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ajbentley's avatar
ajbentley
Explorer | Level 3
8 years ago
Solved

Can't switch to online only

I've got a file that's pretty big and I've put it up to dropbox with selective sync. The original version of the file is on an external hard drive. When I switched the dropbox folder to online only (...
desktop
sync
  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    8 years ago

    Hey there ajbentley - sorry to hear about this; let's take a look now.

    When using Selective Sync, and choosing to sync a folder you had previously excluded on the desktop client, you may notice the files appearing with a grey cloud icon beside them. This means that the files are ‘online-only’. You can see and interact with these files as normal, but they take up practically no space on your computer.

    Through our Smart Sync feature you now have greater control and can sync only the folders or files you need by right clicking, choosing Smart Sync and then selecting 'Local'. This helps optimize your hard disk usage.

    Once we have returned these 'online-only' files/folders through Selective Sync you can now see the files and folders and then proceed with re-downloading only the content you need and want.

    If a file has been synced locally that you would prefer to have online-only, simply right click on it and select online-only from the Smart Sync menu.

    Let me know how this goes Joshua.

Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago

Hey zj, thanks for nudging us on this thread. 

 

If you have files that are being set to local instead of online-only, you can have a look at this article which gives some additional info on the matter.

 

Check it out and let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks! 

DumbSync's avatar
DumbSync
New member | Level 2
6 years ago
Lusil wrote:

Hey zj, thanks for nudging us on this thread. 

 

If you have files that are being set to local instead of online-only, you can have a look at this article which gives some additional info on the matter.

 

Check it out and let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks! 

It is absolutely extraordinary that one needs to read this article in order to keep files online only. We all use back-up. I have now excluded my DB folder from CCC and TimeMachine -- but it remains impossible to select Online Only.

 

OS X latest.

 

What is the meaning under preferences of "Let my admin manage this setting" ? I am my admin and can manage nothing if this setting is on or off.

 

AB

 

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago

    Hi DumbSync, thanks for reaching out to us. 

     

    If you're part of a Business team, the team admin can have can manage the Smart Sync settings for their teams.

     

    Although this might be the case, team members can change their device settings to a different default at a later point in time.

     

    Hope this helps. 

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