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Forum Discussion

Liciarov's avatar
Liciarov
Explorer | Level 4
30 days ago

Can I selectively sync certain folders on the Dropbox app on Android?

Hello,
while it's very clear to me how to apply the selective synchronization on PC, I don't know how to apply it on Android. I have an old tablet and I'd like to synchronize only one folder in it. I didn't find the procedure.
How can I do it?
Thank you,
Liciarov

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    30 days ago

    Liciarov wrote:
    In other words: I'd like to have only this specific folder in my old tablet, that I use only to read books.

    That's not how the mobile apps works. They simply show you everything that's in your account. The folders don't sync to the device. You can mark a file or folder as available offline, but beyond that the mobile apps don't sync like the desktop apps. Any other files you open will be stored on the device temporarily, which is what you see happening. There's no way to prevent that.

  • Liciarov's avatar
    Liciarov
    Explorer | Level 4
    Hi Hannah,
    and thank you for your quick response.

    I'm simply trying to free space from my tablet. My whole Dropbox app on the tablet reaches 4 or even 5 gigabytes, so the only way I can continue using my tablet is cancelling cashe and datas from the app, after which operation it only uses the megabytes of the app. But as soon as I open the only folder that I need (on the tablet, because in PC I use everything), the app reaches 2 or more gigas, and the gigas increase when I open one or more of the files I want to use.

    In other words: I'd like to have only this specific folder in my old tablet, that I use only to read books.
    I use all the other folders I have in Dropbox, and I don't have problems with my smartphone and PC because they have much more space.
    Thank you in advance if you can give me some hints
    Liciarov
    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      Liciarov wrote:
      In other words: I'd like to have only this specific folder in my old tablet, that I use only to read books.

      That's not how the mobile apps works. They simply show you everything that's in your account. The folders don't sync to the device. You can mark a file or folder as available offline, but beyond that the mobile apps don't sync like the desktop apps. Any other files you open will be stored on the device temporarily, which is what you see happening. There's no way to prevent that.

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey Liciarov, thanks for reaching out to us.

     

    Selective sync is actually a feature that's available only on our desktop app and not the mobile app.

     

    Keep in mind that folders and files don't take up space on the mobile app; what you're seeing is something like snapshots of your files.

     

    Are you trying to free up space on your phone or simply remove folders from the Dropbox app, so they don't appear in your folder list?

     

    Keep me posted.

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