Added new computer and I want old files offline but old files downloaded locally

[Doug183]

Setup / Basics

- I have a personal account with 2TB of storage.

- I have a "main computer" as an i7 MacMini running 12.6.3.  That computer is running the "older" version of dropbox because the dropbox is located on an external hard drive.

- I put into service a new MacStudio computer and added dropbox and signed into the same account.  (os 13.6).  ** I am not sure this is relevant, but I did use the same user name as the i7 as in the near future this computer is to replace the i7.

- In Dropbox, New files default is set to "Online-only".

Problem, 1.8 TBs of files download to the new computer.

This is not the behavior I expected.  Please advise.

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@Doug183 wrote:

In Dropbox, New files default is set to "Online-only".

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That setting is for when new files are added to Dropbox from other devices. Setting it to Online-only will sync those files to your computer as Online-only. It does not control the Available/Online-only status for the files already in your account when you add a new computer. When adding a new computer you have the option during install to start with everything marked as Online-only. If you didn't select that, then you'll need to select everything in your Dropbox and mark them as Online-only, then give Dropbox time to sync again.