# Keeping Memo up to date (/en/docs/memo/archive)

This page helps you keep Memo current without thinking about it. One command brings in what changed
in your note folders and mailboxes, and on Linux a timer can run it for you every few minutes. Only
what changed is read, so every run after the first is quick.

## Import what changed [#import-what-changed]

```sh
memo import
```

This imports every folder and mail account in the [config file](/llms.mdx/docs/memo/configuration/content.md). It reports what
it found for each one:

```text
notes /path/to/notes: 24 notes, 2 changed, 0 moved, 0 gone
```

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `--notes` | Only note folders |
| `--mail` | Only mail accounts |
| `--no-embed` | Skip the preparation for search by meaning |

Telegram and MAX messages are kept current by tg and max, not by `memo import`.

## Import on a timer (Linux) [#import-on-a-timer-linux]

```sh
memo auto on --every 5m     # import every 5 minutes, starting a minute from now
memo auto status            # whether the timer is on, when it runs next and how the last run ended
memo auto off               # stop and remove the timer
```

`--every` takes `90s`, `5m`, `1h` and so on; the shortest is one minute. The timer uses systemd, the
service manager of most Linux systems. On macOS and Windows, run `memo import` yourself or from your
own scheduler.

The timer runs `memo import` with the settings of the terminal you turned it on from, so it finds
Himalaya and your passwords the same way. `memo auto on` and `off` write `auto` in the config file;
if you edit it there, the timer follows at its next run.

## What an import reads [#what-an-import-reads]

* A note file with the same size and change time as last time is not read.
* Text that is already in the local store is not saved again, so a second computer importing the
  same folder adds nothing new.
* Mail that is already stored is skipped.
* Two imports never run at the same time, and one source that fails does not stop the others.

[How Memo works](/llms.mdx/docs/memo/how-it-works/content.md#what-an-import-does) explains what happens to edited, moved and
deleted files.

Next: [search what you imported](/llms.mdx/docs/memo/search/content.md).