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Cut the Clutter: Ignore Files Feature is now live

Update: This feature is now live and available to all individual plan customers! Thank you to all our testers, and share your feedback with the team, we're still eager to hear from you!

For years you’ve asked for a simple way to exclude files and folders from sync without using selective sync feature. We’re testing a new way to give you more control over what Dropbox syncs and what it doesn’t. If you’ve ever wanted to keep certain files or folders on your device without syncing them to dropbox.com, this feature is for you.

🤔 What is it?

Ignore Files lets you list exclusion rules in a special text file called rules.dropboxignore placed in your Dropbox root folder. Any file or folder that matches a rule will stay on your computer but will not sync to dropbox.com or count against your storage

👀 Who we’re looking for

Desktop Dropbox users on Windows, macOS, or Linux
People who regularly deal with temporary or bulky content, e.g.

Software Engineers
Video / audio / 3D creators
Anyone who hates seeing clutter in their cloud storage

Someone who is comfortable trying a closed beta feature and sharing honest feedback

🗓️ How the closed beta works

Here’s what to expect if you join the beta for Ignore Files:

Register - Fill out the form here → [Sign-up link]
Confirm: Eligible participants will receive an email to confirm their participation, along with the timeline details.
Get Set Up - Make sure you have Dropbox app installed on your computer
We’ll Enable It - We’ll activate Ignore Files feature for you.
Try It Out - Use Dropbox as usual for 1 week, ignoring files and folders as needed.
Share Your Thoughts - At the end of the week, we’ll send a quick survey. You can also opt into a 30-minute feedback chat (optional, limited spots available!)

✍️ Want in?

Fill out the quick screener here by date → [Sign-up link]
Keep an eye on your inbox - we’ll be in touch if you’re selected

Thanks so much for helping us improve Dropbox. We’re excited to hear what you think!

Got questions? Just drop them in the thread below. 💬

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Comments

vladgasan

@TheMonarch correct - most .gitignore rules should work in rules.dropboxignore file, with a few exceptions outlined in How to prevent files from syncing article.

TheMonarch

Thank you - this feature has been a life saver for me

traf

this feature seems to not work properly. dropbox tries to resync the node_modules folders I have in my rules.dropboxignore file...

any help is appreciated

vladgasan

Hi @traf,

Thanks for flagging this. Quick check first: was the node_modules folder already present before you added it to your .dropboxignore file?

Ignore rules only apply to new files and folders created after the rule is added. If node_modules already existed, Dropbox will continue syncing it even after the rule is in place.

To fix this, please follow these steps:

Remove the node_modules rule from your .dropboxignore file and save it.
Delete the local node_modules folder.
Add the node_modules rule back to .dropboxignore and save the file again.

After that, Dropbox should stop syncing node_modules going forward.

Let me know if this solved the issue.

-Vlad

traf

thanks @vladgasan, that clears things up

side question, any way to hide the rules.dropboxignore file in main dropbox folder? I can do it using chflags hidden but just wanna be sure that won't screw up any functionality

vladgasan

Great! @traf

yes, that is totally fine and it will not break anything 👍

Hiding the .dropboxignore file using chflags hidden on macOS should not affect how Dropbox reads or applies the rules.

WreckItTim1

yayyy, I have been waiting for this feature for ever!

Honestly making a rules.dropboxignore with wildcards to ignore cache folders is just amazing (no more conflicts!)

**/.ipynb_checkpoints
**/__pycache__
**/.vs

chef's kiss =*
thank you Dropbox!

TheMonarch

Would it be possible, it provide “ultimate” example. Ultimate being as many examples as possible? Or even better have a tool like gitignore.io

jshan

I’m trying to use the automatic ignore feature on Windows.

I’ve set up rules in rules.dropboxignore, and it works right after I save it — for example, if I exclude main.pdf, it stays on my PC and doesn’t sync to the cloud.

But after I reboot my PC and dropbox starts again, main.pdf gets uploaded/synced to the cloud anyway. The only way I can fix it is to manually delete the file from Dropbox, edit 'rules.dropboxignore' again, and then put the file back — then it stops syncing.

