Smart Sync storage issue on macOS Sierra 10.12- macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

Howdy folks,

I’m @Jane, I’m working on the Community team at Dropbox & I’m posting here so as to stir this discussion towards a different route. Without further ado, I’m going to split this thread off into a number of different ones, as I’d like to avoid any confusion in regards to the topic or the status of this conversation.

Why are you splitting the thread?

For context, this thread has been around since last February & a number of very separate (and now resolved) Smart Sync issues have been reported here. This separation was triggered as we like to group distinct issues together to better help users discover relevant content, advice and to help self-resolve.

Don’t worry, no information is being removed, we are however moving some posts into other threads & for that reason, I’m going to include links to all the new threads at the bottom here.

As an example, this thread contains a lot of information & troubleshooting around an issue we experienced on Mac OS 10.13.3, something now resolved. We wouldn’t want people on 10.13.4 to attempt troubleshooting steps that weren’t relevant to their current state.

But I still have my issue!

We’ve moved all the open discussions into separate threads listed at the bottom. Apologies if we missed yours! Regardless, anyone who has opened a ticket with Support, that ticket will remain open and is unrelated to this split.

So, has this been solved forever?

The initial behavior reported here has been, however this thread has become a single point for a vast number of other Smart Sync posts, some of which should have their own threads, some open, some now resolved.

Where do I post Smart Sync comments now?

Either in one of the below threads - or, if they don’t match the behavior you're getting, you may feel free to create a new one! :slight_smile: As this thread will remain public, you may also use it as a point of reference, so as to let us know of any troubleshooting steps you've followed from those mentioned above.

Thanks for your co-operation and please keep the discussion going in the below, or new, threads!

Storage Usage reported for online-only folders on Finder doesn't match the "User Info” here: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Syncing-and-uploads/Storage-Usage-reported-for-online-only-folders-on-Finder-doesn-t/td-p/270125

Smart Synced files & folders set to Online Only but still taking up storage on macOS 10.13.4.: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Syncing-and-uploads/Re-Smart-Sync-set-to-Online-Only-but-still-taking-up-storage-on/m-p/271195#M35882

For note, issues caught up in this thread, that should have had their own threads included:

Issue 1: I can’t enable Smart Sync at all:

Usually this was the result of an incorrect installation & in such cases, re-installing anew helped fix the issue. Alternatively, if you were running a Beta version of the Dropbox app on your desktop, you may need to check if this works on the most updated Stable version (Note: It's currently 48.4.58).
Status: :white_check_mark:

Issue 2: I’m on a Professional plan & I can’t get Smart Sync to work either:

Some users on the Professional plan were experiencing an issue utilizing Smart Sync, as they had needed to enable System Extensions previously, which has been documented on this resource.
Status: :white_check_mark:

Issue 3: I’ve made my files online-only, though they’re still using up my storage locally:

In some cases, users reported that Smart Synced files might be locally stored in the cache folder a little longer, hence taking up space. Clearing the cache folder should resolve this issue.
Status: :white_check_mark:

Issue 4: I followed the instructions on your resources & set up my files as online-only, though I can see that they’re still taking up space on my pc/ Mac.

The Properties (Win) and Get Info (Mac OS) panel will indicate the actual file size instead of the size on disk, as you may expect. “Size on disk” is the space being taken up by a placeholder file and should be around 0kb.
Status: :white_check_mark:

Issue 5: I can see that my Dropbox folder on my Mac OSX (v.42.4.114) reported file & folder size incorrectly, making it look like files were still residing on my hard disk.

After further investigation, we were able to determine that the Finder was showing the wrong size on disk for folders with compressed files.
Status: :white_check_mark:

Issue 6: I can’t back-up my online-only files on the TimeMachine migration assistant & whenever it tries to access them, this action brings them back locally.

This is related to the way TimeMachine reads file sizes and is an on-going issue, though this issue lies with Apple’s software. De-selecting the Dropbox folder when restoring if possible will work around this issue.
Status: :arrows_counterclockwise:

Issue 7: Third-party disk management apps report Smart Synced files are present locally.

Some third-party app may read the nominal file size rather than the physical size. This is not a Dropbox issue, but down to the way some apps are built.
Status: :white_check_mark:

That's all from me! As usual, I'll be around in case you'd need me to clarify matters in more detail, so feel free to ping me & I'll do my best to check back with you.

All comments

directorscut

I have a business account and i am working with MacBookPro having OSX 10.10.5 working. I did upload my data and then i got the message not enough storage because my sytem SSD has 250GB and my drive has 1TB. The Drobbox shows 60GB for its folder.

So i cant work on with uploading. Each time i upload it will increase the local usage of storage on the SSD. I try to change it to my 1TB drive but it didnt work.

But the goal is to save storage on my local Mac and not double all storage???

Thanx for your help in time! I would love to continue working with my files on dropbox...

Peter

BertaOCHA

Hi Fowzie,

I'm going to the same trouble, but I have directly unsynced my Business Account from my Desktop app.
And still, can't do anything on my computer as I have the storage 100% filled with ghosts.

