Is selective sync still an option for the desktop app for Windows?

Question

Hello I recently got a new laptop (PC) and I would like to recreate my old dropbox setup. I used to have the option to See all my dropbox folders yet mark the ones (via right click) that I wanted to keep locally or online on my laptop. The ones that I selected to no longer keep locally would then change from the green check mark to a greyed out icon.

I first did this when I needed to free space on my laptop. I am aware of the Selective Sync option but when I select only certain folders it is problematic when the other folders disappear from the PC laptop and I am no longer able to see the totality of folders like I used to be able to (by name at least) even though they would be empty (and then able to quickly sync/download ones I need). Is this capability available? Maybe in an older version of the Dropbox application that I could download somewhere or be sent please?

Thank you!

Rich · Answer

creativek&nbsp;wrote:
I used to have the option to See all my dropbox folders yet mark the ones (via right click) that I wanted to keep locally or online on my laptop.

That option still exists when you right-click a file or folder. You'll see it listed as Make online-only or Make available offline.
&nbsp;

https://help.dropbox.com/sync/make-files-online-only

Jay · Answer

Marking the whole folder as online-only will allow you to see the structure of your Dropbox folder without it taking up space on your machine.
&nbsp;
If you check all the folders in the selective sync window, they'll automatically become online-only folders. You can make sure of this by right clicking them and choosing this option when they begin to sync on your machine.

creativek · Answer

Thank so much great to hear. So I guess the problem is I am not seeing those options yet. Maybe the whole dropbox has to fully sync at least once?

The bad news there is that I have about 2TB of stuff in my dropbox and only 750 GB on my laptop. That's one of the reasons I am trying to straighten this out now. Any clue?

Jay · Answer

Hi creativek, thanks for contacting us!
&nbsp;
When you first install the Dropbox desktop application, you get the option to mark the whole Dropbox folder as online-only before the installation completes.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Additionally, you can also use selective sync to prevent folders from appearing locally completely, again during the installation steps. Have you seen this option when installing the app?
&nbsp;
This will help me to assist further!

creativek · Answer

Hi Jay,Thanks for those. The former sounds like closest to what I want. To clarify, will marking the whole Dropbox folder online-only allow me to see the name of all the folders and sub-folders (even though no contents).And how can I do this in retrospect? I either didn't see this option or didn't pursue it because when I completed a selective sync on a user that had all the folders and subfolders synced (name only no contents) - all the folders and subfolders were removed after the selective sync, which prompted this question!Thank you!

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Is selective sync still an option for the desktop app for Windows?

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