I only want to manually back up static folders to Dropbox, without the app syncing all the time.

Hey DavidLNeel​, let's jump right into this! 

I apologize for my lengthy reply, I just want to make sure that I cover everything. 

When you download and install the Dropbox desktop app, a relevant Dropbox folder with all of your content is created in your Finder. That folder acts like a mirror between your account online, and vice versa.

Based on the info you mentioned it sounds like you were prompted to use our Backup feature. This feature allows you to back up key folders, such as “Desktop”, “Documents” and “Downloads” to Dropbox. However it's important to add that you don't have to use the feature if you don't want to. 

If you choose not to enable it then you could simply copy your Documents, and then paste the current contents to Dropbox at any given time and use it as a "static backup".

However, there's one thing I need to point out. Your Dropbox folder will need to sync in order for the app to work properly. You can always choose to pause the syncing process temporarily but when you resume syncing then the changes you made to your files online will sync to your device, and the other way around. Is this something you'd want? 

If not, then I suggest uninstalling the app entirely and using our website instead. If you have larger folders that you need to upload to your account but you can't due to the upload limit, then you could simply try smaller batches to achieve that.

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way.