Stop iCloud from backing up Dropbox

Hi LTSilverman,

Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We understand you'd like to stop iCloud Drive from backing up your Dropbox files. It sounds like your Dropbox files may be located within your Desktop and Documents folders. If you have Desktop and Documents turned on for iCloud Drive then it will sync any files you store in those locations. You can either turn off Desktop and Documents or move your Dropbox files to another location. This article explains more about this: Add your Desktop and Documents files to iCloud Drive - Apple Support.

"Turn off Desktop and Documents

1. From your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings. In macOS Monterey or earlier, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences. 
2. Click Apple ID, then click iCloud.
3. Next to iCloud Drive, click Options.
4. Deselect Desktop & Documents Folders.
5. Click Done.

What happens when you turn off Desktop and Documents

When you turn off Desktop & Documents Folders, your files stay in iCloud Drive and a new Desktop and Documents folder is created on your Mac in the home folder. You can move files from iCloud Drive to your Mac as you need them, or select all of your files and drag them to the place you want to keep them."

We hope this helps.

Take care.

I'm sure he means well, but turning off iCloud as suggested by Specialist Jeff doesn't seem to be a useful answer to the question to me.

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/move-dropbox-folder describes how to move your dropbox folder, but there is a note that says:

Note: Moving your Dropbox folder on computers running the updated version of Dropbox for macOS on File Provider is no longer supported. 

The link in the quote links to a page that describes the newer versions of Dropbox that hat utilizes Apple's updated File Provider API to deeply integrate with macOS, but at the same time makes it impossible to move the dropbox folder like before.

Behold. Your files are now synchronised twice, and there is nothing you can do about it.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/Is-there-a-way-to-stop-using-File-Provider/td-p/733735

I'm sure he means well, but turning off iCloud as suggested by Specialist Jeff doesn't seem to be a useful answer to the question to me.

He didn’t suggest turning off iCloud. He suggested disabling the feature you don’t want to use. Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive doesn’t backup anything. It synchronizes you Desktop and Documents folders on iCloud Drive so that you can access them from all of your devices and web. If you have Dropbox also using your Desktop and Documents folders, turn off the iCloud sync, or turn off Dropbox.

I think you are missing the point. Dropbox does not force users. Apple imposes the new API and does not provide a way to relocate the Dropbox folder, while this could be done before that API. But the API has become a requirement. People are talking about this issue on the Dropbox forums as I indicated already above.

There's some tricks I read about, https://appletoolbox.com/how-to-stop-icloud-syncing-desktop-folders/

It shows how to stop iCloud sync for files and folders by giving the files the ".nosync" extension, and folders the ".tmp" extension to stop them (and their contents) from syncing.

Maybe a helpful answer for the OP, if this mechanism still works. The article is from 2020.

If DropBox forces you to use a folder in Desktop or Documents, talk to them about that issue. That is the only thing Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive synchronizes.

There was an option (+5years) to add .nosync to a directory to prevent it from synching with iCloud. That may disable all FileProvider synching, or it may not work at all anymore.

I am looking for a solution for this issue as well, and have no intention to redicule people who just trying to help, if this is what triggered this reaction in you.

Why does a statement of facts trigger you?

What more is there to talk about? If you don’t won’t two services providing the same function, turn one of them off.

I don’t know what options Dropbox offers. The only option for iCloud is to synchronize the Desktop and Documents folders or not.

How strange. Your reply is before my question.

Dropbox and iCloud don't offer exactly the same functions. While iCloud is is very well integrated with macOS, Dropbox is multi-platform, and less of a walled garden if you want to share files.

Options like public web links to files without any account needed on the other side, and instant file sharing with Linux and Windows are a must for those of us working together with people that are using other platforms.

These are good reasons to run both services side by side.

This is also why I wrote that disabling one of these services because of the problem, is not really a viable solution.

The seemingly simple solution would be to have Apple's updated File Provider API relocate the Dropbox folder. It is not really clear to me if Dropbox is not ready or willing to implement that improvement, or if Apple is not.

I am looking for a solution for this issue as well, and have no intention to redicule people who just trying to help, if this is what triggered this reaction in you. Please look into this problem, even if Dropbox is not for you. I agree that iCloud doesn't need any improvement. But if Apple does not offer Dropbox the means to get out of the way of iCloud, some people could possibly stop their iCloud Drive subscriptions in favour of comparable software that simply checks more boxes, even if it's not that well integrated. Which would be a pity.

Indeed. Not iCloud. But iCloud sync. Thanks for clarifying that.

Any thoughts on the rest of my message?