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

Forum Discussion

highpoint7's avatar
highpoint7
New member | Level 2
4 months ago
Solved

Will my files get deleted from my Mac if I remove them from my Dropbox folder?

Here's my situation. I have a MacBook Pro 16 that I'm giving to my son. I'm not going to erase the computer, just get my files off of it. When it comes to dropbox, if I delete this folder, if any fil...
Delete
desktop
restore
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    4 months ago

    Hey highpoint7​!

    Both your online-only and available offline files should be deleted from your account online if you try to remove them from your local Dropbox folder. That happens because any changes you make locally should be synced online, and vice versa.

    So, if you remove an online-only file from within your Dropbox folder, the changes will sync to your account online, and the same thing will happen with an available offline file.

    That means that when you unlink, then uninstall the app, and then delete your Dropbox folder both the online-only and available offline should be removed from the device. That happens without affecting your content online, since the app won't be syncing anymore.

    I hope this clarifies!

Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
4 months ago

Hey there, highpoint7, thanks for posting here! 

I'd suggest what Rich already mentioned. If you have further questions you need help with, don't hesitate to let me know. 

Thanks a bunch!

  • highpoint7's avatar
    highpoint7
    New member | Level 2
    4 months ago

    check my response to @ Rich. Thanks

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      4 months ago

      Hey highpoint7​!

      Both your online-only and available offline files should be deleted from your account online if you try to remove them from your local Dropbox folder. That happens because any changes you make locally should be synced online, and vice versa.

      So, if you remove an online-only file from within your Dropbox folder, the changes will sync to your account online, and the same thing will happen with an available offline file.

      That means that when you unlink, then uninstall the app, and then delete your Dropbox folder both the online-only and available offline should be removed from the device. That happens without affecting your content online, since the app won't be syncing anymore.

      I hope this clarifies!

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support 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!