ActiveSync is a mobile data synchronization

Data synchronization

Data synchronization is the process of establishing consistency among data from a source to a target data storage and vice versa and the continuous harmonization of the data over time. It is fundamental to a wide variety of applications, including file synchronization and mobile device...

 technology and protocol

Proprietary protocol

In telecommunications, a proprietary protocol is a communications protocol owned by a single organization or individual.-Enforcement:Proprietors may enforce restrictions through patents and by keeping the protocol specification a trade secret...

 developed by Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

, originally released in 1996. There are two implementations of the technology: one which synchronizes data and information with handheld devices with a specific desktop computer (originally known as Handheld PC Explorer), and another technology, commonly known as Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync is an XML-based protocol that communicates over HTTP designed for the synchronization of email, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes from a messaging server to a mobile device...

(or EAS), which provides push

Push technology

Push technology, or server push, describes a style of Internet-based communication where the request for a given transaction is initiated by the publisher or central server...

 synchronization of contacts, calendars, tasks, and email

Push e-mail

Push email is used to describe email systems that provide an always-on capability, in which new email is actively transferred as it arrives by the mail delivery agent to the mail user agent , also called the email client...

 between ActiveSync-enabled servers and devices.

Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync is an XML-based protocol that communicates over HTTP designed for the synchronization of email, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes from a messaging server to a mobile device...

 is a proprietary protocol

Proprietary protocol

In telecommunications, a proprietary protocol is a communications protocol owned by a single organization or individual.-Enforcement:Proprietors may enforce restrictions through patents and by keeping the protocol specification a trade secret...

 and is licensed to a number of mobile device companies, including Apple for iOS

IOS

iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...

, Palm

Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...

 for its webOS devices, and Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 for certain Android smartphones. Exchange ActiveSync technology is also used by other messaging and collaborative software

Collaborative software

Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...

 servers, including Novell GroupWise

Novell GroupWise

GroupWise is a messaging and collaborative software platform from Novell that supports email, calendaring, personal information management, instant messaging, and document management. The platform consists of the client software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, and the server...

 and Lotus Domino

IBM Lotus Domino

Lotus Domino is an IBM server product that provides enterprise-grade e-mail, collaboration capabilities, and a custom application platform. Domino began life as Lotus Notes Server, the server component of Lotus Development Corporation's client-server messaging technology. It can be used as an...

 and FuseMetrix

Fusemetrix

FuseMetrix is a cloud business application used by companies of all sizes. The core modules are Customer Relationship Management,, Accounts and Enterprise Resource Planning ....

. In the Windows Task Manager, the associated process is called wcescomm.exe.

Desktop ActiveSync

The desktop ActiveSync program allows a mobile device to be synchronized with either a desktop PC

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

, or a server

Server (computing)

In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

 running Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server

Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...

, Atmail, Axigen Mail Server

AXIGEN

Axigen, marketed as AXIGEN, is a mail server with groupware and collaboration functionalities. It supports SMTP/ESMTP, IMAP, POP3 and webmail services, and has an integrated mailing list server...

, PostPath Email and Collaboration Server, Critical Path Messaging Server, Kerio Connect, Scalix

Scalix

Scalix is an e-mail and groupware server that runs on Linux, licensed under the Scalix Public License .Scalix provides e-mail, group calendaring and other collaborative software, which are standard in groupware...

, Zimbra

Zimbra

Zimbra Collaboration Suite is a groupware product created by Zimbra, Inc., located in Palo Alto, California, USA. The company was purchased by Yahoo! in September 2007, and subsequently purchased by VMware on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. The software consists of both client and server components...

 or Z-push

Z-push

Z-Push is an open source implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol which is used to synchronize email, personal contacts and other items between a central server and a mobile device...

. Only Personal information manager

Personal information manager

A personal information manager is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to Personal information management as a field of study...

 (PIM) data (Email/Calendar/Contacts) may be synchronized with the Exchange Server. (Tasks may also be synchronized with Exchange Server on Windows Mobile 5.0 devices.) The PC synchronization option, however, allows PIM synchronization with Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...

