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Forum Discussion
How can I make my files in my Dropbox folder online-only?
Two questions: I have Dropbox on two computers, my laptop, a Surface and a Desktop which is an Acer. On the laptop the balance between what is stored on my hardrive and what is stored in the cloud is working. But Dropbox is taking up too much space on the ACER and I want to change the designation of all the Dropbox files on the Acer so they are available only in the cloud and are not stored on my hardrive. How can I do that? And question number two is there a way to do for all Dropbox files and not have to do them one at a time. Thank you.
11 Replies
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi Hebephrene, thanks for messaging the Community!
You can mark files and folders as online-only by right clicking them and choosing the 'Online-only' option.
You can do this in bulk by selecting the entire Dropbox folder itself and marking it as online-only, and also make online-only the default for any new files added on the site.
If you need any further assistance, please let me know!
Thanks Jay for responding. However when I go to File Explorer on my Windows 11 Acer and right click on the dropbox icon I do not get, or see and option to make the drop box files online only. I have open in new tab, open in new window, pin to quick access, pin to start Compress to etc. Thanks Joel
- Rich
Super User II
However when I go to File Explorer on my Windows 11 Acer and right click on the dropbox icon I do not get, or see and option to make the drop box files online only.
You're right-clicking on the Dropbox folder itself, correct? Can you provide a screenshot showing what you're clicking on along with the full menu you're getting?
Rich - Thanks for responding. Yes, I right clicked on the Drop Box icon and I have attached a screen shot
- Rich
Yes, I right clicked on the Drop Box icon and I have attached a screen shot
Windows 11 likes to hide a lot of the normal context menu options under a sub menu. Click on Show more options.
Rich apologies, I didn't get a notification. I tried clicking show more options and have attached a screen shot of what comes up, but no online only option
Jay
Rich responded by asking me to send him screen shots of what I get when I right click and then when that didn't work when I clicked on additional options. Neither produced the online only button
the thing I'm learning is that if you don't stay on it, people think of your issue as too stale to respond to.
- Megan
Hey Hebephrene, I'm deeply sorry for the late response, let's get to it.
I would suggest quitting the app, or even signing out and back in.
Once that's been done, please right-click on a folder within the Dropbox folder and see if you have the option there.
If you don't notice any difference, then, once you have the app running again, hover your mouse over the little Dropbox icon in your taskbar, next to your WiFi and clarify the the app's current syncing status. I can confirm that Dropbox in Windows 11 Home has no function for limiting any file or folder (including "all") to "online only". This feature sounds amazing, and would enable Dropbox to remain useful for people who use laptops at home to do work. Unfortunately I do not believe the developers have added this feature to the Dropbox app for Windows.
