Selective sync
Also known as: selective sync folders, choose folders to sync, sync only some folders
Selective sync lets you choose which cloud folders are downloaded to a device, leaving the rest in the cloud only. It is a direct way to free local disk space: unselected folders stay safely online and are not stored on the machine.
- Choose which folders sync to each device
- Unselected folders stay in the cloud only
- Folder-level, unlike per-file online-only files
What selective sync does
By default, a cloud client tries to keep your whole account mirrored on every device. Selective sync breaks that by letting you tick only the folders you want stored locally — the rest remain in the cloud and simply do not occupy disk space on that device.
It is ideal for laptops with small drives or accounts much larger than the local disk. Dropbox offers it under selective-sync settings, and Google Drive for desktop lets you mirror or stream specific folders.
Selective sync vs online-only files
Selective sync is folder-level and all-or-nothing per folder: an unselected folder disappears from the device entirely (but stays in the cloud). It is the right tool when you simply never need certain folders on a given machine.
Online-only / on-demand files are finer-grained — every file shows as a placeholder and downloads only when opened. If you want to see all files but store none until needed, choose online-only files instead.