How to Leave a Shared Folder

[Silvia K.3]

I'm relatively new to DropBox, and I'm using DropBox Basic, with no interest in upgrading to Pro at this time.  A client has shared a folder with me that includes many subfolders, and I have just reached my space limit.  I'd like to leave some of those subfolders to open up some space.  Is this possible, and how do I do it?  Is the only solution to leave that top-level folder?  If so, will that interfere with the client's ability to share with me more subfolders of that top-level share in future?  I need to be able to let the client share new subfolders, while I drop older subfolders to maintain a reasonable amount of space.

Thanks!

[Chris_J]

https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/leave-shared-folder

[Silvia K.3]

I tried followed those instructions on the main folder that's shared with me, and also on one of the subfolders.  Neither gives me "Remove my access" as an option.  Ideally I'd like to remove my access to subfolders, not the main folder.  Below I'm inserting pictures of what I see, first for the main folder, and secondly for the subfolder.  Does anyone have further advice?  Do I need to use the desktop app instead of the website to get the desired option?  Thanks!

What I see when clicking the "Share" link for the main folder: (names/emails omitted)

What I see when clicking the "Share" link for a subfolder:

[Rich]

Ideally I'd like to remove my access to subfolders, not the main folder.

That's not possible. You either have access to the entire share and all of it's content, or you can leave the share and lose access to it all. If you just don't want the sub-folders to sync, you can use Selective Sync to remove them from your local computer, but they will still be in your account.

[Silvia K.3]

Thank you for the explanation.  However, I still don't know how to leave the entire share.  I posted a screenshot which illustrates that I don't have that option.  Can you clarify how I would leave that entire share, based on the screenshot?

Thanks again!

[Rich]

You appear to be the owner of the share. You can't leave a share that you're the owner of without first assigning ownership to someone else. Click the "Can Edit" or "Can View" next to someone else's name and select "Make Owner." You'll then have the option next to your name to leave the share.

[Dermot D.1 · Accepted solution]

Here you go. Should work. I just did it myself and I didn't own the folder. It worked perfectly.

1. Hit Sharing button


2. You will get a list of folders that are shared with you. Click on the share box beside the one you want to get rid of.

3.  You can't manage the folder but you will notice a box that states that you can edit this folder. Click on 'Can edit'.

4.  Now you will notice 'Remove my access' in red. Click on it.

5.  You will be asked if you want to keep a copy of the folder. I declined and the folder was deleted from dropbox.

Hope this helps.

Dermot

[claire m.16]

Hi Dermot, your reply is very clear so I'm asking my own question... hope you or others on the thread can help. I may have some of the terminology wrong since I use DB in French. 

I am trying to leave shared folders which I do not own.

I have repeated tried the procedure that starts by clicking on Share in the left hand menu.

However, this always creates a display of folders that I have ALREADY LEFT IN THE PAST, and could "rejoin" now.

The left-hand menu Share never delivers me to my current folders, and so I never get the "leave" option for my current folders.

[I did test out "delete" among the options within a shared folder - and of course deleted the files for the whole community. (I saw it was happening so I annuled the action and restored them.)]

Thanks for any help you can give. Claire

[tcinphilly]

If you click on the SHARE button, you'll see your name in the list. Click on "can edit" or "can view" -- whatever permissions you have. When you do this, you'll see an option at the bottom in red that says "Remove my access".

[msamyel]

Not what OP was looking for but it helped me leave a shared folder. Thank you!!