How to stop and resume file syncing

If you make changes to your Dropbox files, Dropbox syncs those changes between your computer and everywhere you access your files in Dropbox. To temporarily stop syncing your Dropbox files to your computer, you can pause syncing, then resume syncing when you’re ready.

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox makes syncing files easy.

Stop syncing

To temporarily stop syncing your Dropbox files to your computer:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
2. At the bottom of the window that appears, there’s a bar with text that says Indexing, Syncing [filename], Syncing [x] files, Syncing paused until [x], or Your files are up to date. Hover over that text.
3. While you’re hovering, the text changes to Pause file sync. Click that text.
4. Click to select how long you’d like to pause syncing. You’ll see a message that says Syncing paused until with the time the syncing will resume.

Note: While syncing is paused, you may still receive notifications on changes made to your Dropbox files, but the changes won’t sync.

Resume syncing

To resume syncing your Dropbox files to your computer:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
2. Hover over Syncing paused until [x] at the bottom of the window that appears.
3. Click Resume sync.