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sfsdfd's avatar
sfsdfd
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
Solved

Opting out of cloud storage?

I've been a Dropbox user for about 10 years. Today, I was greeted with a demand from my Dropbox client to move all of my Dropbox synced folders from ~/Dropbox to ~/Library/CloudStorage.

 

I've done a bit of research and I understand the reason for the change. However, I'm deeply troubled by the implication that on-demand cloud storage is the "new normal" for these files, and that offline storage seems to be a less preferable option.

 

I'm going to make this clear: I expect all of my synced files to be stored on all of my devices at all times. I have many workflows that depend on local file storage and will either be unacceptably postponed by on-demand access or will simply break. Also, I refuse to accept the possibility of essential files being unavailable because my device is offline or has low bandwidth.

 

I understand that with the new Dropbox, "individual files and folders" can be marked as "make available offline," and will therefore be stored locally. However, I can't seem to find any indication of how well that marking process works. If one of the base folders on Dropbox is included in Selective Sync on my Mac, and if I mark that folder as "make available offline," will that designation be enforced for all files and folders? Or will this setting have to be managed constantly - e.g., I might find that newly created files were marked as "on-demand" by default and need to be updated?

 

To be clear, this is 1,000% a breaking change for me, and if I cannot make Dropbox satisfy my needs, I will be terminating my service and moving all of my files elsewhere. It is a shame that Dropbox has taken this one-size-fits-all approach and has broken core functionality in furtherance of a feature that I have no intention of ever using.

  • Hey sfsdfd, thanks for taking the time to provide additional info on your query.

     

    Allow me to clarify that even if you update your Dropbox application to Dropbox for macOS on File Provider, you'll still have the option to have your files available offline.

     

    Even if you don't make the choice to initially sync them as available offline, you can still manually do so afterwards, with a simple right-click choice.

     

    The usability of the app remains the same, with the added option to switch your files to online-only, to save up hard drive space.

     

    However, we do appreciate your feedback on this and I'll make sure to pass it along to our team.

     

    Let us know if you have any other questions.

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