1 day ago Hello all, I am a MAC user. I recently added a feature to my Dropbox Plus account where I can sync my Desktop and Downloads Folders. Although initially I thought this to be a good idea, I now find that everytime I install a program or connect my video camera to my computer, Dropbox immediately b. Uninstall the desktop app on Mac OS X Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) and select Preferences. Select the Account tab. Click Unlink or Sign out, depending on your account. Click the Dropbox icon from the menu bar again. Click your avatar. Look for Dropbox app right-click Move to Trash. Empty the Trash. We are moving the Dropbox app icon to Trash to delete all its contents from the Mac. How to Delete Local Dropbox Folder and Files. If you want entirely to delete everything your Dropbox folder holds, drag it to the Trash. This will delete all local files and local Dropbox folders. Click the Dropbox icon on your desktop taskbar. The Dropbox icon looks like an open white box. This will open your Dropbox in a pop-up window. If you're using Mac, you can find this icon in the upper-right corner of your screen. On Windows, your taskbar's default position is in the lower-right corner of your screen. Dropbox helps you keep your files in sight, and top of mind. With Smart Sync, you can view all of your files—even your online-only files—in your file explorer, just like regular files. You can manage your storage settings and sync files when you need them, or get more free space by sending them to the cloud—all with just a click.
Selective sync is a feature in the Dropbox desktop app that lets you choose folders to remove from your hard drive so you can save space on your computer. The folders you choose to remove from your hard drive remain stored in your account on dropbox.com.
Note: You can’t remove individual files with selective sync—only folders, and the files and folders inside them.
Selective sync explained
Note: The selective sync settings you choose are unique to each computer and don’t affect the other computers you use with Dropbox.
Selective sync lets you choose which folders you’d like to store on your computer’s hard drive from all of the folders you have stored in your Dropbox account. If you check a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are saved to your hard drive. If you uncheck a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are removed from your hard drive, and are only stored on dropbox.com.
You can view the sync status of your folders from your desktop app preferences or from the Dropbox folder on your computer:
Local — The folder is saved to your hard drive and dropbox.com
Syncing/Updating — The folder is updating
Other sync statuses:
Online-only — Learn more about online-only files in this Smart Sync article
Mixed — The folder contains files and/or folders that are local and online-only
Choose which folders to store on your hard drive
Note: You must install the Dropbox desktop application to use selective sync.
To check and uncheck which folders to store on your computer:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
- Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
- Click Preferences
- Click the Sync tab.
- Under Selective Sync, click Choose folders (Mac) or Selective Sync… (Windows).
- Check the folders you’d like saved on your hard drive. Uncheck the folders you’d like removed.
- Click Update.
Smart Sync vs. Selective Sync
Note: Smart Sync is only available to Dropbox customers on Plus, Family, Professional, or Business plans.
How To Unsync Dropbox From Mac
Smart Sync also helps you save space on your hard drive. Instead of completely removing files and folders, Smart Sync lets you make files and folders online-only so they’re still visible from your computer, even though they’re only stored on dropbox.com. It also has an automatic setting that makes files and folders online-only, based on how you use them.