Did you get to any solutions?
Going nuts, Smart Sync should have been the end of my storage issues, but instead, I need more than I used to!!!!

Thanks for your time,
Berta

ael1558

I am having the same issue with the most up-to-date version of iOS, although I do not have Dropbo for business. I NEED the space on my hard drive; hence my upgrade in dropbox storage. What is going on? Please fix.

Hey @ael1558, welcome to our forum :slight_smile:

We have a similar feature that is available to all our levels of service, called Selective Sync. This will allow you to keep all your content online, and select which folders you want to sync to your computer!

We made this feature specifically to help with local hard drive space issues, and you can find out all about it here.

I hope this helps.

Thanks

SteveA

Hi Sanchez,

Selective Sync is a nice feature, but we upgraded to business for dropbox in order to use Smart Sync. It works, but, as everyone is complaining about, Smart Sync causes the system to allocate space for a folder or file, even if that folder or file is not actually on the computer. This is a huge problem and defeats the purpose of Smart Sync. I hope your engineers are trying to fix this, and I'm not sure why Dropbox doesn't get that it's a problem.

ael1558

Thanks for your response, but it actually does not work. Even though I am using selective sync, there is an issue with Dropbox and iOS which means that even though I have told the Dropbox not to sync to my laptop, it is taking up space on my hard drive. I don't have room on the hard drive, which is why I am using the Dropbox. I know that I am not the only person with this issue, as this forum clearly indicates. I really hope this issue gets fixed ASAP.

Mark

ael1558 - your issue is different to this one in that Selective Sync doesnt take up space on a device at all (and in fact isnt available on iOS in anyway shape or form). However, what does happen is that when you choose to selective sync things it takes a few days for those files to clear as they move in to a local hidden cache.

Once that clears you will get the space back.

To try and speed it up restart your machine.

ael1558

Thank you, Mark. However, I mistyped in my previous comment--I did not mean iOS, but macOS (Sierra 10.12.5). And yes, I understand that it SHOULD NOT take up space on my Macbook, but it IS. I spent a lot of time trying to move files around, and I gave it days to move. However, when I opened up my storage tab on my device, it showed I was nearly at maximum capacity on my hard drive. I have a 64 gig file that I want to be in my dropbox without taking up space on my device. I moved the file to the dropbox (which took 2 days for the entire thing to transfer), and even after waiting several more days and restarting my computer, it still showed that it was taking up hard drive space. I deleted it from the dropbox (because I had it on an external device as well), and it freed up that space on my hard drive. I added it back (because I want in the dropbox), and the space was taken up again, even after several days. I had deselected it from the sync options, but it still took up space. I finally disconnected my dropbox from my Mac so that I could put the file there without having it take up space. As soon as I did that, it no longer took up space. But ideally, I'd like to be connected to my dropbox at all times and work on these files without them taking up hard drive space.

dari_zava

Hi there, is there any progress in this issue? I am running on the MacOS 10.12.3 and I am having the same problem as everyone here since I upgraded to Dropbox Business (for quite a lot of money!). The Smart Sync was actually the only reason for me to upgrade. Thanks for any advice!

jarryd

I was told by Dropbox support staff that this was now an Apple/macOS problem, even after the 10.12.x update. I'm currently on macOS 10.12.5 and still have the same problem—the Dropbox folder appearing to take up >300GB even though my HDD is 256GB.

Under the direction of Dropbox support to contact Apple support, I received the following feedback (please note I have not yet tested this out due to time constraints so attempt at your own risk) —

Check the incorrect indexing issue after each of the following:

If you get a chance let us know how you go?

Hey @dari_zava,

Welcome to the Dropbox Community!

Because we'll need account-specific information in order to further troubleshoot this with you, I'd advise you to log a ticket with our support team, so that we access your account's details and focus on that specific cases. Once you write in to us, please let me know in your reply here, so that I look for your ticket internally. Any screenshots indicating the space usage would be extremely helpful in determining the case.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Warm regards,

JaneA

bweets

You mean like this? I've turned off every Smart Sync folder and my MACbook is crawling. Shows 650GB of docs on a 500GB HD.

Screen Shot 2017-07-27 at 6.17.38 PM.png

alleus

Hi! Also having problems with Smart Synced directories taking up space. I've submitted a support ticket regarding this, and is instructed in this thread to also post a note about it here.

Hey @alleus,

Welcome to our Forum, thanks for posting this query here!

I ‘d like to follow-up on your request. If you’ve written in to our team, please let me know a ticket ID to reference in your reply, so that I look it up internally and make sure it's promptly reviewed. Your ticket number is a 7 digit number, which you can find on the email heading that you receive soon after you submit your support request.

Looking forward to hearing back from you,

JaneA

tmewis

Hey Ross,

I have version 10.12 and the smart-synced folders have maxed out my hard drive. I can not work on any projects until this is fixed and have been waiting for a reply from your techs. Please help me!

ak_crux

Hi,

Reading these posts from March of this year, I can say that I have macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and smart sync files set to online only show as taking space on my hard drive.

So this still is not working right.

