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Online-Only Not Working?

KeyBlue

Hi all,

We're trying to move all files from a 2TB local networked ****** drive to Dropbox.

My first question is - Am I right in thinking that when I paste a file or folder into the local Dropbox folder on my Mac, it uploads it to Dropbox and deletes it from my computer since I have everything set to online-only?

The process I am working to is:

Copy around 500GB from our local ****** drive to my Mac in batches (limited space on my Mac).

Dropbox then uploads that 500GB worth of data.

I then Delete that 500GB from my Mac.

Repeat the process.

But... When I delete files from my local Dropbox folder (to make space for the next batch of 500GB), they're deleted on Dropbox as well? I have everything set to online-only so I'm not sure why it would delete from Dropbox as well?

Thanks!

EDIT: In case it helps, what I am eventually trying to do is stop using the local ****** drive and free-up space on all our Macs by having all files online. Happy to copy and paste files down, work on them, then put them back, but none of our Macs have 2TB of space for all our files and folders!

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Walter

Hey there @KeyBlue - welcome to our forums and happy Monday!

Based on your description you'd like to use our Smart Sync feature when copying or moving your files from a network drive to your Dropbox folder - correct me if I got anything wrong please.

Note that your Dropbox folder is just a normal folder on your ****** drive. Therefore, if you drag and drop files into the Dropbox folder, those files will be moved instead of copied.

Another thing to note is that with Smart Sync you don't need to delete your files to make space locally -just set your (existing) files to be "Online Only" (by right clicking on them and marking them as such).

Once you've applied the changes you want (the small batches may be a good idea depending on your devices capacity) give it some time to sync until it shows "up to date" (which in turn would mean you're fully synced). Also note that you can boost the syncing process by changing your bandwidth settings as well if you like.

Keep me posted on your progress!

KeyBlue

Hi Walter, many thanks for your reply.

That's pretty much it - we want all files to be 'Online Only' because we have 2 TB of data but only 500GB of storage on each Mac.

I've set everything to Online-Only in the preferences, and as a precaution right click and make sure all folders are set to online-only.

So just to confirm - Once Dropbox has finished syncing, will these files technically no longer be on my ****** drive and instead have been uploaded to Dropbox?

Currently the two Macs we're using to upload all this data are set to 'online-only' but have full ****** drives with the folders in the local Dropbox folder.

Thanks

Walter

Yes, exactly @KeyBlue - just keep in mind that many processes on your machine may look at files that you might have not manually opened and in order to fulfill these requests from these processes Dropbox syncs the files (thus making them local again and taking up ****** drive space on your computers). Examples of this include:

Backup services
Antivirus
Recently used file lists
Third party applications that monitor files in general.

If a file has been synced locally that you would prefer to have online-only, simply right click on it again and select online-only from the Smart Sync menu.

I hope this information is helpful to you while I remain at your disposal should you have any more questions or concerns.

KeyBlue

Many thanks for your reply Walter.

As a test, I uploaded 500GB of files two days ago to give everything enough time to sync.

I've just checked and unfortunately the space is still being taken up on my ****** drive.

We have no local processes like you mentioned, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on.

All folders are set to 'online-only'.

Thanks

farmeron

I'm experiencing exactly the same problem. Migrating to a Macbook Pro with limited memory.

All my backedup Lightroom Catalogs and files (not images)
are set to Online Only
are not being used or accessed by Lightroom CC Classic
as while I have installed Lightroom I am not yet using any of the old Catalogs

Dropbox is still syncing about 80k of files, and I upgraded tio Professional to access the SmartSync functionality part way through the migration. Slightly different to the OP's situation, however could this be holding up the change from Local to Online Only?

KeyBlue

Not sure if this adds to the clues:

Screen Shot 2019-02-20 at 13.48.03.png

Uploading on two Macs, everything set to 'Online-only', why is one of the Macs saying 'downloading files'? If I've set everything to 'Online-only', surely they should stay online?

Also two days after uploading completed Monday, those files are still taking up space on my Mac. I can see they've taken up space on Dropbox (23% from the screenshot above) so why haven't they been removed from my local Dropbox folder yet?

I've ran out of ideas with this one. Both Macs are now full, both have already uploaded a few hundred GB of data, but this data hasn't been removed locally. The data isn't being accessed from anywhere yet as we're still using our local network until this upload is complete.

EDIT: I can confirm 3 hours later what little disk space I did have left has continued to drop, so it's downloading files despite everything being 'Online-only'.

Walter

Hey there @KeyBlue and @farmeron - sorry about your issues with Smart Sync.

Now, kindly note that syncing your files can take time if you have many files or large files. Just because the files have been placed into the Dropbox folder doesn't mean the syncing has completed.

When Dropbox syncs the files it starts with all of the folders, then uploads files from smallest to largest. Thus, it may look like the folders are empty or incomplete if you look during the syncing process. Please be patient and the files will sync. Do not delete them from the Dropbox folder if the files haven't finished syncing.

