Forum Discussion

kmeadows's avatar
kmeadows
Helpful | Level 5
7 years ago

Only want to sync specific folders on my other device

I have all my files in Dropbox on my PC. I want to "some" of them, not all of them on my laptop. When I downloaded Dropbox on the laptop, I ended with "all" files on the laptop. Can someone please ...
desktop
sync
Daphne's avatar
Daphne
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Hey there kmeadows,
 
If you want to remove some of the folders from your computer but keep them in your account online, I’d suggest using Selective sync. This will allow you to choose folders that you don’t want to sync down to your desktop folder and they will be available via your account online. You can update these settings at anytime with these steps:
 
  1. Click the Dropbox icon from the system tray/menu bar.
  2. Click the gear icon in the top right. 
  3. Select Preferences… from the menu.
  4. Click on the Sync tab
  5. Click on Selective Sync...
  6. Uncheck any folders you want to be removed from your device.
 
Hope this helps - Thanks!
kmeadows's avatar
kmeadows
Helpful | Level 5
7 years ago

Nope. I don't want my old files accessable on my laptop at all. I ended up sending myself a link to "share" the files. I opened the link on the laptop and now have access. But I think the problem will be that the files are still just in the cloud and not actually downloaded to my laptop where I can access them easily. 

How do you upload a photo or document that is only on the cloud, not on your local laptop to something like a website that I am creating???

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
     
    If you want to have the files accessible locally on your laptop, you could create a specific folder on the Laptop and choose to have only that one syncing to your Laptop and none of your other folders in your account. You can do this through your selective sync settings. Alternatively, you can use the website to access and manage your Dropbox files on that device.
     
    Selecting files that are not locally on your device is up to the discretion of the website you’re uploading to, so whether or not you have created the functionality to select files that are stored within another service. If you need to upload files from a local location, perhaps as a work around you can download the file from your Dropbox account online then upload to the website.
     
    Hope this helps to clarify the matter - Thanks!

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