Systems and methods to automatically upgrade, or update a synchronization client to a cloud-based platform are provided. The automatic upgrading can be provided to a personal or an enterprise-level synchronization client. The synchronization client is implemented in a manner that is silent, secure and fault tolerant. In one embodiment, the disclosed technology includes an executable process to download the update, verify the contents, and apply the update. The contents can be verified by checking the certificate on any binary. The systems and methods further include identification and handling of items to be ignored by the synchronization client for synchronization with a cloud-based platform. In some embodiments, files and folders which typically should not be synchronized are identified and removed from the synchronization process in an effective manner.