You can always see the sync status by holding your mouse over the Dropbox icon. See here: https://www.dropbox.com/help/syncing-uploads/check-progress

If the syncing is slow, try changing your bandwidth settings.

@farmeron : If you're still facing this issue, please send me a screenshot showing your desktop app's exact status.

Thanks again fellas.

KeyBlue

Thank you for confirming.

This has indeed now finished uploading, four days later...

We plan on using Dropbox to store all our files and work on everything using Dropbox as our main storage source with everything set to 'Online-only'.

Since it's taken so long just to upload these files, can we expect this sort of speed day to day when working on them? While I understand there are restrictions in terms of upload speeds etc, this could throw a spanner in the works in terms of our working processes.

Walter

Glad to hear that and thanks for the update @KeyBlue!

Now, in regards to your concern, note that syncing your files can take time if you have many or large files. Just because the files have been placed into the Dropbox folder doesn't mean the syncing has completed. You need to be patient and let the files sync -exactly as you did!

Spoiler

Moreover, kindly note that the Dropbox servers do not set caps on the upload or download speeds from the Desktop client, but file sync is a complicated process that includes more than just the transfer of the data as each file is divided and compressed into hashed components, transferred via secure data transfer, and then encrypted and stored on our servers. During an upload, the transfer speeds are also dependent upon how quickly your computer can process and compress the components of the files to make them available for upload.

The Dropbox client will also batch upload smaller files into batches of 800 files. If you have 800 * 1 kB files the effective batch that's sent to Dropbox will be 800 kB in size. You may commonly see this behavior when Dropbox first starts syncing as the client starts with smallest files first and then progresses to larger files.

Thus, the initial sync of your data is going to be the most time and resource intensive period. However, the more you use Dropbox the more efficient syncing becomes:

Once you upload a file to Dropbox, you never need to upload it again.
When editing large files, the Dropbox app attempts to sync only the blocks of the file that have changed.

Spoiler

You can also check your connection speed through your ISP and local network by using the following link: http://www.speedtest.net/

Bear in mind that the actual sync speed you see may not match these speeds directly as we are including the hash, compression, and encryption process in our aggregate kB/s speed (that is kiloBYTEs not kilobits per second).

I hope this information clarifies matters further and I remain at your disposal should you have any more questions!

farmeron

Hi @Walter

I can see this happening now . v e r y s l o w l y .

As both KeyBlue and I are raising this an issue caused by migration between computers and I note that other comments elsewhere are also experiencing this level of uncertainty in either an adoption or migration scenario....may I suggest a feature request?

At the very basic level why not have a "Pending" icon that lets your users know that something is actually happening and that we have to wait
At a more sophisticated level perhaps a more detailed reporting interface that details the queue.
Or maybe something more innovative that the the DropBox developers can come up with.

Thanks

Yaron

KeyBlue

Following on from my question... Say two users are working on a project together. User one finishes working on a file so that user two can work on it next, how does user two know when the file has finished syncing and is ready for them to begin work?

Another issue I have found is how long Dropbox takes to start... I've been online 30 minutes now and it still says 'starting'. Well I'm ready to start now, I can't wait for Dropbox to catch up.

EDIT: One and a half hours, still 'Starting'...

Walter

Thanks for your updates and happy Monday fellas!

@farmeron : Thanks for your feedback on this one - I'm passing it on to our dev team for future consideration.

@KeyBlue : The syncing of your edits should be instant in this case (assuming that your desktop app is working properly that is) so this shouldn't be an issue.

As per your desktop app, as you mentioned it's stuck at starting, could you see if there's an antivirus, a firewall or even a VPN/proxy setting that might be preventing our app from connecting to the internet normally?

Let me know of any updates!

KeyBlue

Thanks for your reply Walter. No antivirus, firewall or VPN, just a clean Mac connected at 200mbps.

Thanks

KeyBlue

Another day another problem... The main Mac we were using to upload the data has finished uploading, syncronising has stopped, yet the ****** drive says '750GB free' yet also shows nearly the whole ****** drive as full? I thought when files have finished syncronising with 'online-only' selected they're removed?

This is a fresh Mac, not much else on it, no weird third-party file management software, what's going on?

(I have tried uploading a jpg screenshot but I get the message 'An Unexpected Error has occurred.').

Walter

Thanks for letting me know about this @KeyBlue - could you try attaching the screenshot from the 'Photos' button directly above your reply (as you write it)? Alternatively, you could upload them to your Dropbox account and share a link to it (or them).

In the meantime, note that there are various places to see the size of a file in Finder. Some of these locations will display the logical size, others the physical size. A Smart Sync placeholder takes up approximately 0kb, this is the pysical size. The logical size of the file is the actual size of the file, if it were downloaded to the device.

To see both the logical and physical file size:
- Right click on a file/folder
- Select 'Get info'
- In the properties window you will see the original file size, followed by the actual on-disk size

For example:428,510 bytes (0 KB on disk)

It is important to be able to view both sizes, not just to reassure you that the file is not taking up space, but also to understand the space and speed implications of returning the file(s).

