Child Item

All of my files/folders are online-only, but they still take up space from my hard drive.

Device

MacBook
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)

Sequoia 15.6.2
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)

Unknown
Dropbox Plan

Unknown

Question or Issue

All folders and files are Online Only. The blue icon next to each confirms this. Yet it continuously fills the hard drive.

Dropbox tech support completely useless....even after working with them several hours.

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Storage space

Sync

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Comments

Nancy

Thanks for posting on our Community, @KSCPA301.

Can you send me a full screenshot of the syncing icons you see next to your Dropbox files/folders?

I’d also like to know the current syncing status and app version of your desktop app.

Finally, if you have any active tickets about this with our support team, please send me your ticket number(s) here and I’ll take a look for you.

Keep me in the loop.

Nancy

Hi @KSCPA301! I’m just checking in to see if you’re still having trouble with this.

If you do, feel free to ping me and I’ll be glad to further assist.

KSCPA301

Yes, Dropbox continues to fill my mackbook storage, despite all files marked as on-line only. I have deleted over half of them, and it continues to download more. I never had an issue with for the past decade until the latest dropbox update. Despite numerous sessions with dropbox tech support, no one is able to stop this. The only suggestion has been to delete all files and start again going forward. Clearly not an acceptable solution. Especially since files on my macbook won't sync online, and they would be deleted forever.

Megan

Hey @KSCPA301, let me jump in here!

My goal here is to gather as much info as possible in order to then help you.

Can you check Nancy's reply here, and share the necessary info with us? That'll give me an insight in order to troubleshoot further, and hopefully locate the issue that could be causing this.

You can always check for the app's current syncing status and version by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon in your menu bar, next to your WiFi.

One last thing: is your Dropbox folder located in ~/Library/CloudStorage?

KSCPA301

The desktop app keeps disconnecting, with an error message

You can’t open the application “Dropbox” because it is not responding.

233.3.4791

Uploading about 90,000 files and downloading 383,000 files

The files being downloaded are all marked online only

Megan

Hi @KSCPA301!

Based on the app version that you're using (233.3.4791) it seems you have the beta version installed instead of the stable one. That could be the culprit there.

Can you try to uninstall Dropbox from your computer using these steps?

Once you do this, please access your account settings online and then toggle the Early Access setting to Off. After that reinstall the stable version using this link.

Once you reinstall the app, please give it some time to sync your changes and update your files. After the app has been updated, you should be able to change the status of your files from available offline to online-only, and calculate your hard drive space.

I'll be waiting for your update once you try this, to let me know if the behavior remains the same. Thanks!

KSCPA301

I cannot uninstall the current version. A message appears "You cannot move this to trash because it is open"

However, it really is not running, and can't be forced to quit:

I am not sure what can be done.

Walter

Hi from me too and thanks for the screenshot and the additional info @KSCPA301 - most appreciated.

Can you open the Activity Monitor on your computer and see if there are any other processes associated with Dropbox that may be preventing Dropbox from being removed from your device?

If you see any, please click on the line that references the process and then the 'X' at the top left of the screen to close it.

Let us of any updates!

KSCPA301

I was able to sign-out of dropbox and delete it and reinstall

Hopefully this did the trick!

Thank you so much for all your wisdom!

Walter

No worries @KSCPA301 - I'm just glad I could help.

Have a lovely week ahead and see you around the Community!