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Forum Discussion
Cendrillon
5 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Dropbox Syncing Without My Permission
Hi! I am running into a potential problem with Dropbox. When I started up my Windows 10 PC this evening, the Dropbox desktop app on my screen immediately started syncing, even though I had not prom...
- 5 years agoThe Dropbox desktop application would only sync other computer folders (namely Desktop, Documents and Downloads) if you enabled the computer backup feature.
If it's disabled, all that would be synced are the files in the Dropbox folder itself. It doesn't sync your entire computer, as this feature isn't available on Dropbox.
Cendrillon
5 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Hi, Walter! Thank you so much for your reply! I followed your advice. I first went to the desktop app Preferences and made sure that "Start Dropbox on system startup" and "Open the desktop app when starting Dropbox" were unchecked. Then, I quit Dropbox.
Being the experimenter I am, I reopened the Dropbox desktop app to ensure that I had done everything necessary, but the little yellow circle with the pair of lines is still there. How do I do a reset so that my Dropbox desktop app isn't going to forever be in "Pause syncing" mode?
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 years agoHi Cendrillon, you could resume syncing in the desktop app, and then immediately quit the app.
This way the only way files will sync to your account is when the app is running.
Just out of curiosity, is there a reason you don't want the app to sync automatically, and only when you choose to have the app running?
This way the only way files will sync to your account is when the app is running.
Just out of curiosity, is there a reason you don't want the app to sync automatically, and only when you choose to have the app running?
- Cendrillon5 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Hi, Jay! Thanks for joining the thread! Yes, there is a reason I don't want the app to sync automatically, and only when I run the app. The simple reason is, I only have the basic account with 2GB capacity, so I don't want the app to sync my entire computer automatically. I am taking an online GIS course, and I am going to be creating some GIS documents. I only want to back up my GIS documents to Dropbox. I don't want my entire computer backed up to Dropbox. So I will sync my GIS files to Dropbox when I am ready. When I'm not deliberately syncing files to Dropbox, I would prefer the app to be shut down and not syncing, if that makes any sense. I am still very new to Dropbox and syncing services in general and am not 100% clear on how it works. 😕
- Jay5 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
The Dropbox desktop application would only sync other computer folders (namely Desktop, Documents and Downloads) if you enabled the computer backup feature.
If it's disabled, all that would be synced are the files in the Dropbox folder itself. It doesn't sync your entire computer, as this feature isn't available on Dropbox.- Cendrillon5 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Oh, OK. That makes sense now. Thank you, Jay! 🙂
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