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Minety15's avatar
Minety15
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

I uninstalled Desktop app, but Dropbox is still syncing folders

I uninstalled the Desktop app, but Dropbox is still syncing folders to and from the original and Dropbox folder ==> C:\Users\xxxxx\Dropbox\My PC (XXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX)\Documents and \Pictures \Music etc ...
Computer Backup
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Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
4 years ago
Minety15 wrote:

I've learnt today that if I delete a file from the original folder it is instantly deleted from the Dropbox folder, and vice versa.

There isn't an original folder and a separate copy in your Dropbox folder. There's just the copy in your Dropbox folder. They're both the same folder.

 

 C:\Users\xxxxx\Dropbox\My PC (XXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX)\Documents and \Pictures \Music etc

When you activated the backup feature, Dropbox MOVED your key folders (Desktop, Documents, etc.) into your Dropbox folder so they could sync. It wasn't syncing those folders from their original location. Those folders actually reside in your Dropbox folder.

 

When you uninstalled Dropbox you failed to disable the backup feature first, so the folders remained where they were in your Dropbox folder. You'll need to manually move them back to their original location.

Minety15's avatar
Minety15
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

Thanks for the reply Rich, I'm confused how a folder can have two different names yet there's only one actual copy of its contents. I just picked an image file name and a Word doc at random and did a search, and sure enough, there is only one copy of each, yet I can navigate to to them at C:\Users\xxxxx\Dropbox\My PC (XXXXXXX-XXXXXXXX)\Documents or \Pictures and also at This PC\Documents\ or \Pictures 
Am I being stupid?

So basically I need to somehow switch off the Backup function, I presume that means reinstall of Dropbox, Untick Backup, and Uninstall?

 

Thanks again for your help on this.

 

Regards

Andy

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    4 years ago
    Minety15 wrote:

    I'm confused how a folder can have two different names yet there's only one actual copy of its contents.

    Documents (and other key folders) aren't like regular folders. They're part of your user profile and can be moved to other locations while still being shown under This PC. No matter where you move the folder (as long as it's moved using the proper method) it will still appear under This PC.

     

    So basically I need to somehow switch off the Backup function, I presume that means reinstall of Dropbox, Untick Backup, and Uninstall?

    It's too late to disable the backup feature; it needed to be done before you uninstalled. If you reinstall Dropbox now it will act as though you're setting up backup for the first time again, and likely fail since Documents isn't in the original location.

     

    If you don't intend to use Dropbox anymore, just leave it off the computer and move the folders back to their original location using the steps listed in the link I posted in my first reply.

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