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boominski's avatar
boominski
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago
Solved

Unable to stop or turn off desktop backup [SOLVED]

A while ago I turned on the new 'backup desktop/documents/downloads' feature. Now I want to turn it off, but I can't. There's no obvious 'turn this feature off' button. All the instructions I've seen...
Computer Backup
Dropbox Backup
  • boominski's avatar
    boominski
    6 years ago

    So, for anybody who happens to stumble upon this - here is how you can solve it. 

     

    1. Move your Dropbox folder - I found this solution accidentally, because my PC was getting full and I decided to move my Dropbox folder to another partition, but you could move it anywhere. Go into the Dropbox app, click on the picture of you, select 'preferences' , then 'sync' and then select the option to move your Dropbox folder. Just put it in a different location. Doing this will nuke your desktop. But do not panic. You will not lose any data. 

    2. Re-create your Desktop - i.e. make a folder called 'Desktop', in C:\Users\YourName\'. 

    3. Copy or move all your old desktop files from the Dropbox folder called 'My PC blah blah whatever \ Desktop' to your actual Desktop. This will get your desktop back, and Dropbox will no longer sync it, because it will be looking at the 'My PC' files. 

    4. Do steps 2-3 for the Downloads and Documents folders. 

    5. Get coffee.

     

Casper777's avatar
Casper777
Collaborator | Level 10
6 years ago

Hi there

 

Take a look at the post here: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/How-can-I-turn-off-the-automatic-computer-back-up-feature/td-p/404895

 

To turn off this setting, please follow the steps below:
  1. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
  2. Click your profile picture or initials.
  3. Click Preferences.
  4. Click the Import tab.
  5. Click Manage backup.
  6. Uncheck the folders you'd like to remove from Dropbox or toggle all files to Off.

Hope it helps!

 

Regards

 

Casper

MAYA77's avatar
MAYA77
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

I dont have a preferences option on my initial. Now what? 

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