Syncing halted as my hard drive is full

[RB210]

I have been organizing my files and folders stored in dropbox on my desktop. Syncing stopped due to hard drive space low on my desktop. This part I understand, however my problem is the following: My hard drive has been partitioned and I want to move dropbox to my E:/ drive on the computer. I have no idea where the syncing process halted and what the effect will be. My second (new) AiO desktop already has the Dropbox linked.  On the AiO the syncing took place and appears to be complete. The changes I made to the folder structure on dropbox appear to be just fine on dropbox and the AIO. BUT the dropbox folder size differ between Dropbox, the "full" computer and the AIO, with the Dropbox size being the smallest. I worry that I have files still trying to wing it's way to Dropbox and could be deleted if I unlink the desktop from the account to move Dropbox to the E:/ partition on my hard drive.  I have cleared up as much space on my desktop as I possibly can, but it is still not enough for sync to complete.  Please help 😞

[Isabella · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

Dropbox has a nice little feature called Selective Sync.

Selective Sync is a feature that allows you to choose which folders to sync to a particular computer. It's a great option if you'd like to free up disk space.

Please follow these steps to enable Selective Sync:

1) Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray at the bottom right of your screen, by the clock on Windows or menu bar at the top of your screen on Mac or menu bar at the top of your screen on Linux.
2) Click the gear icon
3) Select "Preferences"
4) Go to the "Account" tab
5) Select "Selective Sync…” or "Change Settings…”

By default, all folders in Dropbox automatically sync to any computer that's linked to your Dropbox account. If you'd like to prevent a folder from syncing to your computer, un-check the box next to the folder's name. Any folders you deselect will stop syncing to your hard drive, but will still be available through the website and on any other computer linked to your Dropbox account.

If you decide that you need the deselected folders back on your computer, go into your Selective Sync settings and check the box next to the folder's name. Dropbox will then sync the updated folder to your computer again.

To learn more about Selective Sync, please read this Help Center article:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/175

Please let me know if you find this helpful.

[RB210]

Hi Isabella,

Thanks so much for that information.  I have been considering it as a solution but having just lost some Outlook items on the old computer also during the syncing process (not related to dropbox at all) I'm concerned about the fact that I cannot identify which of the folders have completed the sync process and which not.  Also, if the re-organization of the folders and it's contents could possibly lead to some items being deleted as the syncing process did not complete during the initial reorganizing.  I believe it is the fear of the unknown since I have never been exposed to this type of challenge.  Any suggestions on how I could identify where the syncing stopped?

[Isabella]

Hi RB210,

Dropbox prioretizes it's syncing by size, from the smallest to the largest. So we are not able to see where sync stoped. As soon as syncing starts again it will start where it left off. Selective sync will be available only when Dropbox is up to date.

[RB210]

Thank you so much, it confirms my suspicion and that I have to find another way to circumvent the problem. Your input is much appreciated!

[RB210]

Hello again Isabella. Just a feedback about my challenge. I managed to free up some hard drive space on my computer on Thursday around midday and syncing started again. By the time I left the office the process was still running. Arriving at the office this morning, I found that it completed successfully and I was able to consider my next steps for shutting down the old computer and working only on the AIO. I have sorted a lot of my documents into an archive file and have deselected it for sync since there will be no movement on it. The process now is much faster and easier. Thank you for taking the time to help!

[Isabella]

I'm happy you were able to solve your syncing problem