How can I stop files from syncing?

Hi cvhmanchester, thanks for contacting us.

As it sounds like you're using the Dropbox desktop application, could you clarify how you are attempting to upload the same files that you already have on your account?

Were the files from the site not previously synced to your machine?

Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

Thank you

Yes, I have been using the desktop application. But I am an occasional user of Dropbox, so never appreciated its core concept.  I use it primarily to pass large datasets, ~0.5TB, to co-workers.

My data source for this occasion is 1.2TB of images on a hard disc, H:.  My local institutional account folders are on C:, a 1 TB SSD. I have part of the institutional Dropbox account on the cloud.

I wanted to copy the 1.2TB to the cloud, which my co-worker would gradually download, and convert into the content of a website.  The last thing I want is for those uploaded files to be amended from either end.  That would disrupt the conversion process and links to the meta data of the website.

I dragged and dropped the files from H: to the Dropbox account folders shown on C:

After a couple of hours, my PC started seizing up.  After a bit of investigation, I discovered that the files were not only being uploaded to the cloud, they were also being downloaded to Dropbox folders on the C: drive, which ran out of space.  It needed TreeSize to reveal what files were on which drive.  I had to delete the lot and many other folders on the account, then start again.

I could and can not find any way to stop the process.  There is no Ctrl/Alt/Del.  Somewhere on the forum is a convoluted process involving rebooting the computer. That is what one does when suddenly discovering that the computer is being hacked.  There needs to be an obvious and immediate method to stop/correct/reverse errors.

Further investigation revealed that I was not copying the files ("Dropping" them), but syncing them. There is no copy command in Dropbox.  But the name is Dropbox, not Syncbox.

It is partly my lack of experience, but partly because the underlying logic is confusing and not coherent.  I need to know at a glance which file and version (e.g. date stamp) is on which physical store.  If I change a file, I make a conscious decision, which I share with my co-worker, to move that file to the next stage of processing, determined by its physical location.  That is the policy I use during the preliminary processing stages from the raw images on my PC in order that the successive changes can be identified and audited.  It is extremely disruptive if Dropbox implicitly makes that decision, or by default. 

Yeah, it’s strange there isn’t just a simple ‘cancel sync’ button — feels like that would save a lot of frustration for cases like this.

Thanks for the detailed information. As you've noted, Dropbox is primarily a syncing program, so that the website and all your devices would contain the same content on it at all times. 

This means that uploading files directly to the site via the desktop app isn't an option, as it would sync them both ways. 

Cancelling the sync doesn't work in the way you're looking for, since the files are already in the Dropbox folder after you copied them, meaning that the Dropbox desktop application would have to sync those files to complete the process. Cancelling the sync in this instance would mean removing those files from the Dropbox folder, so that there is nothing left to sync by the app.

If you do plan on using the Dropbox desktop application for the workflow you described, you could try gradually adding files into the Dropbox folder, and once they've synced fully, try marking those files as available online-only, meaning they don't take up any local space on your machine. 

Once the space is freed up, you can continue copying files from your H: into the C: Dropbox folder, and repeat the process until all your files have been transferred to the site. 

Thank you for the advice.

Is it possible to move/create the desktop application to my H: drive, which is my work space for the web project?  I have at max about 270GB of spare space on my C: drive, which would require multiple uploads and deletions to make your proposed convoluted copy process work.  There must be a better way in Dropbox.  Why not add a copy (?and move) command comparable with the MS Explorer commands?

I have 4 other multi-TB drives for preliminary image manipulation tasks on the PC. All of the relevant software tools enable the program to be on a different drive from the data storage, complete with provision for temporary storage on fast drives.  I deliberately keep my data separate from the system/program disc in case it crashes catastrophically. 

If you're referring to the Dropbox folder, and not the actual Dropbox program itself, then yes, you can move the Dropbox folder to another drive by following these steps.

Bear in mind that this would only work for internal and external drives, and not for mounted network drives, as the latter aren't supported for the desktop app.

Thank you for pointing me to moving the folders, which I have done.

A couple of points in the instructions for Win11

The avatar is not at the bottom, it is at the top right

"Click Move… (Windows and Linux), or Dropbox location (Mac)." There is no Move, only Dropbox location

We'll see how that works. But it seems that Dropbox needs a refresh.

PS. in common with many institutions, their firewalls are getting much stronger. I cannot transfer any files through the firewall. All I can do is make it available for someone inside to take what is offered, then ensuring there are no nasties hidden in one of the files by accident or design before manipulating them into a suitable format and storage for their webserver. Nothing should be synced - too risky.  That seems an obvious way for hackers to get access.

Thanks for the feedback. The desktop is undergoing some minor visual changes and is being rolled out slowly, so you might be seeing a slightly different version of it.

Let me know if you need any more info in the future!