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Having issues after trying to sync a folder that was larger than my free hard drive space

hi guys, i just bought dropbox for it to automatically backup a folder of my work while always syncing the newest versions and changes that i make for it

now i figured that if i want it to sync, it will take about as double as storage on my mac (which is really weird and annoying for me but ok), and now i want this sync option to stop but now im stuck.

i uploaded a 750 gb folder (my work folder) to dropbox folder on my mac, while i have only 150 gb available on my mac. this is where the synced stopped in the middle of it writing there is an issue, and after a quick search i figured its because i need free storage space as the folder i synced. now, when i try to move this folder out of the dropbox folder and back to my mac, i write could not connect to dropbox, the dropbox AI help doesn't help me, can anyone have the answer?

Device
macbook pro 16" 2019 i9
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Venture
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
Latest(?)

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Desktop

Storage space

Sync

Accepted answers

soilworker24

As you can tell, dropbox people didn't bother to help, asking repeated questions and giving unhelpful advice and avoiding real help. I also used the help 3 chat support workers who bearly did a thing, one slightly did more but all of them in the end of the day rushed to move my ticket to "special team" which didn't answer in a day, while I can't reach properly my files to continue my work.

Other than complaining, *I found a solution*.

If you stuck with the same problem as me, this is the way to release a desired content you wanted to sync from dropbox that is in a catch-22 case.

I'm using macbook, so I guess it's a macbook fix, I had the Apple File Provider (https://help.dropbox.com/installs/dropbox-for-macos-support)
The fix is to unlink that dropbox folder (which is in that apple file provider mode) and than make a new connection which will make a new folder and disconnect the old one with the stuck content.

My stuck content was in that folder, the dropbox folder that Is now in the "location" tab in finder.
All you need to do is to opt out of the service, which give you back a regular dropbox folder and unlink the previous dropbox folder that was in the location tab (I even had a note on top of that folder that writes this folder is unlinked to dropbox) and than opt back to that service, the Apple File Provider, which will do as I wrote.

After you do so, the previous dropbox folder which was unlinked where the content was stuck Is now In the cloudstorage folder, next to the dropbox folder (search you mac for the desired content) with the name "Dropbox (DATE + TIME)",

You can use the link I attached to understand how to opt out and than opt back.

Hope it was helpful to whoever had the problem, and to understand dropbox support is helpless and lazy.

Good Luck.

All comments

Hannah

Hey @soilworker24, welcome to our Community.

Just to make sure we have all the info, can you let me know exactly how you tried to add the folder to your Dropbox folder? Did you move it/cut it and paste it, or copy it?

Was it copied from your internal drive or from an external one?

Let me know and we'll see how we'll go from there.

soilworker24

Hi Hannah

I moved my folder from my internal drive, a logic pro x directory stored in the Library of the user in my macbook to be exact, to the dropbox folder.

Hannah

Thanks for the update, @soilworker24!

Would you mind clarifying if you simply just moved the folder into your Dropbox folder or did you perhaps opt for our backup feature?

And can you also send me a screenshot of the error you're getting when trying to move the folder out of the Dropbox folder?

soilworker24

Yes, Again, I just moved the folder to the dropbox folder.

this is the error i get when i try to move it back.

soilworker24

Im trying to put a screenshot but somehow it doesn't let me, for now I'l write it again.

Yes, iv just moved the folder to the dropbox folder

soilworker24

soilworker24

https://ibb.co/zDT3hL8

this is the screenshot

Jay

HI @soilworker24, it seems that this error could be related to the fact that the Dropbox desktop application is currently paused, according to the Dropbox icon in the menu bar.

Are you able to undo the move using your Finder settings?

soilworker24

This isn’t related to the application is paused.

The application is running just fine.

there is not way to undo this Jay, there is no way to make the folder online only so it wouldn’t need free space to work, closing, quitting , logging out doesn’t change this or freeing my option to move my forsaken folder back to a regular folder on my internal.
uploading this folder directly to dropbox so i could delete it and download it from dropbox isn’t working.
I can’t select a folder in the sync preferences so it wont take place on my hard drive, its just doesn’t change a thing.

why there is no way to stop completely this sync feature to free my folder so I could move it back?

this is really weird you guys haven’t stumbled upon an issue that someone caught in a classic catch-22 where a desired folder moved to be synced but there is not enough space on the pc/mac to make it work (which is outrageously not noted before) and now that desired folder is stuck in the dropbox folder while is both cannot be synced and the whole space of the device is occupied.

please stop asking for screenshots and re-questioning, please, help me solve this for real, I think you go what the problem is.

Rich

soilworker24 wrote:
... you guys haven’t stumbled upon an issue that someone caught in a classic catch-22 where a desired folder moved to be synced but there is not enough space on the pc ...

That's the part that I'm confused about.

This folder existed on your local drive, correct? And you moved that folder into your Dropbox folder, correct? By default, the Dropbox folder IS local on your hard drive. If the files were already on your local drive and you moved them into Dropbox, then you just moved them from one location on your drive to another location on the same drive, and wouldn't need any additional space to do so.

Obviously it would be different if you were talking about moving the files across multple drives, such as if you were moving files from an external drive into your Dropbox folder, or if the Dropbox folder was on an external drive separate from where the files were originally.

What is the exact path of your Dropbox folder? You can see it in Dropbox Preferences on the Sync tab.

soilworker24

One of the basic rules of sync (apparently) is that syncing is taking storage double (more or less) the size of the syncing folder.

Excuse me for being so rude, because I don’t really know if I’m replying to dropbox support or just community members, and I’m frustrated.

But this is really basic, a quick google will find you that every sync feature in a cloud do so.
Im saying this be because how is 11 years support don’t know this?

Btw the path is just thee default path, user/library/dropbox

soilworker24

Other than complaining, *I found a solution*.

If you stuck with the same problem as me, this is the way to release a desired content you wanted to sync from dropbox that is in a catch-22 case.

You can use the link I attached to understand how to opt out and than opt back.

Hope it was helpful to whoever had the problem, and to understand dropbox support is helpless and lazy.

Good Luck.

Rich

soilworker24 wrote:
One of the basic rules of sync (apparently) is that syncing is taking storage double (more or less) the size of the syncing folder.

That's not true.

The Dropbox folder on your computer is just a regular folder like any other. If you move files into the Dropbox folder so they sync with your account in the cloud, they're not taking up double the space. You simply moved the files from one location to another on your local drive. It takes up the same space.

If you COPY the files from your drive into the Dropbox folder, then they'll take up twice the space because you made a second copy.

soilworker24 wrote:
Excuse me for being so rude, because I don’t really know if I’m replying to dropbox support or just community members, and I’m frustrated.

Hannah and Jay are Community Managers and provide some support, but they are not the Support team that you reach out to when opening a ticket. They can help with many issues, but more advanced items where account information may be necessary needs to be handled by Support, rather than on a public forum.

I'm just a Dropbox user like yourself. I'm part of the Super User program and help moderate the forums and provide assistance wherever I can.