If I reinstall Dropbox will the files that are already indexed on my hard drive still be linked?

I want to stop a huge syncing process that was started by mistake.

I have read that the only effective way to do this is to uninstall and reinstall the desktop app.

There are a large number of files already indexed on my external hard drive. I am concerned that if I uninstall and reinstall then I may have to index all of these files again, which will take days if not weeks.

I would like to know what happens with the files when I reinstall - will the app function as it did before, as if it was never uninstalled?