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I've looked everywhere online for my selective sync settings, but I can't find them.

I have looked everywhere on my Dropbox.com account and cannot find sync anywhere. I have found preferences and there is nothing about sync there. I have a colleagues whose screen shows sync under this menu. I have been on Dropbox since 2008. I upgraded the desktop app but don't know if or how I can update the desktop application. Any suggestions? Could she possibly have a paid version if she has selective sync -- but even with the free version I should have sync shouldn't I so I can remove files I don't want to sync

Her message: Across the menu bar at the top you should see a drop box icon. Click on it. [Note: this only opens my dropbox - I need to click my personal icon and then I get setting and preferences]
Then you’ll see an option called settings or preferences.
Click on it and you’ll see an option that says sync. [Note: I don't see sync option anywhere here]
Click on that and look for an option that says ‘selective sync’
Here you can click only the folders you want.

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Rich

@Gala_4 wrote:
I have looked everywhere on my Dropbox.com account and cannot find sync anywhere.

What do you mean by "cannot find sync?" Are you referring to the Selective Sync settings where you can tell Dropbox to remove folders from your local drive, or are you looking for some other setting?

If it's Selective Sync that you're looking for, this can be found in Preferences within the Dropbox application on your computer. You need to click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac), then click your avatar in the top-right corner, then click Preferences. Once the Preferences window opens, you'll see a Sync tab.

If you don't see the Sync tab, take a screenshot of the window you see being sure to mask any private information like your email address, etc.

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Rich

@Gala_4 wrote:
I have looked everywhere on my Dropbox.com account and cannot find sync anywhere.

What do you mean by "cannot find sync?" Are you referring to the Selective Sync settings where you can tell Dropbox to remove folders from your local drive, or are you looking for some other setting?

If you don't see the Sync tab, take a screenshot of the window you see being sure to mask any private information like your email address, etc.

Gala_4

Yes, I am referring to the Selective Sync settings where you can tell Dropbox to remove folders from your local drive.

Here's what I see under preferences:

Screenshot 2023-08-25 at 11.45.34 AM.png

But this is in the list under Settings... Here's the top part of that page... and there's no sync and it's also not in Manage settings

Screenshot 2023-08-25 at 11.54.25 AM.png

Rich

@Gala_4 wrote:
Here's what I see under preferences ... But this is in the list under Settings... Here's the top part of that page... and there's no sync and it's also not in Manage settings

You're on the Dropbox website, not the Dropbox application on your computer. Refer to my earlier reply and the link to the help article that shows you how to access Preferences in the Dropbox application.

Gala_4

I did go to the article and have been there several times before. Something is odd or there is something I don't get...

I go to the Dropbox on my computer and here's the screen I get to... and I'm able to select folders I don't want to sync...

Screenshot 2023-08-25 at 2.09.35 PM.png

But I can't find /Users/gale/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox. So maybe my problem is with my Mac... I have Libraries with other applications, and I have an iCloud Drive but nothing in Users/Gale and no area called Cloud Storage. But my real problem may lie elsewhere.

I am only just learning how many flavours of Dropbox one works with at a time... but this screen capture is from the icon on the top menu bar of my Mac --If I don't select a folder to sync then it won't take up space on my hard drive -correct? But it seems it will still take up space in my Dropbox - is that correct? It's the mental model I'm struggling with. So perhaps my question should be how do I minimise the amount of shared space in Dropbox... can I turn off shared files there? Thanks... and apologies for my confusion.

Nancy

Hey @Gala_4! I hope you’re doing well.

Let’s take a step back; first off, what you mention about selective sync is correct. If you don’t select a folder from the list, then this folder shouldn’t show/sync to your desktop app, so it won’t take up hard drive space.

However, this folder will still show on www.dropbox.com and it’s saved in our servers, so yes, it will still be taking up space from your Dropbox account (which isn’t related to your hard drive space).

Finally, is your goal to free up space from your Dropbox account instead of your hard drive space perhaps?

Gala_4

Thank you Nancy - your message is very helpful. I've been getting lost in the various apps and location of files.

You mention though that you can’t find /Users/gale/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox. Do you mean that you can’t locate this path when opening your Finder, or that you can’t see some folders to unsync when opening your selective sync preferences? The former -- and I expect this is not something you can help me with. However, I can see my folders to unsync

Finally, is your goal to free up space from your Dropbox account instead of your hard drive space perhaps?

Yes, at the end of the day this is what I am trying to achieve. I am the member of a volunteer association and I occasionally need to work on shared documents. All has been well until recently but the owner of the shared masterfolder took out a subscription to Dropbox and now the files take 6 GB of space in Dropbox. So I can't join as I have only ~ 5.6 GB. I think he has to ship me some of the folders and not the whole master folder. It's a procedure manual we're creating. He, also, is not especially Dropbox savvy and we've been trying to sort this out together. I have now concluded that he has to make the changes on his end. I may be wrong. In any case, he's not there yet! He did send me 1 folder yesterday that I requested which I could open as it's a few MB. I think our procedure manual would be less than 2 GB.

Am I on the right track? Other members of the Board are starting to have similar issues and receiving messages that their DropBox is full.

Thank you for this community support service... it's been amazing... I have a new appreciation of Dropbox and also more aware of the complexity. I've been using it since 2008 but only for personal photo and files so I've not had to dig deeper into it -- it just worked! I look forward to your response and curious if I'm on the right track now..

Nancy

Alright; let’s take a look.

As per the first part, please feel free to check the last user’s reply here, and see if you can locate your local Dropbox folder after that.

Regarding the shared folders that you mention, they will take up space indeed from your Dropbox account, if you choose to add them and make edits.

However, there may be a few workarounds here; one is to add more space for free to your Dropbox account via referrals. If the folders you’re usually adding are not too large in size, this may be enough.

Otherwise, the sender can create a shared link to a folder instead, send it to you so that you may download it to your device, make your edits and then, you can upload it directly to their own Dropbox account via a file request instead.

Hope that helps a bit!