Excluding sync storage from Dropbox directory

I have set up DEVONthink to use sync storage at Dropbox. I can see it on my Mac at ~/Dropbox/Apps/Devonthink. It’s taking space on my laptop. Can I exclude this folder from Dropbox syncing and still sync through it with DEVONthink? I guess the question is if DEVONthink directly uses this folder inside Dropbox folder, in which case it needs to stay there. If DEVONthink instead uses some kind of Dropbox api to sync, like on iOS, then I can exclude the directory from Dropbox sync.

DEVONthink is not using any special magic to index files you’ve stored in Dropbox. And if you are using Selective Sync in Dropbox you would need to use the Dropbox interface to sync local copies of the file(s). So, no, DEVONthink cannot directly control what happens with Selective Sync.

There is, however, a class of application available for macOS that will mount your Dropbox storage as if it would a mounted volume located on an external drive. You can see the files, you can upload files, but the files take no space on your machine. One of these is Mountain Duck (available online and thru and Mac AppStore). I have not used this or any of its competitors, but this comparison chart might be helpful. I also have no idea how well DEVONthink will work with indexing files on a Mountain Duck-mounted Dropbox account. DEVONthink will index other mounted volumes (I should say “real” mounted volumes), but if the volume goes offline then your index will report “missing” files, which sometimes is a hassle. Anyway, YMMV, but there might be a way to get what you want.

Yes, and you should. DEVONtech’s Sync uses the Dropbox API, not the application. In fact, other than needing it to turn off the /Apps/DEVONthink Packet Sync folder in the Dropbox Prefs, you don’t need to run the Dropbox app at all for Sync to function. (I launch Dropbox on my Mac maybe 5 times a year.)

Cool. Removing the sync store with Dropbox’s Selective Sync should also remove those continuous Dropbox notifications “5 files were changed on your computer”, and reduce network use.

Absolutely - it does shut that up. :mrgreen: