Mechanisms are provided for performing a synchronization operation for synchronizing data to a tape medium. The mechanisms receive a request to perform the synchronization operation on the tape medium and obtain file information from a storage device in response to the request. The mechanisms determine if the file information is associated with a file that has been changed since a last index was written to the tape medium. In response to the file information being determined to be associated with a file that has been changed since a last index was written to the tape medium, the mechanisms add index information corresponding to the file information to a partial index. The partial index comprises index information for files less than a total number of files recorded on the tape medium. The mechanisms write the partial index to the tape medium.