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Need help setting up Dropbox for cloud-only storage on my Mac

I’m moving out of the country and it’s not practical to take my 6 TB external hard drive with me, so I signed up for Dropbox as cloud storage instead. I chose the 2 TB plan since I’m not even close to using that much space on my drive.

As I started transferring files, I noticed a bunch of different icons appearing in Finder, and they’re not consistent across folders. When I tried copying my Music folder, Dropbox showed a message saying I “lack file size.”

It’s unclear whether Dropbox is saving my files both to my MacBook and to the cloud. I only want them in the cloud — not stored locally.

Questions:

How can I ensure my files are uploaded to Dropbox without also being stored on my MacBook?
Are there settings I need to adjust to make sure I’m using cloud-only storage?
If Dropbox can’t be used for true cloud-only storage, how do I cancel my subscription?

I expected a more intuitive setup after upgrading, but right now I’m just trying to avoid duplicating files and filling up my Mac’s drive. Any clear step-by-step guidance would be appreciated!

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Megan

Hi there, @AnotherConfusedCustomer, welcome to our Community!

I'll be more than happy to explain. When you download and install the desktop app, a relevant Dropbox folder is created on your Mac.

That folder is a "mirror" of your account online. If you add/edit/remove files from it, then the changes reflect to your account online, and vice versa.

With that being said and to reply to both your first, and second request: if you want to make sure that your files are visible in your Dropbox folder, but they take up no hard drive space you'd need to make sure they're syncing as online-only, and not available offline.

With the online-only option you should be able to see the files locally, but you'd need to make them available offline if you want to edit or open them. You can see more about the relevant icons here.

You also mentioned that you noticed a message when trying to transfer files from your Music folder. Can you walk me through the steps that you followed, and the error you saw on your end?

Lastly, if you wish to cancel your plan-however I hope it doesn't get to this since we're to help with any questions you might have- you can use the steps mentioned here if you purchased your plan using our website, or here if you upgraded using a mobile device for an inapp plan.

I'll be one post away if you have any questions!

AnotherConfusedCustomer

Dropbox just caused my MacBook to crash. I can’t risk that sort of volatility with a cloud storage solution. I’ll be canceling my account if it means I get a full refund for what I prepaid.

Megan

Hey @AnotherConfusedCustomer!

I definitely understand, and I'm sorry to hear about that.

Keep in mind that Dropbox has a no-refund policy. However, you might want to contact Dropbox Support directly for this. You can submit a ticket via this support page.

Once you've sent your request, feel free to send me the ticket number, in order to locate it on my end.

Having said all that, if you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way. Thanks.