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Online my account is full but on the desktop app it shows less space is used.

Hi Guys,

My local Windows Dropbox is fully synced with my online Dropbox. Windows Explorer file/properties shows my Dropbox folder is 576 MB but to my surprise, dropbox.com and dropbox app both say my dropbox is full. I have checked the plan tab and found my regular file size is 3.4 GB which is not correct. My shared folder only takes less than 100 MB. What is going on here? Why the discrepancy? Any inputs?

Thanks,

Tao

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Accepted answers

Emmet

We can confirm that the most recent releases of Dropbox should have resolved this issue. Users affected by this issue were unable to see all of the backups on their account. This meant that when they believe they deleted some or all of their files, there could still be backups taking up space on their account. This should no longer be affecting users who should be able to see all of their backups.

You can find out deleted information on disabling and deleting backups below:

If you disable the backup and choose to "Leave content in Dropbox", your backup content would still be there until it was permanently deleted.

When you go to the Backups page and see no content, be sure to check the deleted section, too.

You can download the files from this location if you need to store them locally on your device.

To clear out the data from the deleted backup, follow these steps:

Navigate to dropbox.com/backup/all
Click on Show deleted backups
Select their backup and click on permanently delete

Some users did not have backups, but they were members of shared folders which were taking up space on their accounts. You can remove shared folders using these instructions.

If you are still experiencing quota issues after following these steps, then confirm that we can reach out to you via email and our support agents will look into this with you.

All comments

Megan

I see @Changyu!

In this case, can I send you an email, in order for us to have a closer look into this?

Changyu

@Megan, sure, I am eage to find out what is the problem. Please contact [email removed as per Community Guidelines]

Megan

I just sent you an email @Changyu!

I'll see you there, thanks!

Jim E.4

I deleted all files over 6 months ago. I have the Basic free 2gb +3.5gb referral space. I have never used back up or shared files. I have always sent files and then deleted them when they were received. It says I have "0"files??? I posted this 3 weeks ago, and still no answers. It knows I have 5.5GB of space but all files were deleted over 6 months ago. It shows no files, can you help me make sense of this. db files.jpg

Walter

Hi there @Jim E.4, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Can you please take a look at your backups page and let us know if you see any folders taking up space there?

Keep us posted!

Jim E.4

Thank you for the suggestion. Somehow Dropbox did a backup of a external SSD drive on its own. I really hate a software that does stuff like that without Asking. I have never used the backup in DB I only use DB to move files to someone else. Sorry but the minimum plan of 2 TB is way more than I need and it is way out of line compared to your competition. If I had told DB to backup that drive it would be my fault. I believe you do that for people that probably need to do a backup but are not capable of doing it. I am backup paranoid and I have a very good set up going and you guys do not offer a size and price that fits my needs. I have limited income and must go where the price is best. Thank you for your help Walter. Have a safe and blessed day.

bobfaucher

I accidentally went over the 2G limit for the Free Basic plan. I deleted all the photos causing the problem. Am now below 1G. However I still get the over limit message. How do I reset my account?

g4bsamurai

Hello All,

I know similar questions have been asked, but I cannot find a thread that answers this one. I noticed my dropbox sync was full tonight. I only have around 350Mbytes of files to sync which was well below the 2tbyte limit. I noticed the backups appeared on--so it looks like it may have been backing up an external HD. I went to the desktop app, went to backup tab, and turned it off. However, it still says I'm over usage, and I don't see any directory in the web portal that contains backup material I can delete to clear out space.

Is there any way I can verify backup is turned off and find out where my space is being used?

Thanks

Hannah

Hey @bobfaucher, thanks for letting us know about this.

Can you check your backups page, to see if you have any backups taking up your space?

You should be able to see the same there as well, @g4bsamurai!

vickychann5

I have disabled back up, how to free up space by removing all the uploaded back up?

Nancy

Hi @vickychann5!

Can you please send a screenshot of what you see on this page and this page?

g4bsamurai

Thanks,

I spent a lot of time fishing around for the backups page and couldn't find it. Thanks for posting the link!!!

g4bsamurai

Thanks!

Mika2

I m in the same situation, nobody in this company contacted me ! incredible.

ElectricWhelk

Hi @Megan, I also tried using this link and I did find a folder to delete - however I can't see a delete button? When I look up how to delete folders from dropbox it says to do it on my computer via file explorer, but I don't know how to access this area via my computer. Do you (or anyone) know I can delete this?

Screenshot below of what I see:

Nancy

@Mika2, if you’ve checked all the previous suggestions, we can open a ticket for you too, and look into this.

Please let me know if you have direct access to the email address that’s linked to your forum profile here and we can get things started.

@ElectricWhelk, it looks like computer backup was enabled at some point on your Dropbox account. Have you already followed these steps to disable it and return your files back to their original location on your device?

refluentsquid

Hi, I have now had an issue for the past month or so - I have a 2GB account. Somehow, it's gone way over. There are two Zip files on there taking up a total of 1.01GB. There is a reported 18GB of used space, but cannot see where. There are no shared files with the account. I've deleted the files from Windows, and they are not on the Web version. I have even deleted them from the 'deleted files' section. Can anyone advise?

Megan

Hi @refluentsquid, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Keep in mind that deleted files don't take up space on your account, so removing them wouldn't have made any difference to the quota.

Is it possible you have a backup enabled and visible on this page on your account?

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!

Mika2

yes no problem

refluentsquid

That's worked - an external device got backed up without me knowing! Thank you!

Megan

Hi @Mika2 before I go ahead and open a ticket on my end for you, I'd like for us to try something.

Can you please let us know if you see any files or folders taking up space in your account's homepage or your backups page?

Also could you try to access and delete any folders within the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/backups/PC ?

Let me know of the results!

Mika2

dear, I have nothing in account's homepage or your backups page.

I can send you screenshot or my password to go inside

Megan

Hi @Mika2, please don't share your account password with anyone.

Did you also check the link I sent you here? If so, can I then send you an email, in order for us to have a closer look into this?

Mika2

yes, I have no backup it's empty.

do you want my e mail address?

Megan

Hi @Mika2, I just sent you an email.

I'll see you there!

Emmet

We are actively investigating this issue with our engineering team at the moment, and are advising users to update their Dropbox to the latest version, if they have not already.

The majority of these issues appear to be cause by Dropbox Backup being active, or being a member of shared folders. You can find out how to disable your Dropbox Backup here, and you can remove shared folders using these instructions .

If you are still experiencing quota issues after following these steps, then confirm that we can reach out to you via email and our support agents will look into this with you.

Mika2

Thanks,

I do this, but unforthunely the situation is same

SubbaV

I recently changed my login credentials to join a shared group which I was a part of with a different set of credentials. After changing the login credentials I can no longer access the shared folder, as Dropbox says I have exceeded the 2GB space limit. There seems to be some blocking issue, as the shared folder is only 316MB. Any suggestions to debug this ?

Thanks,

SubbaV

Megan

Hi @SubbaV, let's jump right into this!

Is it possible you have a backup enabled and visible on this page on your account? Could you also check your account's plan page, and let me know what it reports there?

This will help me to assist further!

Megan

Hi @Mika2, in this case, can I send you an email, so we can have a closer look into this?