Selective sync is a feature in the Dropbox desktop app that lets you choose folders to remove from your hard drive so you can save space on your computer. The folders you choose to remove from your hard drive remain stored in your account on dropbox.com.

To select multiple consecutive files or folders: Select the first item. Press and hold Shift. Click the last item. To select multiple nonconsecutive files or folders: Press and hold Ctrl (control on Windows) or ⌘ (command on Mac). Select all files or folders you want. Keyboard shortcuts on the Dropbox desktop app. In the Dropbox desktop app. 1) On dropbox.com again, click “Download Dropbox” on the left side of the webpage. 2) Locate the downloaded file named “Dropbox.dmg” Note: If you’re using Safari, the downloaded file should appear in Safari’s download folder, which you can access by clicking the download icon in the top right hand corner of the browser window.

Note: You can’t remove individual files with selective sync—only folders, and the files and folders inside them.

Selective sync explained

Note: The selective sync settings you choose are unique to each computer and don’t affect the other computers you use with Dropbox.

Selective sync lets you choose which folders you’d like to store on your computer’s hard drive from all of the folders you have stored in your Dropbox account. If you check a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are saved to your hard drive. If you uncheck a folder, that folder and the files and folders inside it are removed from your hard drive, and are only stored on dropbox.com.

You can view the sync status of your folders from your desktop app preferences or from the Dropbox folder on your computer:

Parallels desktop 12 download mac. Local — The folder is saved to your hard drive and dropbox.com

Syncing/Updating — The folder is updating

Other sync statuses:

Online-only — Learn more about online-only files in this Smart Sync article

Mixed — The folder contains files and/or folders that are local and online-only

Choose which folders to store on your hard drive

Note: You must install the Dropbox desktop application to use selective sync.

To check and uncheck which folders to store on your computer:

Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Preferences
Click the Sync tab.
Under Selective Sync, click Choose folders (Mac) or Selective Sync… (Windows).
Check the folders you’d like saved on your hard drive. Uncheck the folders you’d like removed.
Click Update.

Smart Sync vs. Selective Sync

Note: Smart Sync is only available to Dropbox customers on Plus, Family, Professional, or Business plans.

Smart Sync also helps you save space on your hard drive. Instead of completely removing files and folders, Smart Sync lets you make files and folders online-only so they’re still visible from your computer, even though they’re only stored on dropbox.com. It also has an automatic setting that makes files and folders online-only, based on how you use them.

You can move your Dropbox folder to any location on your hard drive or an external hard drive using the Dropbox desktop app.

Notes before you get started

Use the same hard drive: If you decide to move the folder, choose a location on the same hard drive as your operating system. Dropbox won't work correctly if the Dropbox folder becomes inaccessible, which can happen if it's located on an external drive that gets disconnected.
Use a supported file system: Moving the Dropbox folder to a drive with a non-supported file system for the operating system will generate an error message. Please review the system requirements for supported file systems for your operating system.
Avoid network file systems: Dropbox isn’t compatible with network file systems, since they don’t send messages when files change. When Dropbox first starts it does a deep file scan, detects changes, and syncs them. However, Dropbox usually waits for 'file update events,' which are only sent by physically connected drives.
Issues with external drives: If you’re moving the Dropbox folder to an external drive, the Dropbox folder must be available when your computer boots and before the Dropbox desktop app starts. If the Dropbox desktop app starts before such a drive mounts and gets recognized by your computer, you'll see an error. Dropbox will then give you the opportunity to relink your Dropbox account or exit if it can’t find your Dropbox folder.
- If the external drive is disconnected from the computer while Dropbox is running, there's a small—but real—chance that the app will start deleting files before realizing that the entire drive has been removed.
Removable media: SD cards, or any device considered 'Removable media' by your operating system, are not supported locations for the Dropbox folder. Dropbox works best when hosted on your computer's main internal drive, or on a physically connected external hard drive. Dropbox can only provide direct support when the folder is hosted on your computer's main internal drive.

