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My space is still occupied even though I've deleted files?

Hello!

After I deleted some files to free my dopbox space, even though the files a deleted the space is still occupied. Can someone help me with this?

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Lusil

Hey @zoungson!

As a first step, could you please check how much space you have available and how much is being used up by regular/shared content by navigating to your Plan tab?

Please remember that if your account is over your storage quota, then file syncing will stop. Files won’t be removed, and syncing will resume when you bring your account under your quota again.

For this reason, in order to bring your account under the storage limit, I’d kindly recommend removing unwanted regular/shared content from your account or increasing your quota by earning space.

Let me know how it goes!

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Lusil

Hey @zoungson!

As a first step, could you please check how much space you have available and how much is being used up by regular/shared content by navigating to your Plan tab?

Please remember that if your account is over your storage quota, then file syncing will stop. Files won’t be removed, and syncing will resume when you bring your account under your quota again.

For this reason, in order to bring your account under the storage limit, I’d kindly recommend removing unwanted regular/shared content from your account or increasing your quota by earning space.

Let me know how it goes!

zoungson

Hello Lucil,

Thank you very much,

your suggestions have been very useful, I guess the problem was due to the fact that my account was be over my storage quota.

Bye

Lusil

I’m glad we were able to get to the bottom of this, @zoungson.

If you have any other questions, just give us a shout. In the meantime, have a wonderful day ahead!

Kianzao

I am having the same problem. Currently in my dropbox plan I have a total capacity of 3.25 GB and it says that I am using 2.78 GB. But I checked the size of the only folder that I have uploaded to Dropbox and it is 1.93 GB, after I deleted some documents. The problem is that Dropbox is not updating the stuff that I delete and opening space.

Lusil

Hi there @Kianzao!

Could you please provide a bit more info on this? Did you check the folder’s space from the desktop app or the website? Do you have any shared folders or files in your account that take up storage space? You also mention that:

@Kianzao wrote:
Dropbox is not updating the stuff that I delete and opening space.

Are you by any chance permanently deleting files? If so, please note that deleted files don't count against your storage quota. For this reason, permanently deleting files after they have already been deleted doesn't free any more space in your Dropbox.

If I’ve misunderstood though, could you please let me know how you’re deleting these files? If you’re getting any errors, please send me a screenshot (omitting personal info) so as to have a better understanding of your concern.

Thanks in advance! :slight_smile:

Kianzao

Thanks for your answer, Lusil.

I deleted my files from my Dropbox folder in my PC. Then I realized that it did not open space in my Dropbox account. So I accessed the website and tried to delete the files permanently. Like you said, "permanently deleting files after they have already been deleted doesn't free any more space in your Dropbox.", so it didn't change anything. I am not having any errors. I did a quick check, and the folder that I have in my PC is the same that is in the website. In the website it does not show any other folder except the same one that I have in my desktop app.

Lusil

Thanks for the detailed reply, @Kianzao!

Hmm. I’d recommend moving this discussion to email since account-specific info will be required so as to further investigate on the matter. I’ve gone ahead and sent you an email to the email address associated with your Forum profile. Please check your inbox for my latest message.

Cheers!

eyals

Dear Dropbox rep,

Kindly, you did not answer the question...

Farkhanda

I have the same problem, help needed.

Rich

@Lusil did answer the question. As the issue being discussed required account specific information, the user was asked to move this to the regular Support channels (a helpdesk ticket).

If you're having a similar issue, then you'll need to explain what's happening as the issue will be different for everyone.

eyals

Rich,

Lusil did not answer the original question about deleted files not freeing space.

I do think it is a public issue . I also have the same problem and so does Farkhanada, (and probably many many others.

Kind regards,

Eyal

Lusil

Apologies for the tardy response. Generally speaking, when you delete files from the website, it frees up space. You can find more details about the space that’s available and occupied through your Plan tab.

However, in order to troubleshoot efficiently, as @Rich mentions, more info is required, and should this come to a point that the info necessary to further investigate is account-specific, we have to move this discussion to email for security and privacy purposes.

Having said that, if you’re still encountering some trouble with this, please do provide more details so as to have a better understanding of the behavior you’re experiencing. Have you checked your events page on more details on what’s occurred to content in your account? What does your Plan tab show? Do you by any chance have shared files or folders that take up space in your account?

Let me know of any updates, @eyals and @Farkhanda.

Thanks!

La14

Same problem here too. I was not over my storage limit, but approaching it. So I deleted several old and unused stuff, but my Dropbox account is not showing the freed up space.

Lusil

Hi there, @La14.

Initially, could you please clarify how you’re deleting files and folders - through the website, the desktop app, or the mobile app? Are you by any chance removing shared files and folders from your account?

Furthermore, could it be that you’re permanently deleting files instead of deleting already existing ones? Please bear in mind that, as mentioned in one of my previous replies, deleted and permanently deleted files don't count against your storage quota, so permanently deleting them won’t free any more space in your Dropbox.

Finally, if you’d like to find more details about how much space you have available, as well as how much is being taken up by regular and shared content, please navigate to your Plan tab for more info.

Let me know how it goes!

La14

I'm at the website, deleted a mixture of files and folders, and a couple were shared. When I checked my available space, I saw that it was unchanged, so I deleted everything permanently from the Delete box.

I've since read that last step was unhelpful.

The usage is 2.12GB of 2.5GB in my plan. The usage is split about evenly between personal and shared. But that is the exact same levels as I had when I started.

I also logged out and logged back in with a different browser. No change.

Thank you.

Lusil

Thanks for your swift reply here, @La14.

Hmm. :thinking: Were the files and folders you deleted large in size so as to reflect this change, by any chance? Are you also seeing the folders and files in your Files tab amounting to the same total of space shown in your Plan tab? You can find out how to calculate the folder size through the website here.

Let me know what you find!

La14

Hello? Can anyone help me free up some space? I've deleted 3 large file groups that should have made a dent in the 2.12GB usage. However it is still showing the same usage level.

La14

I'm finally seeing a dent. Thank you.

Lusil

Glad to hear that you were able to resolve your concern in the end, @La14. Let me know if you have any other questions in the future and, in the meantime, have a wonderful day ahead!