Dropbox on Linux: installing from source, commands, and repositories

Updated May 08, 2025

How to install Dropbox on Linux How to build the Dropbox installer for Linux from source What Linux commands are available on Dropbox?Commands Managing selective sync settings

The information in this article applies to all Dropbox users on Linux.

The Dropbox desktop app is available on supported Linux operating systems. If you use Dropbox on a Linux machine, we recommend that you download and install the appropriate Linux package of the Dropbox desktop app.

Learn more about the system requirements for Dropbox on Linux.

Note: If you use single sign-on (SSO), you’ll need to log in to dropbox.com before installing the Dropbox desktop app.

How to install Dropbox on Linux

To install Dropbox on your Linux desktop, download and install the appropriate package:

Once installed, you’ll be prompted to either log in or create a new account.

Learn more about installing the Dropbox desktop app on Linux.

How to build the Dropbox installer for Linux from source

The Dropbox installation package source has been released to the public via a GPL license. This means that if the installation packages for your Linux or Unix distribution of choice aren't available, you can still compile a version yourself.

Due to legal requirements, patches can only be accepted into a release if you release your patch into the public domain.

You'll be credited in the CONTRIBUTORS file included with every package. To submit your patches, contact us. If you want to develop on the Dropbox platform, visit the developers site and check out the Dropbox API.

What Linux commands are available on Dropbox?

The Dropbox desktop app can be controlled with the Linux Command Line Interface (CLI). Before running commands, ensure that you’re running the available commands while your prompt is located at the root (top level) of the Dropbox folder.

By default, the Dropbox folder is located in ~/Dropbox (or ~/Dropbox (Your team name), if you have a Dropbox team account). If you moved the Dropbox folder to a different location, be sure you navigate to the root of your actual Dropbox folder before running the commands below.

Important note: The Dropbox desktop app for Linux is being updated and simplified. To continue enjoying the full desktop experience on Linux, you may need to update your system or download additional libraries.

Commands

This following list provides information on settings you can manage in the CLI, with sample commands to help you.

Help

Print a list of available commands and a short description of each one to provide guidance on how to use it:

dropbox help [command]

Start

This starts the Dropbox daemon, if it isn’t already running. If it’s already running, this won’t do anything:

dropbox start [-i]

You can also auto-install the Dropbox daemon if it’s not available on the system:

dropbox start [i--install]

Autostart

Choose whether to have Dropbox start automatically at login:

dropbox autostart [y/n]

y: Dropbox will start automatically at login
n: Dropbox won’t start automatically at login

Note: This command may only work on currently supported Ubuntu distributions.

Proxy

If you’re behind a proxy and need to configure access, this allows you to manually change proxy settings for Dropbox:

dropbox proxy MODE [TYPE] [HOST] [PORT] [USERNAME] [PASSWORD]

You can choose from the following configurations:

MODES

none
auto
manual

The following selections are only valid in manual mode:

TYPE
- https
- socks4
- socks5
HOST: Proxy hostname
PORT: Proxy port
USERNAME: Proxy username (if required)
PASSWORD: Proxy password (if required)

Lansync

This enables or disables LAN sync, depending on your network preferences:

dropbox lan sync [y/n]

y: Dropbox will use LAN sync (default)
n: Dropbox won't use LAN sync

Throttle

This sets bandwidth limits for file syncing, with the option to change the DOWNLOAD and UPLOAD limits:

dropbox throttle DOWNLOAD UPLOAD

DOWNLOAD
- unlimited
- Set a manual limit in KB/s
UPLOAD
- unlimited
- auto
- Set a manual limit in KB/s

For example:

dropbox throttle 500 unlimited

dropbox throttle unlimited auto

dropbox throttle 500 100

Running

This command can only be used in scripts to check if Dropbox is running. This command doesn't output anything to the CLI.

dropbox running

This returns 1 if the Dropbox daemon is running, and 0 if it isn’t.

Status

This command prints out the current sync status of the Dropbox daemon:

dropbox status

Filestatus

This checks the current sync status of each specific file:

dropbox filestatus [-l] [-a] [FILE]…

-l or --list: Prints out information in a format similar to the native Linux command ls
-a or --all: Doesn’t ignore entries starting with "."

Note: Aliases include stat.

ls

This is an alias for filestatus -l that lists Dropbox contents to the CLI:

dropbox ls [FILE]…

Sharelink

This prints out a sharable link, which can be used to share a chosen file with others, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account:

dropbox sharelink FILE

Stop

This stops the Dropbox daemon:

dropbox stop

Managing selective sync settings

Selective sync is a feature in the Dropbox desktop app that allows you to add or remove Dropbox folders from your hard drive to save space on your computer, without deleting the files themselves. Learn more about selective sync.

You can manage selective sync settings using the following commands:

Exclude

If you run exclude list, or just exclude with no other input, the CLI will display a list of directories that are currently excluded from syncing.

dropbox exclude [list]

dropbox exclude

You can add one or more directories to the exclusion list, then resynchronize Dropbox:

dropbox exclude add [DIRECTORY] [DIRECTORY] …

Or you can remove one or more directories from the exclusion list, then resynchronize Dropbox.

dropbox exclude remove [DIRECTORY] [DIRECTORY] …

Note: A specified path must be within the Dropbox folder if you want to remove it from the exclusion list.

The following is an example of managing selective sync settings using the CLI. It covers some scenarios where you might need to adjust these settings, with a breakdown of each command and what it means.

First, you needed to change directory to the Dropbox folder location:

username@machine:~$ cd ~/Dropbox

You asked to see the folder tree structure on disk:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ tree -d

The next command displayed the folder structure:


├── Documents
│   ├── Personal
│   └── Work
├── Fun
│   └── Largest Folder Ever
└── Media
    ├── Images
    └── Videos
8 directories

You asked to see any existing selsynced folders:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude list

This command shows directories that are excluded from sync, or not uploaded to Dropbox. The next command confirmed that no directories were currently excluded:

No directories are being ignored.

You added two directories to selective sync exclusion:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude add Documents/Personal Media/Videos/

This was confirmed:

Excluded: 
Documents/Personal
Media/Videos

You asked for details on excluded folders, which now included the two folders that were just added:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude list

This produced this confirmation:

Excluded: 
Documents/Personal
Media/Videos

You checked the folders on disk, and the excluded or selsynced folders no longer showed up on disk:


username@machine:~/Dropbox$ tree -d
.
├── Documents
│   └── Work
├── Fun
│   └── Largest Folder Ever
└── Media
    └── Images
6 directories

You selsynced or excluded another folder, and got confirmation:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude add Fun/Largest\ Folder\ Ever/
Excluded: 
Fun/Largest Folder Ever

When you rechecked the folders on disk to see if this was successful, it was excluded:


username@machine:~/Dropbox$ tree -d
.
├── Documents
│   └── Work
├── Fun
└── Media
    └── Images
5 directories

You asked to see all the excluded or selsynced folders again:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude list
Excluded: 
Documents/Personal
Fun/Largest Folder Ever
Media/Videos

You removed two folders from the selsynced folders list, and the next command noted their removal:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ dropbox exclude remove Media/Videos Documents/Personal
No longer excluded: 
Media/Videos
Documents/Personal

This was confirmed when you checked the folders on disk:

username@machine:~/Dropbox$ tree -d
.
├── Documents
│   ├── Personal
│   └── Work
├── Fun
└── Media
    ├── Images
    └── Videos
7 directories
username@machine:~/Dropbox$

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