you already have stay put while the source is away.
One source at a time
Syncs never compete with each other: whether it's a rescan you triggered, a background refresh, or duplicate fingerprinting, only one source works at a time and the rest wait their turn. A waiting source shows a queued badge in the sidebar in place of its Rescan button. Need a running sync to stop? The Stop button halts it within moments. Files already processed stay, and the next scan picks up the remainder.
Rename and Move to Trash are held off while any scan runs, because their changes wouldn't be picked up until it finished anyway; their menu items grey out and say Scan running. Excluding a folder only waits for its own source: while that source scans, Exclude from library greys out with Source scanning, and folders in your other sources can be excluded as usual. A greyed Rescan says why, too: Source disabled, Scanning paused or Already scanning. Everything comes back the moment the scan settles.
The wider guide
How to scan a NAS folder into your 3D print library →