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Forum Discussion

Terry H.10's avatar
Terry H.10
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago

Some Dropbox folders in Windows Explorer take minutes to refresh

Let me give you an example of what's happening: I am in a Windows Explorer folder that is synced with Dropbox. I click to re-order the items in the folder (e.g. sort by date, sort by duration of musi...
desktop
Install
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windows
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago

If you uninstall the Dropbox desktop application, the folders will remain on the Dropbox site. 

 

When you reinstall the app, you would need to set up selective sync again to prevent those folders from downloading to your computer.

 

Regarding upgrading to Windows 11, this would be up to you and isn't necessary, since the Dropbox desktop application is compatible with both Windows 10 and 11.

Terry H.10's avatar
Terry H.10
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago

Thanks.

You misunderstood my question. let me put it another way.

If I uninstall the Dropbox desktop application, what happens to all the folders and files ON MY PC that are synced to Dropbox? I have 256GB of files on my hard drive that are synced with Dropbox ... would they be removed when I uninstall? (I totally get that they are all still there in the cloud, but as you can imagine, having to re-download them would take a very long time). 

I just want to know the implications of uninstalling and reinstalling Dropbox.

Terry

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Hey Terry, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in, as well. 

     

    If you uninstall the Dropbox app from your device, then the files within your local Dropbox folder won’t be affected; they will just not be syncing to your online account until you reinstall the desktop app and connect it to your account once again. 

     

    As a result, after the reinstall, the Dropbox app should only re-index your existing files and not download them anew.

  • Terry H.10's avatar
    Terry H.10
    Helpful | Level 6
    4 years ago

    Thanks for the explanation. I still have a question!

    When I look at my file structure it is

    C: > Users > Terry > Dropbox > [all the folders I use with Dropbox]

    (I believe that was the default location when I first installed Dropbox on the PC)

    So when I uninstall the Dropbox app, I assume it doesn't change that structure, i.e. that Dropbox folder will still be there, in the same place, it just won't sync.

    If that's the case, when I reinstall Dropbox, how does Dropbox know that folder is there, so it can re-sync to it? Do I have to set that up during the install, or is it automatic in the sense that I used the default location when I first installed Dropbox?

    Terry 

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    The files would remain on your computer, and the Dropbox folder wouldn't be syncing while the app is uninstalled and unlinked.

     

    When you reinstall, since it's the default location, the Dropbox desktop application would detect it and sync changes. 

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