Notice that in the [[previous example|getting_file_content]], `git annex
sync` was used. This lets git-annex know what has changed in the other
repositories like the laptop, and so it knows about the files present there and can
get them.

Let's look at what the sync command does in more detail:

	$ cd /media/usb/annex
	$ git annex sync
	commit
	nothing to commit (working directory clean)
	ok
	pull laptop
	ok
	push laptop
	ok

After you run sync, the git repository will be updated with all changes
made to its remotes, and any changes in the git repository will be pushed
out to its remotes, where a sync will get them. This is especially useful
when using git in a distributed fashion, without a [[central bare
repository|tips/centralized_git_repository_tutorial]]. See [[sync]] for
details.

By default `git annex sync` only syncs the metadata about your
files that is stored in git. It does not sync the contents of annexed
files, that are managed by git-annex. To do that, you can use
`git annex sync --content`

There are also commands `git-annex pull` and `git-annex push` that are like
`git-annex sync`, but only transfer in one direction, do not commit, and
operate on the content of annexed files by default.