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How do you stop large team files from syncing to my system, once they are in the process of syncing?

I work for a film media company with team members around the world. Dropbox is a great solution until … someone happens to upload a titanic file, (like a film, or huge special FX sequence that are hundreds of gigs or maybe a TB). The challenge I face: If I’m sharing an active folder with a team (that I need access to) and someone drops in a massive file or a folder of massive files, there is no way to stop the files from overloading my system, (which maxes out my hard drive). The only thing I know to do, is turn off dropbox. But then, I can’t share files. Once I restart dropbox, the huge files are laying in wait, like a tidal wave… ready or not here we come.

If I flag a folder “online-only”, AFTER a large file was placed in it and it’s in the process of syncing to my system, the online-only status doesn’t stop the files from syncing, they keep coming. It appears that once a huge file is in the process of syncing there is no way to stop it. And, if that file happens to be a 1TB film. It downs the computer. I’ve spoken to our internal tech services, and they have no solution to the problem other than to remind people not to upload big files. But accidents do happen.

Is there a way, to select a file “currently in the act of syncing” and instruct it, “No. Stop. I don’t want this file”?

Today, our art department decided to reorganize assets. They moved their entire library of film assets to a folder I actively use. Suddenly, I was inundated with hundreds of gigs of art assets and no way to stop it. I flagged the folder to “online-only” but the files keep coming. Dropbox forces each and every file to download first and then, moves it to online status. There is literally no way to stop files from syncing that I know of.

Has anyone else ran into this challenge?

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Hannah

Thanks for your feedback here, @Steve Conard!

I'll make sure your comments are passed along to our team.

If you need anything else, make sure to let us know.

Have a great weekend!

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Megan

Hi @Steve Conard, welcome to our Community!

As you already guessed, there's no way to stop an active folder/file from syncing, once the process has begun. You could pause the syncing of the app, but at some point, you'd need to resume.

What I'm thinking, that could be used as an alternative, is this: You can choose a specific folder with your team, that people would upload large content there if they have to.

Then, you (and the rest of the team) can choose to remove the folder from your device, using selective sync. That way even if they accidentally decided to upload content, it wouldn't sync to your computer.

Do you think that would work for you?

Let me know!

Steve Conard

Thank you, Megan—

I appreciate the feedback. We’ve been dealing with this issue for some time and haven’t found a concrete answer. It’s good to finally know what we already expected.

Changing our project methodology isn’t really the answer. I do appreciate the suggestion. Most of the time everything runs smoothly. We already have established dropbox meetings before a new project begins and remind everyone to set folders to “online-only” status.

It’s sad that dropbox isn’t smart enough to look on to people’s systems and check if they have enough free space for what is about to be sync’d.

Tell your engineers, it would be a nice if dropbox had a file size check solution: “files have been uploaded to a shared folder that exceed the capacity of your hard drive. We’ve set the file(s) to online-only. You’re welcome!”

Thank you again and have a nice day.

Hannah

Thanks for your feedback here, @Steve Conard!

I'll make sure your comments are passed along to our team.

If you need anything else, make sure to let us know.

Have a great weekend!

James R.5

So clearly stated, and so correct. I have been battling DB for days, since it decided to backup an external drive of 8 tb. I am stuck in synching hell.

DB team - please fix this!

Jay

Hi @James R.5, you can disable external drive backups by following these steps on the site.

Attempte

Dear developers...

This was the single most critical reason I have had 5 people refuse to work with me using DB... I do not know what you have to do to change this but it is on a level of absurdity that you can't choose to eliminate a file from syncing when in the queue.

I would have to let my computer run for approximately 8 days non stop...I travel. Most do. Your platform is losing a LOT of customers and missing a LOT of revenue due to this and obviously this isn't just me... most will simply never tell you.

Thank you = fix it.

Emma

bennygabel

I started syncing into dropbox... then I unselected a large directory from syncing...

When I resume, it is still working on it... pushing it into dropbos.

How do I cancel/stop it?

Nancy

Hi @bennygabel!

If you used selective sync to remove your folder from the desktop app while it was already syncing, it’s most likely that you’ll need to wait for the app to complete the syncing process altogether, before the folder is removed/selectively synced.

As mentioned above, you can always pause the app’s syncing, but when you resume, it’ll continue right from the point you had previously left it.

In this case, and if possible, I’d suggest keeping your computer connected to the internet the whole time, so that the process may complete as soon as possible.

I hope this helps a bit.

Beeblejuice

Hi, this idea that pausing syncing or restructuring your file system are solutions is frustrating.

I work in animation with large files, multiple projects on the go and tight deadlines …

Firstly you CANNOT prevent other people saving big files to shared folders. It happens.

Secondly if somebody shares project files I HAVE to sync them just to start the project — pausing is not an option! — but sometimes I have waited hours or days with my computer grinding away while dropbox sorts itself out (which is a special kind of nightmare if there’s some partially up/downloaded behemoth that you didn’t really need anyway hanging out at the top of the queue, the deadline is looming and you can’t even start work!).

As others have pointed out, making a file online doesn’t stop it from finishing syncing before it is removed from your computer, but the problem isn’t only that they can slow down or crash your system, they also clog up the sync queue when the files you want are stuck behind it!

Yes, you can use “sync now” but that doesn’t always help (it isn’t even an option for my scrivener projects — one of which is currently stuck underneath a partially downloaded monster video file and there seems to be no way to push the ones I want up the list!).

Also if you have many files to sync you want to be able to pause the single monster that’s getting in the way, not individually “sync next” the hundreds of other files you actually need for the project.

There needs to be a way to pause or stop individual files that works immediately, and ideally a way to easily change the sync list order to prioritise the most needed files first (Sync next is a bit crude for this).

Please sort this out — it is driving me nuts and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone! It can be very stressful when sync issues stop your work right before a hard deadline.

Walter

Hi there @Beeblejuice - thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this with us. Your feedback has been noted in our system - you can let us know if you have anything else to add.

mihau

I think I need to switch from Dropbox to another cloud service. Dropbox suggested organizing my files, but the interface is confusing. Clicking the checkbox at the top selects everything, not just the visible files. Then I get stuck in the 'make it online only' process. How can I stop this? How can I deal with it? It's frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a solution.

Hannah

Hey @mihau, thanks for the feedback here.

Would you mind clarifying which interface you're referring to?

If you could send us some screenshots showing what seems to be confusing/troubling you, so we can have a visual and guide you better, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

mihau

So, after selecting the top-left checkbox, it selected all the files I have on my drive synchronized with Dropbox, even though there were only a dozen or so files on the list to choose from. This is very unintuitive.

But that’s not the worst part, because after starting the "make it online" process, it has been stuck for 24 hours, blocking my routine use of the cloud. I can't turn it off; I can only pause it, which doesn't solve my problems. Please add an option to cancel the process while it's running.

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Nancy

@mihau, have you restarted your computer in the meantime and the same number of files are showing in the app’s syncing status?

mihau

Yes I did. They are still the same

Megan

Would you mind clarifying the app's version, and the OS you're using @mihau?

You should be able to find the version of the app by hovering over the little Dropbox icon on your menu/task bar, next to your WiFi.