macOS client selective sync: only root “Nextcloud” folder shown, cannot deselect subfolders

Nextcloud Desktop Client version: 33.0.6

Hi everyone,

I am having an issue with the Nextcloud Desktop Client on macOS.

I want to set up classic selective sync and choose which folders should be synced locally. However, in the “Choose remote folders to sync” / “Deselect remote folders that should not be synchronized” dialog, I only see one top-level entry called Nextcloud with a blue square next to it.

The problem is:

* The top-level Nextcloud entry cannot be deselected.

* The subfolders below it, such as Archiv, Dokumente, FiSi, iphone, etc., do not have normal checkboxes.

* If I continue, the client starts syncing everything, including a huge Archiv folder of about 553 GB.

* Virtual Files / File Provider mode should be disabled. I specifically want classic sync with selective folder checkboxes.

* I already removed the old account from the client.

* I also cleaned old macOS File Provider / CloudStorage leftovers.

* ~/Library/CloudStorage is now empty.

* On the server side, the folder structure seems correct. The user files are not inside an extra /Nextcloud folder. They are directly under the user’s files directory, for example:

\* Archiv

\* Dokumente

\* Editing

\* FiSi

\* iphone

\* iphone_inbox

\* projekte

Server details:

* Nextcloud is running in Docker.

* The Nextcloud container is nextcloud-app.

* The data directory is /var/www/html/data.

* I checked inside the container and the files are located under:

/var/www/html/data/user/files/

* There is no real top-level folder named Nextcloud inside the user files directory.

macOS cleanup already done:

* Removed old account from the Nextcloud client.

* Removed old CloudStorage folder:

\~/Library/CloudStorage/Nextcloud-user@...

* Removed old Nextcloud containers/group containers where possible.

* Verified that ~/Library/CloudStorage is empty.

Still, after reinstalling/reconnecting the client, the selective sync dialog again shows only this top-level Nextcloud entry with a blue square instead of normal checkboxes, and I cannot deselect it.

Expected behavior:

I expected to see normal selectable checkboxes for the folders directly under my Nextcloud root, so I can sync only selected folders and exclude Archiv.

Actual behavior:

Only the top-level Nextcloud entry appears as the main selectable item, and continuing causes all folders below it to be synced.

Has anyone seen this behavior on macOS? Is this still related to File Provider mode, even after disabling Virtual Files and cleaning CloudStorage? Or is there another setting/cache/database where the desktop client stores this mode?

Any help would be appreciated.

Additional server information:

Nextcloud server:

Desktop client:

  • Version: 33.0.6
  • Git revision: 606292d19fe9309f5f4c9addd77545a7e81fc8d3
  • Qt: 6.10.2
  • OpenSSL: 3.5.7
  • macOS: 27.0
  • Architecture: arm64

I also tested the issue with a fresh Nextcloud test user. The same selective sync problem appears there as well, so it does not seem to be related to my original user account or folder structure.

The server-side files are directly under the user files directory, not inside an extra folder called “Nextcloud”. The “Nextcloud” entry only appears in the macOS desktop client’s selective sync dialog as the root item.

Hey @game_54 and welcome to the community forum of NC where volounteers try to help you in case of problems.

sadfully you missed filling out the support template. “Mac” and “NC 33.0.6” isn’t really enough since there’s way more important info.

sorry ^^

Additional server information:

Nextcloud server:

Desktop client:

  • Version: 33.0.6
  • Git revision: 606292d19fe9309f5f4c9addd77545a7e81fc8d3
  • Qt: 6.10.2
  • OpenSSL: 3.5.7
  • macOS: 27.0
  • Architecture: arm64

I also tested the issue with a fresh Nextcloud test user. The same selective sync problem appears there as well, so it does not seem to be related to my original user account or folder structure.

The server-side files are directly under the user files directory, not inside an extra folder called “Nextcloud”. The “Nextcloud” entry only appears in the macOS desktop client’s selective sync dialog as the root item.

That is the normal behaviour. Even on Windows.
The client needs a folder to sync your files in.

No, I have three accounts in my client and it works.

Do not think it is related.

There are hidden folders in each sync root folder containing a local db. See official docs.

Really? Release date is in September AFAIK.