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Why doesn't online-only work normally on my account?

This has been an ongoing issue. The DB tech support rep I talked to was utterly useless and keep telling me to use selective sync instead, which not only doesn't solve my problem (I WANT the file to be visible, just not downloaded), but also seems like an admission on the rep's part that this setting doesn't work at all. So why have the setting at all?

Alright, so here's a pretty simple scenario:

I create a huge file (F) on computer A
I open computer B
Obviously, F is not on B
Even though B has "online-only" setting checked, B still downloads F

This is particularly annoying if I'm on a slow internet connection, as my Dropbox is syncing this file for HOURS and slowing down my other work.

Again: why have the setting at all if it doesn't do what it is supposed to do?

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Comments

Jay

Hi @Keith R., thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What version of the Dropbox desktop application and OS are you running on both machines?

Is this only occurring for specific files types, sizes or locations in the Dropbox folder?

Regarding the online-only setting on computer B, did you set this from within the Dropbox desktop application itself, or by right clicking the Dropbox folder and choosing that option?

Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

Keith R.

I am using the latest app version on Win 11. This happens on two Win 11 computers that run dropbox. The setting is set from within the app, not at the folder level.

Jay

Could you attach a screenshot showing the desktop app settings?

Are you able to manually mark the file or folder as online-only?

Keith R.

He doesn't believe me. :P

I explained when the issue happens:

1. On computer A, I put a large file (F) in my Dropbox through Win Explorer
2. On computer B, which has "online only" setting turned on, F will still get downloaded

Sure, I can right click on a folder and make it online-only. That is not the issue I'm having.

Jay

Is the file in a folder which is specifically marked to be available offline manually from the Dropbox folder in Explorer?

This overrides the setting in the Dropbox desktop application.

Keith R.

Well, its not "specifically marked" that. It just is that, because that's the default state for folders and files that get added to Dropbox from Win Explorer.

So Dropbox must think, "File F is available offline on computer A. Therefore, it should be offline on computer B as well."

That basically means that "online only" is only relevant to files added through the browser. It doesn't consider whether a file will be newly added to the current device. That is bad design, I have to say.

Rich

Keith R. wrote:
So Dropbox must think, "File F is available offline on computer A. Therefore, it should be offline on computer B as well."

No. More like "File F is syncing to a folder on computer B that's available offline, therefore the file within that folder should be available offline as well."

Set the folder to be Online-only on computer B and then add a file to that same folder on computer A and see if you get the same results.

Keith R.

Same difference. The point is that 1) File F is new on computer B, 2) File F is still syncing despite "online only" being checked. Therefore, the setting is meaningless outside of files added directly to dropbox.com through the browser or mobile, apparently.

I can't run that test because Dropbox doesn't display RMB context menus on my computer B. Tried to fix it countless times and nothing has worked. Super frustrating.

But, yeah, I understand that if those menus were actually available, I'd be able to set it to Online only to prevent syncing.