We have dropbox professional- use it on two desktops- Our laptop got maxed out-1.7TB in the dropbox on our laptop- So we disconnected from dropbox on the laptop and deleted the 1.6TB of data-- Obviously it is still in the cloud--Now our laptop has lots of space- we plan on downloading the dropbox app to the laptop- and are hoping we can then download the Folders in out dropbox account to the laptop as CLOUD ONLY-- will we get a promt for that when we see to download the files-- Naturally we do not want to download the full files and then make them Cloud only-- it would take forever to download the files that are that large---SO will there be a way to download the folders from our Dropbox account to the laptop as CLOUD ONLY-- we have spend many many hours fussing with this so any help will be much appreciated,, Robert

Hi Robert C.91, let's jump right into this! Upon downloading the Dropbox desktop app to your device, and during the set-up process, you will see the advanced settings on the bottom of the set-up screen. If you click on these settings, it'll ask you how to wish to download content to your device. That way, you can choose to make them online-only. Of course, you can always change these settings later on. I hope that clarifies!

Many Many thanks for the advice, I sorta thought that was how it would work, but am very relieved to be reassured. Thanks, Robert

In the process of installing Dropbox we received a "Selective Sync" prompt which says "Select folders to sync to this PC". "Deselected folders will be available only on dropbox.com." There is no option for "advanced settings". Are we to understand that if we select folders to sync with our PC, they will be downloaded in full (taking up space). Are we corrrect in assuming this? We have 1.6 TB of data in our Dropbox folders. I thought if we got the "advanced settings" option ( which we did not) we would see all the names of folders on our laptop, but with just a bit of data, as one of the videos we looked at online said this was a option. When we wanted to use those folders/files, we would actually be going on line to work on the folder. It sounds like if we do not select any folders, we will not see any of the folders on our computer. We would have to go to Dropbox.com and open them there? Is this what working ON LINE ONLY means?? Sorry for seeming dumb, but like I said we never received an option to choose "On Line Only" or prehaps we did, just not the way we expected.

Hi Robert C.91, there are two different features: The first one is selective sync. With that option the folders you choose will be removed entirely from within your Dropbox folder, and you'd only be able to see them online. You can always change the settings, using the app's preferences. And then there's the online-only feature, that allows you to use it on individual files and folders, instead of folders only. And you can see the content locally, but it uses zero hard drive space. Did you see the option for files to start as online-only during the set-up process?

Hi Megan, As I wrote before we only got the options of: """A "Selective Sync" prompt which says "Select folders to sync to this PC". "Deselected folders will be available only on dropbox.com."There is no option for "advanced settings".""" It also says we have over 500,000 files, and Selective Sync would take a very long time to download.----------------------------------------------------------------------------- To catch you up on pervious experice with the laptop- we had been using the Laptop, like we did on our 2 desktops. But the data maxed out the laptop ( over 1.6TB on the laptop) so it would not function. We uninstalled Dropbox from the Laptop several weeks ago, and removed all the files. We downloaded the Desktop App- but we never got the option of choosing ON LINE ONLY--I was hoping to use the On Line Only Feature, where we could see the folders and files on the laptop.------------------------------------------------------------ Here we are now, we deselected all the files, checked just one small folder-- and then apply.We now have a dropbox folder on the laptop - with nothing in it-- not even the one folder that we had checked. I was hoping we could then use preferences- but that does not seem to be available. What do you suggest? It sounded so clear with your first responce where we could pick On Line Only-- but this had never been an option. Sould we uninstall Dropbox again- the app just did not work the way we wanted. Thanks for your help. Robert

Download files from dropbox to laptop as Cloud ONLY

14 Replies

Robert C.91
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago
Still struggling to get files onto our laptop that can be used as ON LINE ONLY-- Not seeing anything in our Dropbox.com that makes it easy to download files - unless I download the entire file and then right click on it to make it ON LINE ONLY-- ALso the files are huge.
------------------------------
I wonder, can I copy a file in my dropbox folder in my desktop to a thumb drive- then past it into the dropbox folder in our laptop-- would I then right click on it to make it ON LINE ONLY--

This would be way faster then downloading each of the files from Dropbox.com into our laptop ( even if we can which is seeming problimatic, even dropbox help says it can't download files over 20GB and all the various folders in our Dropbox account are larger than that)

What harm can I do by copying a folder from our desktop to a thumbdrive -- then pasting it into the dropbox folder in our laptop????
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi Robert C.91, let me explain more.

So, in regards to the app's preferences, these can be found only in the app, not online. In this case, you need to locate your little Dropbox icon (the one shown next to your battery icon, on your task bar), and click there. You should see a little pop-up window.

If you click on your avatar, or initials (top right part) you should be able to see the app's preferences, and from there you would navigate to your Sync tab and there you'd see your selective sync folders.

Another thing to note, is that when I said you'd need to sync folders back to the device, I didn't mean to download them from the website, into your Dropbox folder. I meant reversing the selective sync settings, in order to sync one-by-one folder, and then making them online-only.

If you check a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are saved to your hard drive. If you uncheck a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are removed from your hard drive, and are only stored on dropbox.com.

Keep in mind, that based on the screenshots you provided, I can see that some of the folders that you already have in your Dropbox folder, seem to be online-only (cloud icon).

In order to change the way these files/folders are synced to the device (available offline or online-only) you need to click not on the Dropbox folder but on the individual folder itself. Can you give it a go?
Robert C.91
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago
Well it sure is easy to do when you know where to look.

Once I realized the dropbox icon I was supposed to use was the one NEXT TO THE BATTERY -- it all went as you said it would.

We now have all the files synced to dropbox on our laptop, and it works EXACTLY as we hoped it would.

Many thanks for your patience. I felt like I was banging my head against the wall clicking on the Dropbox icon on the Dropbox folder and not the one next to the battery icon on the taskbar.

This dropbox forum is wonderfull. Again many thanks.
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Don't event mention it Robert C.91! 😊

I'm glad everything is working as it should, and if you need anything just know that we'll be one post away!

Forum Discussion

Download files from dropbox to laptop as Cloud ONLY

14 Replies

About Apps and Installations

Related Content

Download button is unresponsive when trying to download password-protected files from the website

problems installing dropbox on Samsung laptop

All files downloaded from Dropbox are corrupt

Viewing images from Dropbox in Faststone on laptop

Remote Management Access by Dropbox Inc. on my Mac laptop

Recent Discussions

Cannot use my free Basic account with 3 devices, only 2 - why?

Failing to install Dropbox on Linux

I get a "Dropbox not granted permission to install launcher shortcut" error on Android 16.

The Dropbox desktop app version 194.4.6267 does not run anymore on Mac OS Mojave

I'm getting an error when the Dropbox app starts up on Windows 11