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Forum Discussion

dox_user's avatar
dox_user
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

How to force files and/or folders to load locally?

I have just installed Dropbox on a new laptop in preparation for working for a few days when out of range of internet (might be able to connect through a tethered mobile phone, but with only limited ...
Desktop
Sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    4 years ago
    This information I provided is available in the Smart Sync article on the site.

    The saving space automatically option marks files as online only if they haven't been used for a long period of time.

    Since the right click option talks about the current state you want the file to be in, it's either online-only or local, to make it an immediate change to the files.
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hi 4RunnerVdub, it depends on where you're saving these files. Are you saving them in the Dropbox folder, or another location on your computer?

If you get a message asking if it's okay to delete the file from Dropbox, then it will only affect the file in the Dropbox folder, and not in another location on your machine.
weshigbee's avatar
weshigbee
New member | Level 2
4 years ago

Is there a central way to say for my account always have this folder local only? Then all machines logged in yank down that folder as local only on first install and if already installed the next time dropbox runs (or is running). I don't want to have to go to each folder on each machine to specify this... especially because some programs choke on the links that Smart Sync provides and can't seem to work to get the dropbox app to realize it needs to file and block it until its available... notably is settings syncs via dropbox like Tampermonkey in Google Chrome. 

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    4 years ago
    Hey weshigbee, thanks for joining us on this discussion. 

    Since selective sync and Smart Sync are device-specific features, I'm afraid there's no direct setting to choose which items sync for every single device. 

    However, you can post this as an idea, here, where other like-minded users can comment and upvote.

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