Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨‍💻? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

adamschoales's avatar
adamschoales
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

"Smart" sync keeps downloading Online Only Files

I am growing increasingly frustrated with this so called "smart sync" feature Dropbox has recently introduced (or rather forced upon me). I have a number of files I've brought over to Dropbox using...
desktop
Download
sync
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
6 years ago

Hi WDPandP, what you're describing is different to what other users are experiencing. 

 

When you attempt to edit an online-only file, the Dropbox desktop application needs to make the file local first, to then open it in the appropriate app to edit it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible to edit a file that wasn't on your computer.

 

When the file is saved, it doesn't automatically return to being online-only, so you'll need to change it manually in Explorer each time.

 

Hope this helps to clarify matters!

WDPandP's avatar
WDPandP
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

Thank you for your help.

 

That makes sense now :)

 

I hope everyone else sorts the thread issue.

 

Regards,

 

Will

About View, download, and export

Node avatar for View, download, and export
Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!