In other views of Finder, the operating system will report the logical size. For this reason you shouldn't be concerned if it initially appears that the placeholder is taking up space. To confirm the file or folder is not taking up space, please check via the above steps. Files that are not taking up space on disk will have an icon overlay that changes from the usual green tick to the grey cloud icon, denoting that the file isn't locally present.

Please note that third party disk management software may not read the physical size of a Smart Sync placeholder, therefore that software may not correctly report disk usage.

I hope this information helps to some extent while I'll also wait for your screenshot(s) so we can have a further view into this.

farmeron

Hi Walter

I get it now and indeed the Online Only files do show a physical size of ZERO. However when checking available capacity of my 500gb drive under About this Mac, Storage and then drilling down to storage management the Mac OS shows over 50% of the drive is filled with "Documents". Many of these are Online Only files with a Physical Size of Zero, probably about 50Gb in total.

This is very misleading but also begs the question as to how the MacOS will handle its available storage logic when I start adding to the drive?

Walter

Thanks for the follow up @farmeron - I appreciate it.

This has been extensively discussed on the thread I'm linking below so feel free to take a look there as well for more information:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Syncing-and-uploads/Smart-Sync-still-taking-up-local-space/td-p/284499/page/11

Let me know if there's anything else I can do from my end to help too!

KeyBlue

Still no luck on uploading images unfortunately.

The latest error I have is - All folders are set to 'online-only' in preferences, but I am still finding some folders with the green tick saying 'Local'.

Why si this happening?

Walter

Probably for the reasons mentioned in my second reply here on this thread @KeyBlue!

Can you not right click on them to set them to be "Online only"?

Any additional information will be much appreciated.

KeyBlue

Hi Walter,

I can right click and make them online-only, but I want them online-only all the time?

What if I am working on a file that says 'local' while another team member opens that same file on Dropbox before I've right clicked and chosen 'online-only'?

Surely then we'll have two different versions of the same file locally?

Is there a way for the other user to know I am working on a file which I have locally?

Walter

In that case, I think you'd be interested in the Dropbox Badge as you're correct to think that the flow you described would possibly generate conflicted files @KeyBlue.

If you are sharing the data between computers you must NOT run the application on more than one computer at a time as this will generate file conflicts and other problems.

Thus, the pattern needs to be:

Let files sync
Start application
Save files
Quit application
Repeat on different computers.

One workaround that can be used to prevent conflicted copies is to move the file out of the Dropbox folder while editing it. Doing this causes the file to appear as deleted and doesn't allow other users to edit the file. Once you're done editing, you can move the file back into its original location in the Dropbox folder. It will reappear with your edits for all users who have access to that file.

The other option would be to move it to a second folder designated for "In Use" files. Other members of the shared folder can still access it if they need to, but will know not to make changes.

Let me know if this helps!

PS: If you're working on Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, or Excel files and you'd like to turn the Badge on, take a look below

https://www.dropbox.com/help/business/badge-on-off

KeyBlue

Thanks for your reply. That's really not an ideal workflow for a company of our size.

Dropbox was supposed to take over from our current workflow of using physical servers where all files are stored in just one place and there's no copying and pasting locally or turning apps on and off.

Is there another way?

Could this thread also be turned back to 'Unsolved' as none of my issues mentioned are currently fixed.

Walter

Thanks for the follow up @KeyBlue - I've gone aheead and un-accepted the solution on this thread and I'll leave it up to you moving forward.

Now, as I'd like to look into your current setup to provide further assistance on this, may I reach out via email to your Dropbox associated address so we can work on this together?

Let me know here and we'll take it from there. Thank you.

dfloring

Ha, Having the same problem good to see sort of a resolution to this issue

Walter

Sorry to hear about this and apologies for the late reply @dfloring.

Now, so as to have a better view of the matter at hand, could you elaborate on the problem you're having by providing information about your setup (device's OS, version of our app etc.)?

Thanks in advance!

DianaWilliams

Hi,

I'm having issues wih this, my computer is now completely full even though I started with 'online only' from the beginning. I have manually set everything to online only again, and now my computer wont even sync because the dropbox took up all of my disk space.

Help? I really need the space and need my files to be "online only", and it seems like the dropbox app doesn't want to work that way.

Walter

Hi @DianaWilliams; sorry to hear about this.

Can you let me know your computer's exact OS and where you've spotted the discrepancy you mentioned? If possible, please send me a screenshot as well.

While at it, what's the desktop app's exact status as shown within your computer's system tray/menu bar?

Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there Diana!

mergerarb

Hello, when i right click smart sync, there is no option for me to set the file to ''online only"

Walter

Hi @mergerarb; welcome to our Community!

If you're still having issues with this, could you let me know what plan are you on, your computer's OS and the version of our desktop application along with its exact status as shown within your system tray/menu bar?

Thanks!