How to exclude file extensions

[KP_S]

How can I exclude file extensions form being synced? I have a mega big temp file (temp database log file) and it slows down my entire laptop.

K

[Hannah]

This idea has been closed as it has reached the end of the Share an Idea process.

Thank you for your suggestion, and if you have another idea to share, please do!

[dstgermain]

Thank you, I didn't know about that.

[stigskov1]

Would be a really good feature.  I work with simulation files (that has to be sharable) that generate huge temp files in the background in the same directory. The simulation files itself are quite small and contains the only valuble info. 
Perfect solution would be e.g. ability to block *.raw files in directory Dropbox/sim directory (limiting to certain directory would make sure the block doesn't mess up elsewhere)

[vladimirk]

I believe there's no point in waiting for it. I've already switched to another solution which is cheaper, more flexible and has this feature. Dropbox seems to care only about selling their pointless data plans and not about adding functionality that really matters.

[Sam_Buss]

I have been having problems with dropbox causing both WinEdt and Visual Studio to fail repeatedly. The problem is that dropbox locks file temporarily, and then WinEdt fails to Latex my file, or Visual Studio fails to compile. This is getting to be a major problem for me.

One way around this is if I could exclude filenames by file type from dropbox syncing. For Visual Studio it is always the PDB file (which is pointless to backup), and for WinEdt it is always the PRJ file (which is nice to back up, but certainly not crucial to back up).

Dropbox should either add the ability to sync by filename extension, or stop locking files on me, or better, do both.

[Rick_M]

You need to submit a Ticket ASAP.

((Are you using smart sync?))

[ollyradford]

I stumbled across this thread when looking for the exact same feature.

I have requested this feature to the Dropbox Businees Ideas board:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-Business-ideas/Exclude-temp-files-from-sync-by-pattern-exten...

Go and vote for it and hopefully we will see it added soon!

[campmdabt]

This is really atrocious behavior that I'm unable to ensure certain filetypes aren't automatically synced. Often this manifests itself in my programs being unable to save a file after changes have been made, and so I have to save in a different directory, outside of dropbox, and then manually move the file to the proper location and overwrite the existing file.

Sometimes I'm even forward thinking enough to pause dropbox before starting work on one of those files, but some type of exclusion, even just for power users in some type of hidden config, would be a welcome addition to the platform.

[Rick_M]

Does the Dropbox API v2 provide a way to "pause" then start your application?

[whydbhighcputho]

+1 major vote from me. I would prefer if .tmp .swap and .pyc files were never sync'd.

[sp1thas]

Hi all, I've recently implemented dropboxignore which is a shell script that allows you to ignore files and folder based on glob patterns (like .gitignore). This is not a solution but a walk-around. Hope to find it usefull. Any feedback is more than welcome.