I can't see my personal, regular files. Help?

Thanks for getting back to me here @yodave!

Any folder that are syncing with any devices or not will always show in your "All files" page in your account online. This is like your central hub for seeing everything in your account.

Can you use the steps outlined here to show the folder sizes to see if this helps with narrowing down the bulk of the data?

Your top level folders there should add up to the space usage you see in your plan page.

All comments

Hi @Kib_1, thanks for reaching out to us here!

Any shared folders in your account will have a folder icon with a silhouette of 2 people on it, but you can also check the Members column to see if the files show "Only you" or "x members".

To make some space in your account first, you can check out these steps on how to remove shared folders from your account either permanently or with the option to add them back later.

Both will free up the space used in your account.

For the personal files that you're missing, can you do a search in your account for some of the file names and let me know if you can locate them this way? The results will also show any files that have been recently deleted too.

Let me know how it goes!

I have the same problem. 1.4Gb of 'regular files' ...but no visibility of them. All I can see is the shared files [280Mb]. I've followed the search procedure solution, but have no idea what I'm searching for ...because I can't see the 1.4Gb of regular files.

I'll keep going, and if I find a solution I'll come back here to share [assuming I can relocate this post].

I can't find anything. I suspect that the 1.4Gb of 'regular files' is made up of video files that I shared with a third party, and subsequently deleted the folder. At the time I got a message saying something along the lines of ...the files being deleted for me, but still being available to the third party. My hunch is that those deleted files are still being included in my 2Gb plan usage, despite being deleted last year.

Thanks for joining us here @yodave!

If you see that there are files are taking space in your account, this won't include deleted files. You should see these files in your "All files" page here.

Are you not able to see any folders with a plain icon on them there?

If you can't see any non-shared files/folders, could you send me a screenshot of what you do see from the page I linked above?

Let me know what you find!

Hi Daphne,

Apologies, I missed your reply, and only spotted it when I came back here.

I think the missing space is used through syncing to my PC or another device like my iPad or phone. I don't remember syncing anything, and so I don't know what's being synced ...plus I'm still unable to find/access the synced files via my Dropbox account. These are represented as a blue section, the biggest chunk of usage.

As I don't know what they are, I'd be happy to delete them, but can't see how I can do that through my account.

Thanks again.

David

Just to follow up on this: I've checked my PC, iPad, Android phone, and even my old iPhone and none of them appear to have Dropbox installed ...so I figure that none of them should be syncing with Dropbox.

I've looked back through my emails, and I previously received an email informing me that my Dropbox is full and it's no longer syncing. Syncing to what?

Where can I access these 1.87Gb of regular files? What are they? It's a mystery.

I'll report back here if I find a solution.

So the only candidate that I've found is under connected apps. I don't think I have added any apps, but I can see that Microsoft Office Online is listed.

I have Microsoft Office installed on my PC, and so I'm wondering if somehow those files are being synced to Dropbox. I still can access any 'regular files' folder to have a look and see what's using up all of the space.

Further update: under account/security I found an apple mobile account that has been logged on since 3rd May 2019. I looked at the IP address, and that did not match the IP address from any of my devices [iPad, old iPhone, new phone, etc].

I popped the logged in IP in the trash folder - no idea what that will do. I'd image that the files will still be there ...so how do I access them?

As I hadn't already, I downloaded Dropbox on to my PC. That didn't help - there's no sign of the 1.8Gb 'regular' files. Just the 200 or so Mb that I can see in folders.

I'm fed up. I've spent Saturday afternoon trying to locate these files. In terms of UX, it's a poor show.

Signing off ...I'll do this through another way. I have tons of space via my iCloud account.

Good luck to you if you're reading this. Sorry I couldn't provide an answer.

Thanks for all the updates here @yodave!

If you're still interested in getting to the bottom of this, can you let me know if you see any folders in your Dropbox account online from this page? www.dropbox.com/home

Your account online will always show all the data in your account, whether it's being synced to any devices or not.

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for your message.

Yes I have lots of folders, but I've been through them all and there's only one with bigger files; maybe 150Mb in that one. The rest are all just a few Mb. Best I can tell, the bulk of the data usage is used for syncing to something, but I don't know what, and I can't see any folder that's being used for syncing.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for getting back to me here @yodave!

Any folder that are syncing with any devices or not will always show in your "All files" page in your account online. This is like your central hub for seeing everything in your account.

Can you use the steps outlined here to show the folder sizes to see if this helps with narrowing down the bulk of the data?

Your top level folders there should add up to the space usage you see in your plan page.

Hi Daphne,

I tried this, and it resolved the problem. Thank you.

I have 30-40 folders all with varying small amounts, but they're bigger than I imagined, including my fonts folder which has 200Mb when I imagined it would have been much less. Together, these account for the usage. In terms of feedback, it should be a bit easier to see the size of folders in terms of UX, but this solved my issue so many thanks.

Have a great weekend!

I'm very glad to hear that helped @yodave!

I appreciate your feedback on this too, I've made a note on this from my side.

I'm just a post away if you need anything else. 😁

Hope you have a lovely weekend too!

ghostofk2

If anyone still wondering. These hidden regular files are actually backups. You may accidentally backup-ed your PC or more likely an external drive. You can find and delete them in the dropbox backup.

Hope it helps, cheers

Dear DropBox,

Respectfully, that did not answer his question and the question many have of this same issue. his question was..."How do I first see what they are, and then how do I then delete them?"

I have spent a lot of time searching for this answer to no avail. I now believe that it is intentional on DropBox's part to create a level of frustration and anxiety over the "free" space. after all, the free 2GB space is the marketing tool and its to DropBoxes advantage and desire that we all pony up for monthly payments. DropBox does not want us to have access to that free storage space to delete unintended synced "Regular" files or any management of the free storage space.

After all, how easy it would be to create the access to that storage space and have the ability to delete individual files or a select all prompt to delete. DropBox wants to keep flagging the [out of space] banner in your faces every-time you sign in.

Whatever!

It is intentional by DropBox to not give us simple access to these unintended synced files taking up the Free 2GB storage space. Like you I spent hours all over the web and the answer is always the same...which is No Answer. I believe DropBox is playing the marketing anxiety game. Build up enough anxiety over time to get a customer to say.."the hell with it" and pop for some monthly payment plan. That whats drives the stock value.

Whatever!

Jay

Hi @TH9, if files aren't taking up quota on the main Dropbox page, you can try checking the backups page to see if any backups are using the quota.

Incidentally, the previous post from my colleague was back in 2020, prior to the newer version of the backup feature.

I will try that but DropBox message is still “your storage is full, UPGRADE NOW for more storage!” Rather than, directing you to were the Regular Files are so that you can manage the Free Space. DropBox does not want you to manage the Free Space to keep it freed up!

I think there is no getting around DropBox’s sole objective.

Cheers