Any tips to make the ignore rule persist after a restart?

(Setup: Windows 11 + latest dropbox beta version.)

Jay

Hi @jshan, is it only occurring for that specific file, or other files as well that you've added to the ignore list?

TwiiK

I never signed up for a beta so I guess this has been rolled out to everyone now? Amazing either way. Been waiting/hoping for this ever since I started using Dropbox 😅

Ref. the reply here: Cut the Clutter: Ignore Files Feature is now live | The Dropbox Community

Is this very rigid at the moment? Why must it be done in that exact order to work? I'm asking because I came here ready to complain this feature absolutely did not work at all, only to actually manage to get it working using the exact steps listed there. I promise I tried this at least 5 times before coming here. I have no idea what I did differently, but most of my attempts involved editing the ignore file while Dropbox was either not running or syncing was paused, because I thought that would be the correct approach. But no matter how many times I tried restart Dropbox or my computer or deleting the folders it did not work.

So apparently you MUST have Dropbox running and syncing enabled while making changes to the file for it to work?

And even though the ignoring seems to work as expected now Dropbox still immediately lists thousands of files as syncing every time I start a new project (Unity project with all cached/temporary folders set to be ignored). Why is that? Hovering over the tray icon seems to indicate it's not actually syncing (uploading/download), only indexing? It must do that part even though the folders are ignored?
And previously I had always set Dropbox to pause syncing while I had a Unity project open because it could cause problems with the Unity editor while it was running, and Dropbox was never able to sync the 2 "lock files" while the project was open anyway and it was annoying to constantly see the sync icon never go away. I see that last part has not changed, even though the lock files are inside a folder that is correctly being ignored. Is that the same reason as above? It's not actually trying to sync them, but just index them?

Either way I'll probably still pause syncing while I work inside Unity just to be save, but it's nice to finally have a single general file that automatically ignores all files/folders I want.

huhlig

The feature is incredibly flaky and only works some of the time. It appears to regularly forget about the rules file and attempt syncing 100k+ files anyway. It also loves to lock files in the process which causes all sorts of build failures.

/Projects/**/.idea
/Projects/**/Cargo.lock
/Projects/**/target
/Projects/**/.venv
/Projects/**/node_modules

jshan

Hello@"Jay", this happens with any ignored file if it’s in the Dropbox folder before shutdown, after reboot Dropbox starts syncing it to the cloud.

Jay

Thanks for the update. If you delete these files with the rule still intact, do they re-upload after rebooting the machine if they are recreated?

This section of the article might help explain why the files are being re-uploaded.

jshan

I tested a bunch of scenarios, and this might sound a bit weird, but here’s what I’m seeing:

If I set up rules.dropboxignore correctly on my windows and confirm it’s working, then after an immediate restart it still works fine. Files that were already on the local machine and supposed to be ignored stay local and don’t upload, and any new files I add that match the ignore list also don’t upload.

But if I shut down the windows PC, then switch to a mac and use dropbox there for a while (the Mac also has ignore rules set, and it does not upload any files from the windows ignore list), and then come back to windows — the ignore rules stop working after boot. Local files that should be ignored start uploading, and new files that should be ignored also upload.

At that point, the only fix is to open rules.dropboxignore, make an edit, and save it again. After that, the rules start working normally on windows.

PS: The mac side is always fine.

Justin from Just Front-end

Oh Jesus ... that sounds like a pretty big bug. Maybe I'll just not use a Mac.

Hierro

It's happening the same to me too.
Created the rule, folder being excluded correctly during the current session, reboot windows and then folder start to be synced as rule being not present.
I'm using latest stable client, version v243.4.6956

huhlig

Can confirm the issue. Windows client seems to forget the rules file on reboot.

Neal

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to touch base and let you know that the team is still investigating this issue and as soon as we have an update, I'll share it here.

Please be aware that we are working on an update to the Community and will be available read-only from Monday, March 30 to Wednesday, April 8.