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Getting a 'not enough Dropbox space' error, when I have plenty of space

Everyday I get this (see screenshot) on Mac Os when connecting any device to sync photos. "Not enough dropbox space" - Mac - But I have PLENTY of space.. and I see it on both of my macs but not my iphone (which indicates to me a poorly written client on mac).

Resolution: sign out and sign in again.. but that means setting up my profile again each time, choosing locations, and closing badges, and so on and so on - and this take a lot of time.. What's the real fix or workaround here? And why haven't dropbox fixed it.

Why on earth would I buy an upgraded plan when something as simple as this fails to function correctly..

Other tests I've tried: complete uninstall / reinstall.

Screen Shot 2023-08-16 at 11.36.12.png

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I'm happy to hear that everything is back in working order! It's possible that your cache wasn't properly clearing upon signing out and back in, which is the usual operation that would clear out the cached files causing this error message. This problem seems to have resolved itself while we were investigating.

For anyone else receiving this error message, sign out, then sign back in to clear your cached files. If that doesn't work, please let me know and we can take a deeper look!

Regards,

Ben

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Thanks for looking at this btw @BenDBX

Thanks for following up. I'll pass this information onto the appropriate team and let you know when I have an update.

Regards,

Ben

Thanks @BenDBX

To confirm successive reboots and restarts result in the same behaviour.

@BenDBX ... this is getting a bit silly now - see screenshot.

We have over 6GB of space in the dropbox, >500GB of HDD space and can't import 1.2GB.

Did the devs have any luck?

Screen Shot 2023-09-23 at 16.51.46.png

Thanks for your patience. Information from large uploads can be stored within the app. You may have already attempted this, but you can try signing out and signing back in to clear any data stored within the app.

Can you confirm the device that you're using? The team member I'm in contact with is requesting this information to assist further.

Regards,

Ben

The sole way I get back to a synching state is by signing out and signing in again 🙂

But the issue is only temporarily resolved and it generates a lot of work.

I'm executing Mac client v184.3.6480.

Thankyou!

Thanks so much. I've passed all of this information onto our engineering team. I will update you when I know more, or if we need any additional information.

Regards,

Ben

Thanks @BenDBX

It's really funny - I'm at 3% usage of 7 gig and Dropbox says 'importing 300 MB of photos will fill up your dropbox'.

The math is definitely off here!! 🙂

I've not seen this issue for a number of days now. I think the issue may be fixed.

Thanks for your work on this.

What was the fix? Thanks @BenDBX for your help.

I'm happy to hear that everything is back in working order! It's possible that your cache wasn't properly clearing upon signing out and back in, which is the usual operation that would clear out the cached files causing this error message. This problem seems to have resolved itself while we were investigating.

For anyone else receiving this error message, sign out, then sign back in to clear your cached files. If that doesn't work, please let me know and we can take a deeper look!

Regards,

Ben

Yep - not solved. the problem is back @BenDBX

So... next support question. What application does dropbox recommend as the best alternative to dropbox?

Hi, Ben. I have been getting the dropbox full error for a long time now. I deleted everything, signed out and in again and still it says full. I restored some of the files I deleted although it still shows full regardless of what I do. Cleared cache, nothing changed. I never used to have this problem until recently for years of using the free dropbox. What can I do to solve this problem and see what space I actually have? In the past I had plenty more than what I have now and it never showed full.

Hi @conalwn and @keemao,

Thanks for letting us know this is still ongoing. I've flagged this to our engineering team so that we can take another look. I'll follow up shortly if we need to reach out for any account-specific troubleshooting.

Regards,

Ben

Thanks @BenDBX 🙂

Hi Ben,

I upgraded my dropbox account on November 10th from Basic to Dropbox Plus. I keep getting a message saying I have used all my space which is incorrect. I have logged out and in again but I'm still getting the message. Any advice?

Thanks @Patricio - I agree - but I tried freeing up space, and I did actually start by asking if this was an attempt to drive me on to a plan where I'm paying for additional space. But the thing that doesn't give me confidence is that newly paying members also see this issue so it looks far more like a bug. And I'm aware dropbox aren't especially rooted in fixing those issues right now. It could be that they are encouraging users to move to a different platform, rather than turfing them off.

@conalwn wrote:
Thanks @Patricio - I agree - but I tried freeing up space, and I did actually start by asking if this was an attempt to drive me on to a plan where I'm paying for additional space. But the thing that doesn't give me confidence is that newly paying members also see this issue so it looks far more like a bug. And I'm aware dropbox aren't especially rooted in fixing those issues right now. It could be that they are encouraging users to move to a different platform, rather than turfing them off.

If you are getting a message saying its too big then its too big - this has ALWAYS been the case (correctly). However, the wording on it is a bit rubbish as if it says you need 3gb of space, for example, that means 3gb MORE not an account with 3gb in it - so actually its possible a free account may never ever be able to accept it if there total account limit is say 2gb. It doesnt say that either, unfortunately.

The only time quotas have been off on the website is if people have used backup: www.dropbox.com/backups

You've missed the first few thread entries that detail the issue.

I can completely clean out my entire dropbox on mac so that I have 8GB available.

I plug in iphone to import, say, 200MB of photos and I get 'out of space' on the mac client.

Yet if I sign out of the account on mac, and then back in again, the import will work.

And signing out and in again everytime I attach my phone to my mac is not a workable solution.

Hi @conalwn and @keemao,

Thanks for your patience while we looked into this. I've been informed that this requires an account-specific solution in running a terminal command. Would you mind if I reached out to you via email to provide you with the information you need?

Regards,

Ben

@BenDBX - sure I can do that. Is it rm -rf ~/dropbox? 😉 just kidding 🙂

But yes - send it on and I will do it.

@conalwn Great, I've just sent you an email. I'd advise against using that particular terminal command!

@BenDBX - yep - sorry - just kidding.

I have heard from support and they've given me the terminal command. I'll wait for the next propagation of the issue and let you know, Thanks a lot for your continued support; it's appreciated.

Thankyou! I can confirm the issue is resolved.

I just started a business account and I should have plenty of space to upload files but is telling me that after 136 gb of uploading that “there is not enough space”. I set it up so I have no limit for uploading so I’m quite confused as to why it’s stopped me from uploading further

It's the database file in my case, there's a bug causing it to get filled up, so I had the remove the file. Is it just images you're having a problem with?

I have to remove this file (you may want to try moving the file sideways):

rm /Users/YOUR_NAME/.dropbox/instance4/photo.dbx

In your case though I'd find the photo.dbx file, move it somewhere else and then restart dropbox to see if it solves your issue.

I mean, I do love dropbox but it's just been getting worse for about the last years - and then I saw this:

https://www.itpro.com/business/careers-and-training/dropbox-layoffs-continue-as-firm-cuts-another-20-percent-of-staff

Let me know how you get on.

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