Quick Tip No 2 - Don't sync node_modules to Dropbox

Quick Tip No 2 - Don't sync node_modules to Dropbox

If you do any JavaScript development and store your files within a Dropbox folder, chances are that your PC is going to try to upload the contents of your node_modules folder into Dropbox. This is going to take a long time to upload and your actual application changes may not get uploaded when you want.

Fortunately, Dropbox has an option to specify which folders to sync, so its easy to configure the node_modules folder to remain local.

First of all, ensure that you are using the Dropbox application to view folders rather than in File Explorer. Open the Dropbox preferences, and ensure Open folders in is set to Dropbox desktop app.

Dropbox preferences window

Next, locate the top level folder for your project (the one that contains node_modules), right click and select Open In Dropbox.

Within the Dropbox application, right click on the node_modules folder and select Don't sync to dropbox.com

List of files in Dropbox application

You'll now find syncing to Dropbox much faster.

Credits

Photo by Jean Gerber on Unsplash