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Horace-Hedgehog's avatar
Horace-Hedgehog
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Solved

The dreaded grey minus

I see how this works. Folder FRED has a grey minus. When I enable selective sync on FRED it creates a new folder on my PC called FRED (selective sync...) But the original folder FRED still keeps the...
desktop
sync
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    7 years ago
    Hi there, Horace-Hedgehog. 
     
    The gray circle with the minus sign may appear on a file or folder when you're using the selective sync feature (meaning you've opted not to sync this file or folder on your computer).
     
    In general, selectively synced files and folders won't appear in the Dropbox folder on your computer. However, if you create two files or folders with the same name, the gray icon will appear, indicating that one of the files isn’t being synced.
     
    In such a case, you may have a selective sync conflict, which occurs when you create a folder with the same name and in the same location as an unsynced folder. For more info on how to tackle this, I’d recommend checking this article out.
     
    Let me know how it goes!
hels's avatar
hels
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago

Hi Lusil,

Thanks, but I think this is just a wee bug / quirk / misunderstanding about how the 'feature' is supposed to work.

Those folders are all green-ticks that I haven't changed anything in for years. All I did was unselect them in Selective Sync. In my mind, that shouldn't cause any type of 'conflict'. I just want it removed from my local repository.

That said, I did just delete the folders off my HDD and (thankfully) they remain in my online dropbox, so I've achieved my aim. It would be nice (and less stressful when pushing 'delete') if the selective sync had ditched them for me, but hey.

I noticed when I tried to run a test scenario (create a folder, see it exists online and locally, then uncheck it in selective sync) I did not get the grey minus. The local folder simply got deleted. So, I think the age of the folders in question has something to do with it. Maybe some backwards compatibility thing with the client? I don't know.

But, for now, I am where I need to be.

Horace-Hedgehog's avatar
Horace-Hedgehog
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Exactly my problem, but some people here seem quite unable to grasp it but just churn out huge undigested chunks of the manual.
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hey there Horace-Hedgehog, sorry to hear that you’re also having the same issue. 
     
    You mention that you’re having the same experience, but could you please elaborate on what you’re seeing? A screenshot (without any personal info) would also be very helpful. 
     
    Thanks!

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