How to permanently / forever / for real ... turn OFF Smart Sync

[Julian G.2]

Hello, 

When Smart Sync was introduced, I tried it, disliked it, and had to search how to disable it (which was not intuitive). It was gone. Auto app update worked fine and did not introduced it back. 

Now I just installed the release Apple Silicon version of Dropbox (v163.4.5456) and sure enough, it's back to the Online-only default behaviour for every newly created file.  And again, there's no obvious option in Settings to turn it off, and to make the matter worse, posts describing how to do it do not work! https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Create-upload-and-share/How-to-disable-Smart-Sync-really-and-truly/t...

I really do not need to save space in my hard drive.

Quick View on macOS doesn't work on an Online-only file placeholder!

Please help me disable the function.

And please consider asking users to opt-in on this feature.....

Thank you!!!

[Julian G.2]

Indeed, but the other 4 are local because they are not receiving new files from another computer. 

The setup is this: Dropbox folder is shared between a Macbook Pro and a Windows workstation. New files are created on windows and need to be managed from macOS.

The problem is this: macOS Quick Look (you know when you press Space bar?) does not work with Dropbox placeholder files. And the setup in the Dropbox agent now is that any new file created in Windows appears in macOS only as a placeholder file (aka DB "available online") per default, and it  seems you cannot change this default behaviour.

Finder requires user action to make that file local. Clicking on the cloud icon.

But I cannot run behind Dropbox sync manually making every new file local.........

Is this not known to Dropbox development?

[Megan]

Hi @Julian G.2, what you described is normal behavior with the new Dropbox for MacOS. 

You'd need to change content manually, since there's no default setting for it. I'll forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.

[Julian G.2]

Hi Meghan,

Can I downgrade?

Smart Sync breaks macOS Quick Look!
Fixing this is not improving Dropbox, but righting a wrong…. I hope it really goes high in the backlog.
We are working here and we rely on Dropbox for years and it’s not like we can tomorrow move to something else.
There are hundreds of files being generated throughout the day. I can’t go clicking on the cloud icon on every save.

Kind regards!

[Megan]

Hi @Julian G.2, I'm afraid, it is not possible to revert to the previous version of the app.

The updated Dropbox for macOS app has been developed to adhere to the requirements as set out by Apple therefore this update was introduced to ensure the best possible experience for our Mac users long into the future.

I’ll be happy to pass along your feedback to our Product team.

If you wish, you can disable the feature altogether by following the steps, in Hannah's reply here. 

I hope this helps!