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

Fowzie T.

I'm really confused, the premise of smart sync is to free up local storage. This is a screenshot of a folder which contains about 2GB of data. Am I doing something wrong?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjd34t39t0q7312/Screenshot%202017-02-18%2012.03.41.png?dl=0

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Jane

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

Jane

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:

Jane

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

JC-CS

That's correct, i had to find out the hard way that if you try to ever do a restore from Timemachine without excluding dropbox, it would fail 100% of the time. I had to do a clone from another machine to get through it. Learned the hard way.

Dropbox should be putting an article out about this, definitely a problem with Finder thinking there is more than there is, and then time machine is also thinking there is too. This is the proper fix for now.

Lesson Learned: EXCLUDE ALL YOUR DROPBOX FOLDERS FROM TIME MACHINE

Tambe257

Thanks for the Time Machine tip! I'm still having this problem, and it prevents me from running Parallels, because it look like I have no HD space left. I just downgraded from Smart Sync and went back to Selective Sync. I don't see any difference yet, but I'm thinking maybe it takes a while to update the indexing of all of the files that it "thought" that it had stored.

Please fix this soon Dropbox!!! This feature never should have shipped. This must have come up in beta testing.

akaraetteh

Very annoying! Just FYI you can use both selective and smart sync on the same account

ory

Hi Ross,

I came here because I'm seeing this issue now as of the latst version of Dropbox for macOS (v46.3.60) and running macOS 10.13.3. If I look at my disk analysis, it shows Dropbox taking up it's full size (~27 gb). However, if I Get Info for the Dropbox folder, I'm met with an even stranger surprise. Under size, it shows my Dropbox's full size in bytes (26,178,606,826 bytes) with the actual size it's taking up in parenthesis (17.8 mb on disk). Anywhere other than in Get Info for the folder, my MacBook sees the folder as taking up it's full size. I've included some screenshots for reference.

Has something happened since Apple fixed this issue in 10.12? Just thought I'd alert you to the reappearance of this issue.

Screen Shot 2018-03-22 at 2.18.29 AM.png

Sanchez

Hey @ory, welcome to our community!

Would you mind taking a look at this, using a stable build (xx.4.xx) of our app? Current version is 45.4.92. If you decide to do so, you’ll need to opt out of Early Releases in your online account settings, otherwise the betas (xx.3.xx) will continue to be pushed out to your machine.

If the issue persists, go ahead and submit a support ticket so that our team can troubleshoot further with you through our support platform.

Thanks!

Jane

Howdy folks,

Why are you splitting the thread?

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.

But I still have my issue!

So, has this been solved forever?

Where do I post Smart Sync comments now?

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

Jane

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:

Jane

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.

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