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How to delete the Dropbox folder on hard drive without deleting those files elsewhere?

Hi there,

I have only been able to find examples opposite of my situation so I apologize if this is frequently asked.

Basically, I have around 200gb + and counting everyday of files in a shared company Dropbox with our work emails. I made the mistake of downloading the app and syncing the files to my Mac before realizing what I had done. Since then I have signed out from the application and uninstalled it but still have the Dropbox folder of everything (I believe up to that day) on my computer.

Am I safe to delete this folder now that I have deleted the application? I want to make sure it doesn't remove all of the shared files from the company dropbox that others need. The folder on my hard drive says it was last modified over a couple weeks ago which I believe is when I un-synced the application, and there have been things posted to dropbox since then. I appreciate any help or insight I can get here, thanks.

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Accepted answers

Hannah

Hey @mashi, thanks for reaching out to us!

As long as you've signed out of the Dropbox application before uninstalling it, the computer is no longer linked to the account.

That means that you can safely delete the Dropbox folder and its contents, and they'll only be deleted from this computer.

To make sure that the computer is unlinked, you can open the security tab in the account's settings and you'll see that it's no longer listed in the connected devices section.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!

All comments

Hannah

Hey @mashi, thanks for reaching out to us!

As long as you've signed out of the Dropbox application before uninstalling it, the computer is no longer linked to the account.

That means that you can safely delete the Dropbox folder and its contents, and they'll only be deleted from this computer.

To make sure that the computer is unlinked, you can open the security tab in the account's settings and you'll see that it's no longer listed in the connected devices section.

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions!

mashi

Thank you Hannah,

It turns out my computer was still linked! I must not have logged out properly before uninstalling. Thank you for providing me with that link. After removing my computer from the device list, I'm assuming I'm good to delete the folder now. Thanks for your help here in resolving this.

Hannah

No problem at all! I'm glad to help and if you need anything else, just give us a shout.

Have a great day!

RJ12

How do I sign out of the dropbox application in order to delete the folder from my hard drive and prevent it loading all of my dropbox files back onto my hard drive when I re-install?

Megan

Hi @RJ12, I'd be happy to answer this one for you!

You can sign out of the app using the steps mentioned here. Once you do that, you should be set to delete your Dropbox folder (just make sure all of your content has been synced and updated on the web).

Now, upon signing in to the device anew, you can avoid syncing all of your files locally by following a few tips. You'll start the process, however at some point during the set-up, it should show you the Advanced settings.

You should be able to click there, and choose how you want for your content to sync. That way, you can choose if you want them available locally or not. Keep in mind that you can change those settings at any time.

If you have any questions, let me know!

Dropxanon123

I cant seem to find a straight answer for this, please help! I joined a team last year that had a shared dropbox account, and I used my team's credentials to login to the dropbox account on my MacBook. I am no longer with the team, however the dropbox files are still showing on my hard drive. I have since logged out of this team account using the dropbox icon on the menu bar, however I still see the dropbox folder on my mac with all of the team's files.

MY QUESTION - how do I remove this Dropbox folder on my hard drive without deleting files for everyone on the team?

Thank you for your help.

Megan

Hi @Dropxanon123, welcome to our Community!

All you'd have to do, is sign out of the account on the app, and/or uninstall it. You'd then be safe to delete the Dropbox folder, and its content without affecting anyone else's files.

I hope this clarifies.

Dropxanon123

Thanks Megan! I already signed out using the instructions you provided the other person who had a similar problem. I'll try to contact the current admin and have them remove my device from the team dropbox account to make sure I'm ok deleting the folder.

Walter

Thanks for keeping us in the loop @Dropxanon123

Let us know if you need anything else in the meantime!

beeyankaaa

Hi I've uninstalled my Dropbox app from my windows computer and I was wanting to delete the file folder left on my PC, as it's taking up a lot of space. If I delete that folder, does it do anything to the online sync even though I uninstalled the app?

Hannah

Hey @beeyankaaa, thanks for joining our Community!

I moved your post to this thread with some info relevant to your query, so make sure to check the solution here, which should answer your question fully.

If you still have any questions, don't hesitate to reply!

Dwbsjb

I currently utilize my lap top and drag and drop files to the drop box app and upload to the drop box cloud. I don’t want these same files stored on my laptop hard drive after the up load. How do I change this setting.
Currently my current laptop hard drive mirrors the dropbox cloud storage, and I wish to delete those stored files from my laptop, without losing files in the cloud. Can you assist with these issues? Thankyou

Walter

Hey @Dwbsjb, thanks for joining the discussion here.

It sounds like you're looking for the selective sync feature or the option to make files online only. Could you have a look at this Help Center article and this one and let me know if that would do the trick?