| Mode name | Does an inhale? | Progress based on? | File stat(2)'s? | Default? | Notes |
| none | No | N/A | No | No | No progress report at all |
| minimal | No | Files seen so far | No | No | Tells you how many files have been processed, and how fast they have been getting processed, but you have no indication of when the backup will finish. |
| moderate | Yes | File count | No | No | Gives a simple progress report, by assuming that all files are the same size. |
| full+poststat | Yes | File sizes | Yes, done by backshift | Yes | This is a complete progress report, but it requires a somewhat time consuming stat loop near the beginning of operation so it'll know the number of bytes that're going to be processed. This information is used to give a more exact progress report. |
| full+prestat | Yes | File sizes | Yes, done by find(1) | No | This is a complete progress report, but it requires a more complex find command to avoid the time consuming stat loop, so it'll know the number of bytes that're going to be processed. This information is used to give a more exact progress report. |