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Forum Discussion
How do you stop large team files from syncing to my system, once they are in the process of syncing?
I work for a film media company with team members around the world. Dropbox is a great solution until … someone happens to upload a titanic file, (like a film, or huge special FX sequence that are hundreds of gigs or maybe a TB). The challenge I face: If I’m sharing an active folder with a team (that I need access to) and someone drops in a massive file or a folder of massive files, there is no way to stop the files from overloading my system, (which maxes out my hard drive). The only thing I know to do, is turn off dropbox. But then, I can’t share files. Once I restart dropbox, the huge files are laying in wait, like a tidal wave… ready or not here we come.
If I flag a folder “online-only”, AFTER a large file was placed in it and it’s in the process of syncing to my system, the online-only status doesn’t stop the files from syncing, they keep coming. It appears that once a huge file is in the process of syncing there is no way to stop it. And, if that file happens to be a 1TB film. It downs the computer. I’ve spoken to our internal tech services, and they have no solution to the problem other than to remind people not to upload big files. But accidents do happen.
Is there a way, to select a file “currently in the act of syncing” and instruct it, “No. Stop. I don’t want this file”?
Today, our art department decided to reorganize assets. They moved their entire library of film assets to a folder I actively use. Suddenly, I was inundated with hundreds of gigs of art assets and no way to stop it. I flagged the folder to “online-only” but the files keep coming. Dropbox forces each and every file to download first and then, moves it to online status. There is literally no way to stop files from syncing that I know of.
Has anyone else ran into this challenge?
Thanks for your feedback here, Steve Conard!
I'll make sure your comments are passed along to our team.
If you need anything else, make sure to let us know.
Have a great weekend!
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hi Steve Conard, welcome to our Community!
As you already guessed, there's no way to stop an active folder/file from syncing, once the process has begun. You could pause the syncing of the app, but at some point, you'd need to resume.
What I'm thinking, that could be used as an alternative, is this: You can choose a specific folder with your team, that people would upload large content there if they have to.
Then, you (and the rest of the team) can choose to remove the folder from your device, using selective sync. That way even if they accidentally decided to upload content, it wouldn't sync to your computer.
Do you think that would work for you?
Let me know!
Thank you, Megan—
I appreciate the feedback. We’ve been dealing with this issue for some time and haven’t found a concrete answer. It’s good to finally know what we already expected.
Changing our project methodology isn’t really the answer. I do appreciate the suggestion. Most of the time everything runs smoothly. We already have established dropbox meetings before a new project begins and remind everyone to set folders to “online-only” status.
It’s sad that dropbox isn’t smart enough to look on to people’s systems and check if they have enough free space for what is about to be sync’d.
Tell your engineers, it would be a nice if dropbox had a file size check solution: “files have been uploaded to a shared folder that exceed the capacity of your hard drive. We’ve set the file(s) to online-only. You’re welcome!”
Thank you again and have a nice day.
So clearly stated, and so correct. I have been battling DB for days, since it decided to backup an external drive of 8 tb. I am stuck in synching hell.
DB team - please fix this!
I started syncing into dropbox... then I unselected a large directory from syncing...
When I resume, it is still working on it... pushing it into dropbos.
How do I cancel/stop it?
- Nancy
Hi bennygabel!
If you used selective sync to remove your folder from the desktop app while it was already syncing, it’s most likely that you’ll need to wait for the app to complete the syncing process altogether, before the folder is removed/selectively synced.
As mentioned above, you can always pause the app’s syncing, but when you resume, it’ll continue right from the point you had previously left it.
In this case, and if possible, I’d suggest keeping your computer connected to the internet the whole time, so that the process may complete as soon as possible.
I hope this helps a bit.