Anyone else experience this?

Hey everyone,

If you are experiencing this Smart Sync issue, I urge you to contact our support team. Our agents can take a peak at your account and provide more specific troubleshooting. They can also forward your cases to the appropriate department for further review.

This can potentially benefit the whole community, as gathering information from real-world users like you, is a vital part of the troubleshooting and development process.

Thanks!

cesarastudillo

Dear Luke,

Thanks for your update. Can you help me with this:

I've got Mac Os 12.2 and when I see the info on my folders set to "online only" with Finder via Command+i , it shows the size of the files, and then the real physical size they're taking up in my drive, which is negligible (maybe only filesystem info about files, subfolders, etc.)

My problem is, my favorite disk organizer (Disk Inventory X), which shows the space taken by my files in a neat treemap format, uses the nominal file size rather than the physical size. This renders my disk organizer app useless since I cannot locate which files and folders are actually eating up my physical disk space.

Now comes the question: Do you guys know of any disk organizer app which uses the physical size, not the nominal size, so it becomes actually useful when organizing the physical disk in our drives when we're using Smart Sync?

Hope I worded the question properly. I'm sure the answer will be useful not only for me but for any others.

Hey @cesarastudillo, welcome to our community!

I don’t know about any such app, and I really don’t remember seeing anything like this around here before. I’m not sure if this would be possible, but now that we offer Smart Sync with our new Professional plan, 3rd-party app developers may be more inclined to come up with something that will do what you’re looking for.

Cheers!

tl;dr You need to know that just because you upgraded to a Professional account and Smart Sync may seem like it's working, your local Dropbox app may need some tweaking to fully work.

I signed up for Professional and then went through my folders, right-clicked, Smart Select > Online Only. The icon next to the folders changed from a filled in green check-mark to an empty green check-mark so I thought everything was doing what it was supposed to. But then I didn't notice any change in the free space on my harddrive.

Eventually I looked in Preferences on the Dropbox desktop app on my MacBook Pro (running MacOs High Sierra 10.13) and found that there was a little link saying "Enable Smart Sync". I clicked it and had to go to System Preferences to allow Dropbox to install some other little program. I then rebooted my computer (just to be safe).

Now, when I click on a file or folder and click Smart Select > Online Only the icon changes to a grey cloud. See a screenshot below. It seems that the the filled in green check mark means a Local synced file, the empty green check-mark indicates a synced folder that contains a combination of Local and Online Only files, and the grey cloud indicates a file or folder that is completely Online Only.

It didn't happen instantaneously but now, slowly, the free space on my harddrive is increasing.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 14.59.18.png

Hey @m_a_l_c_o_l_m, welcome to our community!

This is very interesting indeed. What version of our app are you using? The latest stable version is 37.4.29. If you’re using a beta, you’ll see something like a xx.3.xx, instead of the xx.4.xx, and we recommend going to a stable build.

Let me know when you have a chance.

Thanks for posting this!

Cheers

Now that I followed the steps I outlined in my last post it's version 37.4.29. I don't know what version it was before I followed that step. Is there a way that I can look that up for you?

I'm pretty sure that the little program that was installed is called "Dropbox system extension". I see now that, in my settings, under General, there's a little toggle to turn that on or off and the information mouse-over says that it's necessary for Smart Sync to work (see screenshot below).

Screen Shot 2017-10-21 at 09.08.56.png

David D.99

Windows 10 does show the actual size of the folder in Dropbox and in disk, this is a screenshot of a folder with Smart Sync where some subfolders are actually synced locally.

BTW, I do not like that I have to pay 100$ more for using Smart Sync!

Hey @m_a_l_c_o_l_m,

Thanks for getting back to me. Don’t worry about trying to find the last version you were on.

Yeah, I see now what was going on… the Dropbox System Extension must be allowed! I’m glad that you figured this out!

So, how is the Smart Sync working out?

Cheers

Hey @David D.99,

Thanks for stopping by with the screenshot and the confirmation that Smart Sync is working out for you! Not much I can do about the extra $$, except to let the team know how you feel about it.

Cheers!

trevgriff

I ahve the same issue

CMParrish

I'm on 10.13 and having the same problem...what OS release is the fix tagged to?

Hi @CMParrish,

Have you gone through the steps to allow and install the Dropbox sytem extension? You can find the instructions here: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/filesystem-integration I don't know if it's tagged to a specific OS release. At the top of the instruction page it says, "The system extension for macOS is currently in closed beta for select opt-in users only." So I think you will need to follow the steps to install it and allow it. It won't just happen automatically by installing Dropbox. Good luck!

I've freed up about 40GB of space using Smart Sync.

Hi @Sanchez,

I would recommend that when someone upgrades their plan to Professional (which is likely to be because of Smart Sync) that Dropbox should send them an email which includes some message saying, "You will need to make sure that the Dropbox System Extension is installed for Smart Sync to work. Here's how you can do that."

It could also be good to explain that people won't necessarily see immediate space being freed up as soon as you mark a file or folder "Online Only" - it may take a couple of hours to start to see the changes.