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STOP Dropbox from backing up external drive
I made the mistake of accepting a request from Dropbox to back up an external drive plugged into my Mac. I didn't stop to think the files in that drive were going to be huge video files that should N...
I found the same thing. Delete the external drive from your DropBox online, not locally, and those large files will disappear.
I must have done something wrong, because when I deleted the external drive from within the web instance of Dropbox it deleted my local files! I am not happy.
When I installed my external drive, I don't recall a setting that said back up to Dropbox. The external drive was supposed to be my backup! If there was a setting on installing the external drive, it's my fault for not paying much closer attention. But the consequences are huge, and I am beyond frustrated.
The right way to do this would have been for me to be able to click the drive icon in the web interface and have an option to stop monitoring the source folder or drive. And when such a choice was implemented, I could then delete the files within Dropbox without it affecting any of my local files.
Lesson (a big lesson) learned. It's not the war in Ukraine or even dental problems, but it is very annoying, Dropbox.
Again - it's on me for not really thinking things through, backing up my files for temporary increased redundancy, before following the advice given here.
I post this to let others know of my experience, which is different from what I've been reading here. Maybe I did something wrong - I don't know. But my advice: before you delete the drive from the web instance of Dropbox, back up your files so that if things go sideways, you're not hosed.
~ Bal
