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Add .dropboxignore directory to exclude folders without using selective sync

Add .dropboxignore directory to exclude folders without using selective sync

Tom_M
Helpful | Level 6

Please please please can you add a feature that allows folders to be excluded from the Dropbox account (on windows and mac). For sure I'm not the first person to request this, but I'm yet to find a good explanation of why it's not there. A quick google search reveals loads of people also looking for the same feature. I really like the workflow I have with dropbox, but it's getting to the point where I might switch providers in order to allow better selective sync.

I've seen hackish solutions using selective sync, but it would be great if this could be done in one of the following ways:
- global pattern matching eg "node_modules"
- a marker file in the directory like .dropboxignore
- a simple right click context menu "Ignore this folder"

Other than that, keep up the good work. Cheers.
Tom

Latest Update
Emma
Community Manager

Hi folks, 

 

Thanks for your feedback on this.
While ignored files delivers for some of the use cases here, I appreciate it does not for all. 
We'll be taking another review of this thread to isolate use cases for a .dropboxignore file feature in particular.

I've updated the status and we'll take this to the product team.
As a side note, it would be helpful for us if you could outline the gap between what ignored files offers, and what a .dropboxignore file feature would add to your workflows.

 

Thank you.

Status changed to: Investigating
973 Comments
Ed
Dropbox Staff

Hi all,

Thanks again for voicing your thoughts.

While we may not respond to all feedback you share, our team constantly reads it and uses it as valuable information when they’re tracking down bugs, enhancements and continually improving Dropbox.

Stefano Valicch1
New member | Level 2

Thank you Ed.

Any news on this matter?

I know Project Infinite is keeping you all busy, and it's cool, but this little patch would make Dropbox useful again for a lot of developers all around the world, and relieve us of sudden "sync screw-ups" after "npm install" and similar.

Stefano Valicch1
New member | Level 2

Btw, Mats, thank you for sync.com link. Seems good, if it has pattern "exclude" of folders and files I'm gonna move too (after so many years as a Dropbox paying customer and my entire company migration to it after my positive experience it's a pity though).

Jason B.74
New member | Level 1

Pinged Dropbox Support asking for an update on this post. Here is what I got back.
---
This is Caleb with Dropbox support, and thanks for this feedback! We are always looking for user input when adding improvements to Dropbox, so I will make sure your comments are passed along to our development team.

Also, as mentioned in the forum post, we have a feature called Selective Sync which allows you to choose what folders on your account you would like to have synced to your computer. We have more information about Selective Sync here:

https://help.dropbox.com/syncing-uploads/selective-sync-overview

I hope this helps!

Regards,
Caleb

TAM+CZ A.
Explorer | Level 3

You know..... I really want to be positive, say something encouraging here on this lovely forum.  I really do, it's just, I can't think of anything nice to say.  So I will just be positive.

I am positive that:

- Ed (Dropbox) hasn't posted anything even remotely close to a decent response on this thread, ever.

- Caleb (Dropbox) obviously is playing from the same rulebook and that response is just beyond disappointing.

- This forum is not a place for good ideas, it is simply a place where "support" peddles out non-answers and attempts to teach you how to make due with their product.  The "improvements and enhancements" are not to the product, they are to your brain so you shut up and just use the product the way it is.

So... that was kind of positive, right?

Adam P.12
New member | Level 1

The problem with selective sync is that the workflow is a bit backwards, where once you create the folder, you then have to go to selective sync and disable it, then delete what was uploaded via the web app.

It seems that selective sync is designed so that you have all folders uploaded to the cloud but don't want to download certain folders on certain systems. As opposed to having folders on a system that is not on the cloud at all.

Also another annoying thing is that it requires much more work if you have many projects (for example) each with the same kind of folders in them that you want to exclude. This would require that you repeat the same process I mentioned in the first paragraph for each project with no automation possible (without an unofficial extension).

 

Basically what we (or at least I'm assuming most of us) would like to have is a clone of the git .gitignore file or something to that effect.

Jeremy B.
New member | Level 2

Exactly @Adam P.

Selective sync does not solve the problem.

Yet Dropbox and their ignorance seem to think it does.

Elad O.
New member | Level 2

Selective Sync takes more than an hour to fully load (no kidding), and multiple times it deleted my files from file system, so I stopped using it.

Every node_modules update or git interaction (in .git folder) re-uploads megabytes of small files, kills the CPU and computer battery.

I started identifying when it happens - when my MacBook's fans are going crazy.

Mats P.2
New member | Level 1

Hi all,

@Ed - I knew I could wake you up by mentioning Sync.com (competitor) and questioning Dropbox's so called "management".

Could you please post something that proves that you are a human being that cares about your job and the customers that are paying for your salary?

I'm thinking (with 99% certainty) that you @Ed is a bot that replies empty platitudes based upon the mentioning of certain keywords in a post on these forums. Please prove me wrong if you know how to.

----

@Jason B. You do know that Dropbox uses ZenDesk.com, right?

Most likely Dropbox is using ZenDesk's "time-saving tools like triggers and automations" which can automatically reply empty platitudes to customer emails all day long without ever requiring a human being doing any real work.

It makes the support staff look good and efficient to upper "management", but does little for real customer support. (no offence intended to ZenDesk that are great)

By the way, you do also notice the "canned responses" formatting of all these 'official' Dropboxer answers.

IF I was a conspiracy theorist, I would suspect that this forum was secretly setup and staffed by Dropbox's competitors to dirty DB's name.

----

@TAM+CZ A.  I think you were amazingly positive!! I'm trying hard and struggling to reach even 1% of your positivity 😉

---

@Stefano Valicchia s.

 

Sync.com does not really have an exclude pattern a la ".dropboxignore". BUT it does have a great Selective Sync feature in the control panel (see screenshot below) that actually works well!!

Simple speed comparison (on the same MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM):

Dropbox's Selective Sync: => a 99 year old with walking difficulties

Sync.com's "selective sync": => an F1 (Nascar / Indy) racing car at full speed.


If I worked at Dropbox and saw Sync's performance and usefulness and then compared it with the current (and long-time) Dropbox version, then I would be so ashamed I would wear a paper bag over my head for the rest of my life.

Look at this screenshot of Sync.com's control panel taken just now: 

With that Sync.com control panel I can exclude/include folders as I wish in seconds (syncing takes a bit longer). Trying the same thing with Dropbox is a pointless task that takes hours.

And @Ed, guess what, Sync.com's control panel window does not stay locked on top of all other windows like your's do. Amazing isn't it?? Them Canadian's sure are smart, yeah?

 

PS:  I'm not affiliated with Sync.com nor do I add any referral links to them. I am just an unhappy long-term customer of Dropbox that have found something much better. Thank God!

 

Mats P.2
New member | Level 1

@ Adam P.   Well said!  I could't agree more.

--- 

@Jeremy B.  Exactly. Somehow Dropbox seems to live in La-La land and think that what they have is great and works well. I think the medical term for it is "delusion".  Or is it "arrogance"? 😉

----

@Elad O.  You might agree with this thread [ FAILED: Selective Sync feature is a complete JOKE!! ] (by yours truly) about this very issue. 

To overcome these problems I would suggest you give Sync.com a try (5GB free) and test things out there. 

As you can see from my post above (and in the screenshot) you can deselect "node_modules" and git folders. I'm doing that without any problems so far.

Sync.com is so much better than Dropbox, I just wish I had known about them long ago and saved myself aggravation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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