How to manage how much bandwidth the Dropbox desktop app uses

Updated Mar 06, 2025
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The information in this article applies to all Dropbox users.


Learn why your Dropbox desktop app might be running slow. You can manage how much bandwidth your internet uses to run the Dropbox desktop app in your desktop app preferences. This can help you prioritize how fast or slow the Dropbox desktop app runs, relative to other applications on your computer.

You can also pause syncing temporarily to decrease how much bandwidth Dropbox is using.

How to manage how much internet bandwidth Dropbox is using

To manage how much available bandwidth your internet uses to run the Dropbox desktop app:

  1. Click the Dropbox icon in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen.
  2. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the bottom-left corner.
  3. Click Preferences.
  4. Click the Network tab.
  5. Click Custom bandwidth.
    • To allow Dropbox to manage bandwidth for best performance, toggle the button off.
    • To customize the upload rate and download rate limits, toggle the button on.
  1. Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar in the top right corner of your screen.
  2. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner.
  3. Click Preferences.
  4. Click the Network tab.
  5. Click Custom bandwidth.
    • To allow Dropbox to manage bandwidth for best performance, toggle the button off.
    • To customize the upload rate and download rate limits, toggle the button on.

What do the bandwidth limitations mean?

Changes made to your files in the Dropbox desktop app are reflected everywhere you access Dropbox. Your upload rate affects how fast this happens. 

When you add or change files on dropbox.com or anywhere else you access your files in Dropbox, those changes are reflected in the Dropbox desktop app. Your download rate affects how fast this happens.

Both of these actions use your internet bandwidth. Your internet has a limited amount of bandwidth, and several desktop apps may use your internet bandwidth at the same time.

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Note: The amount of bandwidth the Dropbox desktop app uses isn’t the only thing that affects how fast Dropbox or your other applications are running. It also depends on the internet service you have with your internet service provider (ISP).

To check your internet speed, you can use one of the many free internet speed tests available online. Or, check our solving sync issues article.
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