Shared workspaces with selective content item synchronization. In one embodiment, for example, a method performed at a personal computing device comprises: displaying an actionable shared workspace launcher icon for a shared workspace accessible by a user account held with a content management system; downloading metadata pertaining to the shared workspace from the content management system; downloading one or more content item blocks for a particular content item belonging to the shared workspace from a content item server of the content management system; storing the one or more content item blocks at the personal computing device; and responsive to an activation of an actionable file system icon corresponding to the particular content item, updating display of the corresponding actionable file system icon for the particular content item to indicate that the particular content item is currently configured for offline access.