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Forum Discussion
boominski
5 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Unable to stop or turn off desktop backup [SOLVED]
A while ago I turned on the new 'backup desktop/documents/downloads' feature. Now I want to turn it off, but I can't. There's no obvious 'turn this feature off' button. All the instructions I've seen point to a 'manage backups' or 'import' tab, which I don't have. I've upgraded to the latest Beta (Win 10), uninstalled, reinstalled, rebooted several times and nothing. I've just set Dropbox up again and I have unchecked the 'MY PC' box. But Dropbox is just merrily syncing all my stuff again. It's insane that Dropbox would enable this feature and not give users a simple way to turn the thing off. Does anyone know how I can do it?
So, for anybody who happens to stumble upon this - here is how you can solve it.
1. Move your Dropbox folder - I found this solution accidentally, because my PC was getting full and I decided to move my Dropbox folder to another partition, but you could move it anywhere. Go into the Dropbox app, click on the picture of you, select 'preferences' , then 'sync' and then select the option to move your Dropbox folder. Just put it in a different location. Doing this will nuke your desktop. But do not panic. You will not lose any data.
2. Re-create your Desktop - i.e. make a folder called 'Desktop', in C:\Users\YourName\'.
3. Copy or move all your old desktop files from the Dropbox folder called 'My PC blah blah whatever \ Desktop' to your actual Desktop. This will get your desktop back, and Dropbox will no longer sync it, because it will be looking at the 'My PC' files.
4. Do steps 2-3 for the Downloads and Documents folders.
5. Get coffee.
- boominskiHelpful | Level 5
For extra info: I've now tried unlinking / re-linking and un/re-installing to set up Dropbox from scratch, but it keeps syncing my desktop (downloads etc) even when I tell it not to.
- Casper777Collaborator | Level 10
Hi there
Take a look at the post here: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/How-can-I-turn-off-the-automatic-computer-back-up-feature/td-p/404895
To turn off this setting, please follow the steps below:- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
- Click your profile picture or initials.
- Click Preferences.
- Click the Import tab.
- Click Manage backup.
- Uncheck the folders you'd like to remove from Dropbox or toggle all files to Off.
Hope it helps!
Regards
Casper
- AngelHINew member | Level 2
This deos not seem to work. After unchecking the boxes, the Submit button is grayed out and will not allow me to proceed without at least 1 item checked. So annoying.
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