"for remove it from just computer cancel and use Selective Sync"

[Rick M.32]

Hi Lusil

Sorry that confuses me even further. I access dropbox from work & home computers and also the phone.

I have a very simple requirement: I use dropbox as a external drive (please dont call it an account). I want to be able to delete, copy, move files just as I would between 2 hard drives.

So when I delete something from dropbox I dont want it to do anything with any copies saved elsewhere. When I delete something on my computer I do not want it to delete anything on my dropbox.

I am super worried that whenever I delete something it will delete elsewhere as well with this "selective sync" thing.

How do I revert to an early iteration of dropbox without this... you have managed to make something that was simple totally confusing.

Thanks

[Rick M.32]

ps

I am not the only one who is completely baffled

see post:

alkanayla level 2 July

 

July

[Lusil]

Sorry about that, @Rick M.32. Allow me to try and reiterate what I mentioned before. 

Initially, please remember that the Dropbox software is designed to watch your Dropbox folder and sync any changes that occur in the folder. Your Dropbox folder is just like any other folder on your hard drive, but with syncing features. 

Syncing is a core feature of how your Dropbox works. It keeps your files up-to-date across the website, your computers, phones, and tablet. For example, if you edit a document on your computer, it syncs with Dropbox and you can access the new version from your phone. 

In the same way then, the Dropbox app on your computer recognizes changes from your computer and syncs them to the website and all connected devices. For this reason, any files you add to the Dropbox folder on your computer sync and are added to the website and other devices. 

This also means that any files you delete from the Dropbox folder on your computer sync and are deleted from the website and other devices. 

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@Rick M.32 wrote:

I am super worried that whenever I delete something it will delete elsewhere as well with this "selective sync" thing.

When you delete something from the website, the Dropbox folder or through the mobile app, that file or folder will be deleted, since this is how syncing would work. 

However, if you selectively sync something, it doesn’t get deleted. Selective sync is a way to save space on your computer by removing it locally but still keeping it available through the website and any other devices you still have connected. 

If you’re seeing a pop-up message like the one illustrated at the beginning of this thread, then please note that all this message does is it ensures if you want to delete the file/folder from your computer (which is why it recommends to use selective sync) or delete it from the computer, the website, and other connected devices. 

I hope this helped clarify this a bit more. Let me know if you need any further explanation or if you have any other questions. Thanks!

[Rick M.32]

So if I select "sectively sync" and delete from my dropbox it will not delete the same file on my computer. This is what I want to happen.

ie. "selectvely sync" means DONT sync ?

So i have to untick all the folders when that pops up?

[Rick M.32]

Or is it simpler to do this:

Unlink a computer from the desktop app

    Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray.

    Click the gear icon and select Preferences... from the menu.

    Select the Account tab. ...

    Click Unlink This Dropbox… and confirm your choice.

[Steve J.20]

Rick M.32

I totally agree that the message in the pop-up is very poorly worded making it extremely confusing! At the least they need to append it, saying, "...delete everywhere on Dropbox." Even better woulb be, "...delete this file from this folder everywhere on Dropbox."

First thing to understand is that Dropbox does not monitor all your files on your computer. It creates a dropbox folder on your computer and on any other computer or mobile device like a pad or a phone that you install the Dropbox app on and connect to your Dropbox account.

It you only have Dropbox installed on one computer, the confusing message is irrelevant. It becomes relevant when you, for example, install Dropbox on your phone, which as limited memory. Dropbox allows you to delete a file from a specific Dropbox folder from a specific device while leaving it on your other devices. That is what the pop-up means by "everywhere"...it is trying to use less words to ask you if you want to delete that file in a specific folder on Dropbox from all the machines/devices you have installed the Dropbox app and connected to your Dropbox account, OR do you only want to delete it from the computer/device you are currently using?

If you have that file saved to Dropbox in another Dropbox folder, it won't delete it if you say OK to "delete everywhere."

If you have that file saved to your computer to a folder outside of Dropbox,  it won't delete it if you say OK to "delete everywhere."

It will only delete that file from the specific Dropbox folder it currently occurs in, but from every computer/machine synched to your dropbox account. It is a very limited version of an universally absolute word.

Dropbox really needs to revise that pop-up.  As you say, they took a very easy to use intuitive app and made it frighteningly confusing.

DROPBOX:

PLEASE amend the Pop-up to say something like,  "...delete this file from this folder everywhere on Dropbox."

[Rick M.32]

Thanks Steve

Confusing.

So if I have for eg Photo123 on dropbox AND the Photo123 on my computer G drive, and I want to delete the dropbox version only, what do I do?

R

[Lusil]

Hey @Rick M.32. 

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@Rick M.32 wrote:

So if I select "sectively sync" and delete from my dropbox it will not delete the same file on my computer. This is what I want to happen.

If you selectively sync a folder, it will be removed from your computer, and thus manually deleting it won’t be possible as it won’t appear on your device. Removing a folder from the website but not from your computer isn’t currently available but I’d be more than happy to pass this idea to the dev team for future consideration. 

---

@Rick M.32 wrote:

ie. "selectvely sync" means DONT sync ?

So i have to untick all the folders when that pops up?

Yes, selective sync means that a folder you select doesn’t sync on that specific computer. 

---

@Rick M.32 wrote:

Or is it simpler to do this:

Unlink a computer from the desktop app

If you don’t want your folders on your computer to sync at all, you can indeed unlink your computer. 

However, please bear in mind that unlinking the desktop app from your computer means that your Dropbox folder stops syncing and thus becomes like any other folder on your computer. Your files continue to exist on your computer but any changes you apply to them will not be applied to your files in the website and other connected devices, and vice versa, as syncing has stopped. 

Finally, @Steve J.20, I understand your train of thought on this. I’ve gone ahead and thus shared your comments along to the dev team for review as well. If you have any other ideas, don’t hesitate to get back to me. 

Cheers!

[Rick M.32]

Thanks

Will unlink - seems simplest.

Maybe suggest promoting that?

Rick

[Steve J.20]

@Rick M.32

First, assuming you are NOT using Selective Synch to synch a folder outside of your Dropbox folder; then you will have a Dropbox folder on you computer which matches the one on the Dropbox website view of it. In your example Photo 123 is a file somewhere in that Dropbox folder. When you refer to the file Photo 123 on your G Drive, I assume you have not put your Dropbox folder on your G Drive, but are referring to another folder with the file Photo 123.  The two files with the same name are two different files and are unlinked. You can delete the one on Dropbox and say OK to "Delete Everywhere" and it will not delete the file on your G Drive. Dropbox's "everywhere" is "everywhere that file occurs in that folder on computers with that folder synched to Dropbox".  Typically, these would be files in your Dropbox folder on your computer, which you will also be able to see in the same folders using Dropbox from the web or other devices. 

If you have synched a folder outside of your Dropbox folder using a feature like Selective Synch, the easiest way to delete from Dropbox locations, but not the file on your computer is to copy the file to a folder on your computer that is not connected to Dropbox.