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Grant W.1's avatar
Grant W.1
New member | Level 2
8 years ago
Solved

Smart Sync and removing local files

Hello, I'm attempting to convert my dropbox folder on my desktop to smart sync, so that I'm not storing any local files on my harddrive in order to save space.  Currently, my folder has some local ...
desktop
sync
  • atccodex's avatar
    atccodex
    8 years ago

    Hi Grant W.1

     

    So first and foremost, Dropbox is a sync solution, not a backup. When sync is turned on, it sync the local file to the cloud. If you delete the local file, it will also destroy the cloud copy. You can directly upload your files for storage using the web client https://www.dropbox.com/home and then that will be stored independently of your local files. 

     

    As for the status, if you click on the little dropbox logo in the system tray, it should give you the current sync status of your files.

Daphne's avatar
Daphne
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago

I've reached out to your email address Grambles12, please just check your inbox when you have a moment and we'll go from there.

Thanks!

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

Ok. I have one more question. How about later copied files? I copied some folders to my online folder and after sync they have green icon. I suppose the smart sync should sync them and then "delete" or "minimize" them and then they should have grey icon.

I have to  select them manually as online ... shouldn't be this automatic? I put it inside a online folder and I suppose it should be considered as online!

So please, can someone explain to me how this case works? Am I right that after sync to online the files are minimized afterwards? Or how? Thanx?

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago

    Hi there Uli_D, 

    Thanks for checking back in with us! I'd be more than happy to help. 

    When you move/paste a new file into your Dropbox folder, since all relevant info is already stored on your computer, the file stays local and the desktop app syncs it. Once it's completely synced, you can manually select it to be online-only. 

    From there, the file will automatically be online-only in any other device that you've chosen for new files to be Smart Synced as such. 

    Finally, if you want to set content in a folder as online-only in one go, you can simply right-click on the folder itself and select the relevant option.

    I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any other questions! 

  • mcgoody's avatar
    mcgoody
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

     Hello. I changed to Smart Sync yesterday, but am unable to switch any of the folders manually from Local to Online Only. 

    My hard drive is full, do I just need to give it more time?

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