Dropbox has been one of the easiest ways to sync files across multiple computers since its initial release in 2008. On Thursday evening, the company officially rolled out version 1.0 of the program, bringing with it a whole host of improvements, including—to the joy of MacBook Air users everywhere—support for selective folder sync.
According to the company, the update features “huge performance enhancements” thanks to a completely rewritten back-end; Dropbox claims version 1.0 reduces the strain on your computer’s memory by up to 50 percent. And on the Mac, the entire program has been re-coded in Apple’s Cocoa framework for a smaller download size (a 20 percent reduction), and UI improvements have been made across all three platform offerings.
It’s called Selective Sync, but to find it you’ll have to dig a little bit. First, find the Dropbox icon in your system tray. On Windows there’s a good chance that you’ll need to click the up arrow to the left of your system tray, in order to see the rarely-clicked icons. On a Mac, this will be in your menu bar. Dropbox unsynced files remain in my Mac's All My Files. I know how to use sync my files, and how to selectively sync only a few at a time. What I don't know how to do is to delete all of the content left in my Mac's All My Files, even though the files are saved on Dropbox and are no longer synced. Dropbox Selective Sync in Mac Lorenzo Russo May 20, 2017 14:51; Updated; Follow. Selective Sync is a feature of the Dropbox desktop application that allows you to select only the folders you want to be synced to your computer. Selective Sync gives you the control to ensure you have only the files you need on any computer.
The banner feature of 1.0, however, is undoubtably Selective Sync: this allows you to select which folders and files found within your Dropbox appear on which of your computers. Each computer has a separate preference pane within the application, so you can, say, choose only certain folders to sync with your work computer while the rest of your files remain accessible on the Web. The company has a good how-to available for those curious about the feature’s particulars.
Additionally, the update brings support for extended attribute sync. This allows users to easily upload and sync files with resource forks (parts of a file that certain programs use for storing information) without fear of data corruption or deletion.
Dropbox 1.0 is free and available for download from the company’s Website in Mac, Windows, and Linux flavors; Mac users should be running OS X 10.4 or later.
Selective Sync gives you the control to ensure you have only the files you need on any computer. It's especially handy if you want to save space on netbooks and other computers with small hard drives. Select which folders to sync on Mac OS X. Click on the Dropbox icon from the menu bar. Click on the gear icon and select Preferences. Selective Sync helps you choose which folders are copied to your Dropbox on a particular Mac. The other folders are still available on the Dropbox web site and other computers. Configuring Selective Sync. Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.
Dropbox Selective Sync Mac Os X
If you’re like many of our clients who use Dropbox intensively, you have a desktop Mac with a large drive and a MacBook with much less drive space. How do you prevent your large Dropbox account from overwhelming the laptop Mac’s available storage? The answer is Dropbox’s Selective Sync feature. On the MacBook, click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, click your avatar in the upper-right corner, and choose Preferences. In the Preferences window, click Sync and then click the Choose Folders to Sync button. Deselect the folders you want to prevent from syncing to the MacBook and click Update. If you need to access any files in those folders from the MacBook, go to dropbox.com in your Web browser instead, or adjust your Sync preferences to bring in the needed folder.
Selective Sync Dropbox Macbook
(Featured image based on a photo by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash)