I posted the text below to the Dropbox help, and the suggestion I got was to pause the sync.
Well, that's not what I want to do. The next suggestion this AI bot came up with was to quit the Dropbox app. Besides the fact that I had already done that and mentioned it in my text, quitting the app does not terminate the sync. That sync starts up right away when starting Dropbox again.

Turning to this forum to get in touch with a human being that can understand what I'm saying.

In summary, what I want

To terminate a sync that went bad without losing any other data. It's ok if the data related to my bad move is destroyed, but I don't want to lose anything else.

The Details

I'm on a MacBook Pro 2024 with an M4 chip and macOS 15.7.3.

I have 416 GB of free space on the hard drive. I have used 16.5% of my Dropbox Storage. I have Dropbox Plus 2 TB.

My firewall setting for Dropbox is set to Allow incoming connections. (The only other option is "Block incoming connections.)

I have the 243.4.6956 version of the Dropbox App.

I'm on Wi-Fi, and the speed for my connection is:
Down: 185 Mbit/s
Up: 227 Mbit/s

Background

I've used Dropbox for years, and I've never had any problems with syncing issues before. This time I do have big problems, and the fault is mine as I think I made a mistake. Regardless of whose fault it is, I need the sync to stop, so I can get on with my life and also get on with syncing other stuff between my Mac and Dropbox as per usual.

This is what happened

What I did: I had stored some Photo libraries in Dropbox and moved them to my Pictures folder on my Mac. I thought it would be faster to import them into my Photos app if they were on my Mac. What can I say? It was midnight. I was tired, and I didn't think clearly. As I said, I'm sure I made a mistake in this whole mess, since I think the file was marked as online-only.

Next, it started syncing. And it's been doing that ever since. It's now been more than 30 hours, and I need to "force quit" this particular sync and start over.

I have the files I tried to move somewhere else, so it does not matter if anything related to this particular move gets destroyed.

This is what I have tried so far to get out of this

1) Paused the sync (many times), waited for a bit, and started the sync again.

2) Rebooted the Mac.

3) Quit the Dropbox app and start it again.

4) I've held down the option key in the Preferences > Account view and did both the "Fix permissions" and "Fix hardlinks". Both worked brilliantly, except for the fact that it did not affect the "sync gone wrong".

5) And of course, back to step one, tried to pause the sync again with the same result.

Sync Hell

I feel like I'm stuck in sync hell, and I don't know what to do. I just want it to stop. 

Online Only

Most of the other files that I have stored in Dropbox are marked as "Online only", i.e. I don't store them on my Mac. I'm thinking of uninstalling the Dropbox app, but I'm worried about what will happen. It should be ok, since they are in the Dropbox cloud, right? But since I'm the one who got myself into this mess, I'm not sure if I can trust my brain.

Looking for solutions

I've tried to find a solution online in different forums (where I see I'm not alone with this "I want to stop this sync" issue) and also gone through some help articles.

What is the best next step for me?

Uninstall the Dropbox app? Is that the same thing as unlinking my computer? Both options (or just the one, if they are the same thing) feel scary.

I really, really, really don't want to lose anything else. What can I do? (And please don't tell me to "pause the sync".)

If you've come this far - thank you! 

/Cecily

PS Listening to Gino Vanelli's song "I Just Wanna Stop" on repeat, with new lyrics...