You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
Can I unsync a folder from my computer and still save files to it from my computer?
I'd like to save large recordings files to dropbox, but that means I need to UNsync them from my computer -as they will take up a lot of space. But if I do this, how do I save them to dropbox easily?...
vickibristol wrote:
... I need to UNsync them from my computer -as they will take up a lot of space. But if I do this, how do I save them to dropbox easily?
Actually, the feature you want to look at is Smart Sync, not Selective Sync. Selective Sync removes the folder from your computer, so you wouldn't be able to save directly to it anymore. You'd have to upload files to the folder using the Dropbox website, or save to another folder and use the website to move the file into the folder you removed using Selective Sync.
Instead, you want to use Smart Sync. This allows you to set individual files or entire folders as Online-only, meaning the content is removed from your drive but you can still access the content. The folders still exist locally so you caon continue to save to them, and any Online-only files you access are automatically downloaded and marked Local again.
When you save a file to an Online-only folder, that file will still be local. Be sure to mark it as Online-only once you're done saving it.
Hi vickibristol,
As far as I can see you want to save particular file set on Dropbox and remove them from the local Dropbox folder completely. Such thing is possible, but not on per file basis! You can un-sync one or more folders and all content, including files and/or subfolders. So might be need a file rearrangement, if they aren't grouped yet. Take a look here: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/selective-sync-overview
Good luck.
Hi there many thanks but I'm a bit confused.
How do I know if I have access to smart sync? I pay monthly for my drop box...
I think I have two options-
1. remove the current file completely from my comptuer locally and have all the recordings files online /website. Using Smart sycn, then in future I would need to save the files locally and then upload them via the website (removing locally as I go)
2. Smart sync....I'm not sure I understand this...
Thanks for your help
- Rich
Super User II
vickibristol wrote:
How do I know if I have access to smart sync? I pay monthly for my drop box...
If you're paying for your Dropbox, you have access to Smart Sync.
1. remove the current file completely from my comptuer locally and have all the recordings files online /website. Using Smart sycn, then in future I would need to save the files locally and then upload them via the website (removing locally as I go)2. Smart sync....I'm not sure I understand this...
If you mark the folder as Online-only, everything in the folder will be removed from your local drive and placeholders are left behind. This means you'll still see the files on your computer, but they won't take up any space. If you then access one of those files, Dropbox will download it back to your computer for you and mark it as Local again.
Doing this, the folder remains on the computer and you can continue to save files into it like you've been doing. When you're done saving a file and Dropbox has synced it, you can go into the folder and mark it as Online-only so it's removed from your drive like all the others.
How do I mark as 'online only' once I've downloaded from zoom/saved to the 'online folder?To mark a file or folder as Online-only, or back to Local, you simply right-click it and select Smart Sync, then either Online-only or Local, depending on what you want to do.
