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jgaddy's avatar
jgaddy
New member | Level 2
8 years ago
Solved

Removing Downloaded Dropbox files from Computer

Hi,

 

I am currenlty running into a problem where all of my dropbox files are being held in both dropbox.com and on my computer. As of now i have it set up where i can do to my documents and select dropbox and ADD or Remove files there as well as edit. It functions just as any folder.

 

I am wanting to know how I can choose what is stored on my computer and what is stored in the cloud. My family photos are taking up 30GB's of space on my computer and are also in dropbox. Is there are way to have them only be thumbnails on my computer unless I clikc on them?

 

Thanks

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  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago

    The new Professional plan offers the Smart Sync feature which allows you to specify that files and folders are only stored on the cloud, but still accessible on the computer.

     

    If you have Basic or Plus, you can use Selective Sync to remove the local copy of a folder from your computer, leaving it in your account online, but it would only be accessible through the Dropbox website at that point.

5 Replies

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago

    The new Professional plan offers the Smart Sync feature which allows you to specify that files and folders are only stored on the cloud, but still accessible on the computer.

     

    If you have Basic or Plus, you can use Selective Sync to remove the local copy of a folder from your computer, leaving it in your account online, but it would only be accessible through the Dropbox website at that point.

  • MaxH42's avatar
    MaxH42
    Helpful | Level 6
    8 years ago

    But I've seen other users state that if you use Selective Sync you will not be able to view thumbnails of your images. Can anyone verify that? I would upgrade from Plus to Pro in a second if I could get thumbnails. My huge folders of images are my biggest issue that I hoped Selective Sync could solve, but without thumbnails I might as well browse my unsynced folders on the web. Or better yet, browse my photos on Flickr, since you get 1TB of uploads for free.

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago
    Selective Sync removes everything from the local machine - so that folder and directory will not exist on it at all. So, no, you wont be able to view thumbnails.
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago
    Note: I'm using the new Professional Plan and *can* see thumbnails on files but they are *very very* slow to appear initially.
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago

    Hey all, if it's not too much trouble for you, would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using the Dropbox Community? You can access it here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT . 

     
    Happy Halloween! :jack_o_lantern: 

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