Take these potential issues into consideration when choosing a new location for Dropbox. Consult resources for your operating system if you have further questions.

How to move your Dropbox folder

Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar.
Click Preferences (Linux), or your avatar (profile picture or initials) (macOS and Windows)
Click Sync (on macOS you’ll first need to click Preferences…).
Click Move… (Linux and Windows), or Dropbox location (macOS).
Select the new location for your Dropbox folder.
Let Dropbox move your folder and its contents to the new location.

If you've connected a personal and a work Dropbox, you'll see both of your Dropbox accounts listed. Select the correct tab before moving the Dropbox folder location.

Your Dropbox folder will keep the same name as before, and can't be renamed during the move process. Dropbox will not sync your folder if it has been manually renamed or moved through your operating system. If Dropbox loses track of your folder, it will attempt to re-sync the folder in its entirety using its last known location.

macOS: Manually move the Dropbox folder back to its default location

Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray or menu bar.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Preferences…
Click Sync.
Click the dropdown beside Dropbox location.
Select Other…
Open the Applications list.
Click the Applications dropdown, and select your hard drive.
Open the Users folder.
Select your computer username (it will likely have a 'home' icon beside it).
Click Select.
Confirm the move by clicking Move.

Windows: Manually move the Dropbox folder back to its default location

Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Preferences…
Click Sync.
Under Dropbox Folder Location, click Move.
In the text box next to Folder:, type “$Home”.
Click OK.
You will be asked to confirm if you wish to move your Dropbox folder location. Click OK.

I can’t move the Dropbox folder to a new location—what should I do?

If you're moving your Dropbox folder to a new location, you may see errors if any of the following are true:

The new location is on removable media

If you're moving your Dropbox folder, and the selected destination is on removable media (such as a removable USB drive or memory card), Dropbox may not be able to create the Dropbox folder.

We strongly recommend choosing a location on an internal drive. If the Dropbox folder is located on removable media, and this media becomes unavailable, you may see problems including:

Unwanted deletions
Poor syncing performance
Issues with extended attributes
File system incompatibilities

There are files or folders in use

Dropbox can’t move some files to a new location if they’re currently being used by other applications. To resolve this issue, close any applications that are accessing files in your Dropbox folder before attempting to create the Dropbox folder in a new location.

Problem with the configuration settings

You can rebuild your configuration settings by signing out and then back in to the Dropbox account on the Dropbox desktop application. This will restore any settings which may have been changed without affecting or removing your files. Please follow these steps to unlink and relink your computer:

Right-click the Dropbox icon in the system tray, or menu bar, by the clock.
Click on your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the Notifications panel, and select 'Preferences'.
Select the Account tab.
Click the 'Unlink' button or Sign out, depending on your account.
Your Dropbox will then prompt you to re-enter your account information.

Your account will then take a few moments to re-index your Dropbox folder and sync any pending changes before returning to normal activity.

Your hard drive, or the destination for the Dropbox folder, is low on space

If you weren’t able to move the Dropbox folder to a new location, it's possible that the external drive doesn’t have enough space for all of the data stored in your Dropbox folder. To check whether this is true for you, view your available hard drive space. If your hard drive is very low on disk space, you'll need to make space available in order to properly move the contents of your Dropbox folder to the new location.

You're using symlinks or referenced files

We strongly recommend against methods that add referenced files (symlinks, junction points, or networked folders) to the Dropbox folder. In addition to interfering with creating the Dropbox folder in a new location, reference files can cause high CPU usage, poor syncing performance, permissions issues, and space usage discrepancies.

There are incorrect folder permissions

If you weren’t able to move the Dropbox folder to a new location, you may be encountering a permissions issue. Specifically:

Folders in your Dropbox don't have correct permissions
The destination where you're attempting to move your Dropbox folder doesn't have correct permissions

If either of these are true for you, follow the steps below to troubleshoot file permissions. If these steps don’t work, contact the maker of the software you’re using on your computer or external hard drive to troubleshoot further.

Dropbox Select Download Folder Mac Desktop

Click your operating system below to see instructions: