Getting rid of dropbox

[velaskelly]

I downloaded Dropbox to access a couple of documents from my boss. Big mistake.
Now Dropbox has fused itself to every single file on my computer and I am lost.

I have lost files, I cannot create new folders in my finder, I have no control over my own computer.
I want to get rid of dropbox altogether but I also want to make sure I dont lose any of my files in the process.

How do I disentangle myself from this mess?! 
This is the only way I have found to "speak" to someone so far

Thank you in advance!

[Здравко]

Hi @velaskelly,

Seems you have activated "Dropbox Backup" feature (might be unintentionally). That's the issue! To turn the feature off, take a look on "Turn off computer backup" section in referred topic (follow the link). On step 6 choose "Keep content in folders on this PC/Mac", not "Leave content in Dropbox".

Hope this helps.

[velaskelly]

Hello Здравко, 

Thank you for this. Spasibo 🙂
I'm going to give it a try but would ultimately like to disentangle dropbox from my computer.
Am still afraid of deleting my dropbox in case it deletes all of my local files as well 😖

[Здравко]

🤔 Seems, my proposal was too brief. Ok... let wider.

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@velaskelly wrote:

... would ultimately like to disentangle dropbox from my computer....

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What you mean "dropbox"? Do you mean Dropbox application or Dropbox folder? These are 2 different things! If your folders are NOT "online only", you can freely remove your application without worry of anything. The Dropbox folder doesn't get away with application together. 😉 BUT, you should be aware that if something is "online only", it'll stay unreachable without application! Be careful.

When you are NOT using Dropbox Computer Backup, deleting Dropbox folder won't affect anything else. If you selected something (or everything) in Dropbox Backup, corresponding folders get moved into Dropbox folder, so be able sync to the cloud. If at that moment you get rid of Dropbox folder, everything inside (including the folders moved before) will get gone! To avoid such a situation make sure you have turned off you Dropbox Backup, as I mentioned previously, so when you are going remove Dropbox folder no any surprise will be expected. 🙂

Before removing Dropbox folder finally, make sure you haven't left something important inside! That's it.

Hope this clarifies matter.