Add .dropboxignore directory to exclude folders without using selective sync

Razvan Boxifier 

Are you by chance, able to explain exactly what this command is doing?

Set-Content -Path C:\Users\yourName\Dropbox\someFolder -Stream com.dropbox.ignored -Value 1

I read the Microsoft docs on "Set-Content", but I'm perplexed exactly on how this stops Dropbox from syncing? Is there a list of files/folders somewhere on one's computer which Dropbox uses as a reference for what files/folders not to sync?

Or is such a reference stored in the cloud?

Can of confusion 🙂

Thanks!

Wow, I can't believe they added this feature to Backup but not Sync! So close, and yet so far! They seem determined to ignore the most update users they have 😞 

Razvan Boxifier- I would not hold my breath. They have been "investigating" since October, after they thought the solved the problem by not solving it. After 8 years, this is just absolutely ridiculous. You are better off using a competing product if you need a dropbox like solution with the requested selective ignore/sync feature.

Lars P.3 while it may feel that way, there is actually some hope for this feature to be delivered sooner than expected.

The Dropbox Backup FAQ contains a reference to a ".dbxignore" file that Dropbox places in the root of the external drive when you use Dropbox Backup with that drive. The contents of that file look like this:

You can quickly notice the structure of the .dbxignore file looks inspired by that of .gitignore files.

I tried to edit the contents of the file and added a new wildcard rule. The next time Dropbox backup was triggered (I had to restart Dropbox for that), the rule that I added took effect. Hooray!

Hope this helps at least with giving some hope that since Dropbox now has this implemented for backups, they could soon be adding it to their sync product as well.

Razvan

Happy 8th anniversary to this basic idea. 8 years and dropbox are still thinking about it. This could be implemented in an afternoon if Dropbox wanted to. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case and I'm pretty sure that we will make it to 10 years as well. 

snatcherwelcome to the most requested feature which is seemingly impossible for the Dropbox team to figure out. You might be better of with a competing product for now.

This suggestion has been around for 8 years, is that right?! Do we have it yet?!

Dropbox should learn git and provide ignore configuration files, including global ignore and specific directory ignore. I am using Free File Sync software. This software will create temporary files while scanning directories that need to be synchronized. At the same time, many other programs frequently create or delete very small temporary files. I tried the ignore command provided by Dropbox, something like "Set-Content -Path 'C:\Users\xxx\Dropbox\xxx' -Stream com.dropbox.ignored -Value 1". But it seems that the above command only works for long-lived files. Although the file names of temporary files do not change, they are always deleted and recreated frequently. Even if the command can be modified to also work on temporary files, the command is still inconvenient. Creating a plain text ignore file is obviously more user-friendly than operating complex commands.
So I suggest that Dropbox add ignore file support as soon as possible.

https://koofr.eu/blog/posts/advanced-ways-to-exclude-files-from-sync-part-2 has this exact feature. A .syncignore file that works like a .gitignore. So have a look at how they implemented it and copy it.

MegaSync has this straightforward and simple option in the settings that works perfectly. Not sure why it seems so complicated for Dropbox to implement