, along with Internet "favorites", files, and tasks, amongst other data types. ActiveSync doesn't support all features of Outlook. For instance, contacts grouped into subfolders aren't transferred. Only the contacts which are not in a subfolder are synchronized.

ActiveSync also provides for the manual transfer of files to a mobile device, along with limited backup/restore functionality, and the ability to install and uninstall mobile device applications.

Supported mobile devices include PDAs

Personal digital assistant

A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...

 or Smartphone

Smartphone

A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...

s running Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...

, or the Windows CE

Windows CE

Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...

 operating system, along with devices that don't use a Microsoft operating system, such as the iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

, Palm OS

Palm OS

Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...

 and Symbian

Symbian

Symbian is a mobile operating system and computing platform designed for smartphones and currently maintained by Accenture. The Symbian platform is the successor to Symbian OS and Nokia Series 60; unlike Symbian OS, which needed an additional user interface system, Symbian includes a user...

 platforms. Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft, and is the successor to its Windows Mobile platform, although incompatible with it. Unlike its predecessor, it is primarily aimed at the consumer market rather than the enterprise market...

 doesn't support desktop ActiveSync synchronization.

Starting with Windows Vista

Windows Vista

Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...

, ActiveSync has been replaced with the Windows Mobile Device Center

Windows Mobile Device Center

Windows Mobile Device Center is a synchronization software program developed by Microsoft, and the successor to ActiveSync. It is designed to synchronize various content including music, video, contacts, calendar events, web browser favorites, and other files between Windows Mobile devices and the...

, which is included as part of the operating system.

Exchange ActiveSync

In addition to the ActiveSync desktop sync software bundled with Windows, Microsoft also uses the ActiveSync name to refer to the push messaging component of Exchange Server called Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync is an XML-based protocol that communicates over HTTP designed for the synchronization of email, contacts, calendar, tasks and notes from a messaging server to a mobile device...

, which relays messages to mobile devices.

