How can I completely disable Smart Sync?

[Whatever2018]

How can I completely, 100%, disable Smart Sync so that Dropbox will always download all of my files?

The settings I have found all apply to NEW files and seem to have no impact on old files.

What I would like is to set my Dropbox to behave as if Smart Sync does not exist or has ever existed.

[JB M.2]

Hi:

I'm using a Windows 10 PC and finall found that going to my dropbox.com/account - then clicking my initials - general - then turning off Dropbox system extension "disables features like Smart Sync"

I NEVER NEVER want Smart Sync activated. I control what files are on what PC with "Selective Sync".  

[Max M.18]

I agree: Dropbox deteriorates with time. It was perfect in the early days, now they messed up the web interface so it became unusable. I moved to Google Drive which also is deteriorating just a bit slower with years. 

That's a shame. Good products are messed up by those who inherited them. 

[rtoledocrow]

Glad to see that I'm not alone in this Dropbox disappointment. What ever happened to this great product? Keep it simple, guys! 

[iamyila]

I have this problem on Mac osx High Sierra Now Smart Sync is always on, even though it is turned off in the defaults, it's really time consuming as I have to manually go through and right click and set to local for every single folder I want to sync, before I had to computers, all synced up manually without thinking about it.. why doesn't this basic function work?

Also I have notifciations turned off but after turning on local every file is being notified, also very annoying.

[Daphne]

Hi there @iamyila, thanks for joining the discussion!

Do you possibly not want to use smart sync at all on your files (at least for the moment)? If that's the case, then I can suggest disabling the system extension to disable Smart sync on your account.

Before doing so, I'd recommend ensuring that all files are local by right clicking the Dropbox folder from your file browser and setting the "Smart sync - local" option for all files. 

Regarding the notifications you mentioned, would you mind sending a screenshot of this so I can have a better understanding of exactly what you're seeing there?

Let me know if this helps at all!

[Rode1]

The system was working find and then Dropbox kept asking me to use smart sync.  Now I am sync for days and totally confused.  Bye bye dropbox.  Don't fix something that is not broken!

[Bill S.7]

Your help is not helpful. I read that whole page twice and there's not a bit of info on how to keep dropbox's sync enabled while completely disabling the troublesome "smart sync" feature as the OP requested.

I have smart sync turned off in my local prefs, but apparently that doesn't mean anything as I've gone to access files while not connected to the internet and they are inaccessible! All I get is a ridiculous cloud icon. Forcing smart sync on us has me considering, for the first time in ten years, looking for a different platform for web backups and file sharing.

[Bill S.7]

Just in case anyone is having the problems I had with Smart Sync, here's a quick description and the quicker solution:

• Even after making sure Smart Sync was disabled, Dropbox was mysteriously removing local versions of my files. I'd see folders here and there with the new cloud symbol on them (using Power Book 2017 running Mojave). Seemed random, but there may be a pattern or reason I'm not figuring out yet.

• What I did that seemed to fix it: Toggled Smart Sync on-off, out of superstition mostly. Checked that other Db settings were what I needed and then in every individual dropbox on my account that stores files locally, I right-clicked and selected Smart Sync in the Finder/Dropbox menu pop-up. Then I selected "Local" to force all files to be stored locally by default. The cloud-only files began to sync again and are now stored on my drive. Simple, I know, but didn't think I needed to do that when I've had Smart Sync disabled from the beginning.

[Jbarber]

I just want it to go away. I want files to be on the cloud ONLY. Every time I go to download a file it gets jammed up behind endless downloads. I'm ready to dump the whole platform over this.

[Daphne]

Hey @Jbarber, thanks for reaching out to us here!

I've merged your post here so that I can ask you to take a look at Walter's post here. 

Can you take a look at the info there and let me know if this helps?

Thanks!