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Forum Discussion
Can't switch to online only
I've got a file that's pretty big and I've put it up to dropbox with selective sync. The original version of the file is on an external hard drive. When I switched the dropbox folder to online only (...
Hey there ajbentley - sorry to hear about this; let's take a look now.
When using Selective Sync, and choosing to sync a folder you had previously excluded on the desktop client, you may notice the files appearing with a grey cloud icon beside them. This means that the files are ‘online-only’. You can see and interact with these files as normal, but they take up practically no space on your computer.
Through our Smart Sync feature you now have greater control and can sync only the folders or files you need by right clicking, choosing Smart Sync and then selecting 'Local'. This helps optimize your hard disk usage.
Once we have returned these 'online-only' files/folders through Selective Sync you can now see the files and folders and then proceed with re-downloading only the content you need and want.
If a file has been synced locally that you would prefer to have online-only, simply right click on it and select online-only from the Smart Sync menu.
Let me know how this goes Joshua.
Walter
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey there ajbentley - sorry to hear about this; let's take a look now.
When using Selective Sync, and choosing to sync a folder you had previously excluded on the desktop client, you may notice the files appearing with a grey cloud icon beside them. This means that the files are ‘online-only’. You can see and interact with these files as normal, but they take up practically no space on your computer.
Through our Smart Sync feature you now have greater control and can sync only the folders or files you need by right clicking, choosing Smart Sync and then selecting 'Local'. This helps optimize your hard disk usage.
Once we have returned these 'online-only' files/folders through Selective Sync you can now see the files and folders and then proceed with re-downloading only the content you need and want.
If a file has been synced locally that you would prefer to have online-only, simply right click on it and select online-only from the Smart Sync menu.
Let me know how this goes Joshua.
Everything was perfectly set up but all of a sudden dropbox switched all folders to "local" start downloading all the files back and locks up. Even the uninstaller locks up. You really should have a "set all folders to online-only" setting. That is the whole point of dropbox. I've been banging my head against the wall for hours now with this.
I seem to have got it stable now, but it's taken some work. If I copy anything out of the online-only file, it starts downloading *everything* to my HD again, so I have to make sure that folder is excluded from whole-drive backups to an external HD, for example.