Release history

Version	Operating systems	Release date	Major changes
1.0	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...	1996-09-10	Initial version (under name H/PC Explorer)
1.1.7077	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996...	1997-03-19	NT4 support Stability and compatibility fixes Revised EULA
2.0		Fall 1997	Renamed to Windows CE Services Support for Windows CE 2 Windows CE 1 support dropped
2.1		1998-02	Support for Windows CE 2.1x
2.2	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... , 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...	1998-09	NT4 installation easier 33% faster than 2.1
3.0.0.9204		1999-08-16	Renamed to ActiveSync Faster, simplified, and vastly improved. Removed the association between RAS/DUN and the Windows CE connection stack
3.1.9386		1999-11-24	USB synchronization and the inclusion of the AvantGo host client Auto-adjusting baud rate
3.1.9439	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... , 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...	?	Sync fixes
3.1.9587		2001-07-31	Added synchronisation support for Microsoft Exchange Server Microsoft Exchange Server Microsoft Exchange Server is the server side of a client–server, collaborative application product developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Servers line of server products and is used by enterprises using Microsoft infrastructure products...  2000 Fixes for Outlook 98 / 2000 Security updates Fixed a problem with the USB sync option
3.5.1176	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... , 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...	2001-08-06	Integrated support for new Windows XP and Office XP releases and Pocket PC 2002 Improved USB functionality, security and sync performance New connection sounds
3.5.12007		2002-03-01	Revised high color program icon
3.6.2148	Windows 95 Windows 95 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products... , NT 4 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 is a preemptive, graphical and business-oriented operating system designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor computers. It was the next release of Microsoft's Windows NT line of operating systems and was released to manufacturing on 31 July 1996... , 98 Windows 98 Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid... , 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... , Home Server Windows Home Server Windows Home Server, code-named Quattro, is a home server operating system from Microsoft. Announced on 7 January 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups,...	2002-11 November 2002 November 2002: January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:- November 1, 2002 :...	Support for the new range of Smartphone devices Customary security updates and synchronisation performance improvements New Get Connected Wizard Improves on remote synchronisation by preventing error messages and dialogues from halting sync process
3.7.3083		2003-05-06	Minor updates to internal icon set Corrects a discovered security flaw in ActiveSync Improvements to the synchronisation wizard, other UI changes and general enhancements Improvements to support forthcoming Microsoft Office 2003 release and Windows Mobile 2003
3.7.1.3244		2003-10-10	Improvements to USB drivers and issues related to synchronisation Get Connected Wizard's interface modified slightly.
3.7.1.4034		2004-03-26	Fixed reported bugs with Windows Explorer and XP Firewall integration.
3.8		2005-01-06	Secure functionality and provide updates for Windows XP SP2 systems Performance improvements in synchronisation Circumvents XP Firewall prompts that users experienced with other program versions upon first run. Disables the Ethernet (LAN, Bluetooth) and RAS (Modem and WAN) connection method by default
4.0.4343	Windows 2000 Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the... , XP Windows XP Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base... , 2003 Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 is a server operating system produced by Microsoft, introduced on 24 April 2003. An updated version, Windows Server 2003 R2, was released to manufacturing on 6 December 2005... , Home Server Windows Home Server Windows Home Server, code-named Quattro, is a home server operating system from Microsoft. Announced on 7 January 2007, at the Consumer Electronics Show by Bill Gates, Windows Home Server is intended to be a solution for homes with multiple connected PCs to offer file sharing, automated backups,...	2005	Users able to specify installation directory Removal of on-personal area connectivity options from the synchronisation mix. Services for connections with Microsoft SQL server are included, along with a synchronisation update for Windows Media Player 10 GUI refresh
4.0.4358		2005	Retail version included only on Windows Mobile 5 device CDs
4.1.0.4841		2005-11-18	Critical update
4.2.0.4876		2006-06-06	Microsoft Outlook improvements: Resolves issues relating to error code 85010014 Proxy/DTPT interaction improvements: Improved auto configuration of device Connection Manager settings when desktop has no proxy path to the Internet Improved Desktop Pass Thru behavior with ISA proxy failures Partnership improvements: Better resolution of multiple devices with the same name syncing with the same desktop Connectivity improvements: Better handling of VPN clients (resolve unbinding of protocols from our RNDIS adapter). New auto detection of connectivity failure with user diagnostic alerts New troubleshooting utility
4.5.5096		2007-02-13	Faster file transfer speed and photo sync via Outlook are only available for Windows Mobile 5.0 powered devices. Users of Microsoft Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 with devices running the Messaging and Security Feature Pack for Windows Mobile 5.0 will benefit from the following feature enhancements included in ActiveSync 4.5: Direct Push Technology, local device wipe, and certificate powered authentication to Microsoft Exchange. Microsoft Office Outlook 2000 not supported Conversion of database files for use on a mobile device is not supported Conversion of font files for use on a mobile device is not supported by ActiveSync 4.5

See also

• Push email
• Handheld PC
  Handheld PC
  A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...
  
  
• Handheld PC Explorer
  Handheld PC Explorer
  Handheld PC Explorer, or as it is more commonly referred to, H/PC Explorer was the Windows PC host client for the inaugural generation of Microsoft Windows CE 1.0 based embedded PC companion devices, the Handheld PC.-Handheld PC Explorer 1.0:...
  
  
• Palm-size PC
  Palm-size PC
  The Palm-Size PC was Microsoft's first attempt at a computer conforming to an 'in your hand' profile.- Information :...
  
  
• Pocket PC
  Pocket PC
  A Pocket PC is also known by Microsoft as a 'Windows Mobile Classic device'. It is a hardware specification for a handheld-sized computer, personal digital assistant , that runs the Microsoft 'Windows Mobile Classic' operating system...
  
  
• Smartphone
  Smartphone
  A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
  
  
• SyncToy
  SyncToy
  SyncToy is a freeware tool in Microsoft's PowerToys series that provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface for synchronizing files and folders. It is written using Microsoft's .NET framework and uses the Microsoft Sync Framework.-Features:...
  
  
• Windows Mobile Device Center
  Windows Mobile Device Center
  Windows Mobile Device Center is a synchronization software program developed by Microsoft, and the successor to ActiveSync. It is designed to synchronize various content including music, video, contacts, calendar events, web browser favorites, and other files between Windows Mobile devices and the...
  
  
• SynCE An Open Source Alternative

External links

• Microsoft ActiveSync