How prevent Dropbox from starting/syncing (once) on startup?

[Doc69]

I have a file that I need on my shut down MacBook Pro in the Dropbox folder. If I start the computer, Dropbox will probably overwrite this file (it didn’t sync before the shutdown, and I have a newer version in the cloud). How can I prevent Dropbox from starting or syncing when I start the Mac, so that I can copy this file to a safe location before I start Dropbox again? Would safe mode work? I also am not able to shut off the Wi-Fi where I am now since I don’t have access to the router.

 

[Absrnd]

remove it from your startup items in your account settings,
then you have to manually start Dropbox every time you startup

 

[Doc69]

remove it from your startup items in your account settings, then you have to manually start Dropbox every time you startup

I’m not talking about getting Dropbox not to start each time I reboot my Mac, I’m talking about preventing it from starting on my next boot from off. If I boot up now, Dropbox will probably sync before I have time to turn off Dropbox.

 

[Absrnd]

I’m not talking about getting Dropbox not to start each time I reboot my Mac, I’m talking about preventing it from starting on my next boot from off. If I boot up now, Dropbox will probably sync before I have time to turn off Dropbox.

because that is probably they only way to do it
the whole idea, for dropbox, is to have it auto sync on start.

or turn of internet, so it can not sync, and recover the file.

 

[Doc69]

or turn of internet, so it can not sync, and recover the file.

I'll probably have to take my MacBook Pro for a car ride then, and take it someplace where I'm out of range with any of my known wifi networks.

 

[mj_]

You do know that Dropbox keeps a history for each file, right? If you're using the free version the history goes back 30 days (I think), if you're using the paid version of Dropbox you get a year of file history. Thus, you should be able to log into your Dropbox account from any browser, locate the file in question, click the three dots on the right side of the file name and select version history. You can then restore any of these saved versions.

 

[willmtaylor]

I'll probably have to take my MacBook Pro for a car ride then, and take it someplace where I'm out of range with any of my known wifi networks.

...or just turn off your WiFi....

 

[Doc69]

You do know that Dropbox keeps a history for each file, right?

Yes, I do! My issue was that the Mac had not yet synced with Dropbox, and the file I wanted was on the Mac. I wanted to prevent Dropbox from syncing because the corresponding file in the cloud had been changed later on another Mac. I didn't trust that the file would be saved in Dropbox's history if overwritten by the cloud version.
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...or just turn off your WiFi....

This is what I ended up doing. When I wrote the post I didn't think I would have time to shut off the wifi before Dropbox started to sync, but I was able to shut it off right after the Mac had booted up, before Dropbox started syncing. So everything is good!

 

[mj_]

The file you wanted was on the Mac and in Dropbox's version history available through their website. Unless the file you wanted was changed more than 30 days ago, then it might not have been available anymore.

 

[Doc69]

The file you wanted was on the Mac and in Dropbox's version history available through their website. Unless the file you wanted was changed more than 30 days ago, then it might not have been available anymore.

The file was not in the cloud because I had shut off the MacBook Pro before Dropbox had synced. That was the whole issue. And then I had changed the file on my Mac Pro, so the cloud version was newer than on the MacBook Pro.

 

[mj_]

Ooooh, ok. Now I see. Then yes, in that particular scenario the version history would've been useless. Not sure how Dropbox would handle this though, I think they have some sort of conflict detection algorithm because every now and then I have a file duplicated and suffixed with "-modified-on-iMac" or "-modified-on-MacBook".

Either way, no need to continue down this rabbit hole.