I can't see my personal, regular files. Help?

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for your message.

Yes I have lots of folders, but I've been through them all and there's only one with bigger files; maybe 150Mb in that one. The rest are all just a few Mb. Best I can tell, the bulk of the data usage is used for syncing to something, but I don't know what, and I can't see any folder that's being used for syncing.

Have a great weekend!

Hi Daphne,

I tried this, and it resolved the problem. Thank you.

I have 30-40 folders all with varying small amounts, but they're bigger than I imagined, including my fonts folder which has 200Mb when I imagined it would have been much less. Together, these account for the usage. In terms of feedback, it should be a bit easier to see the size of folders in terms of UX, but this solved my issue so many thanks.

Have a great weekend!

I'm very glad to hear that helped yodave!

I appreciate your feedback on this too, I've made a note on this from my side.

I'm just a post away if you need anything else. 😁

Hope you have a lovely weekend too!

If anyone still wondering. These hidden regular files are actually backups. You may accidentally backup-ed your PC or more likely an external drive.  You can find and delete them in the dropbox backup.

Hope it helps, cheers

Dear DropBox,

Respectfully, that did not answer his question and the question many have of this same issue. his question was..."How do I first see what they are, and then how do I then delete them?"

I have spent a lot of time searching for this answer to no avail. I now believe that it is intentional on DropBox's part to create a level of frustration and anxiety over the "free" space. after all, the free 2GB space is the marketing tool and its to DropBoxes advantage and desire that we all pony up for monthly payments. DropBox does not want us to have access to that free storage space to delete unintended synced "Regular" files or any management of the free storage space.

After all, how easy it would be to create the access to that storage space and have the ability to delete individual files or a select all prompt to delete. DropBox wants to keep flagging the [out of space] banner in your faces every-time you sign in.

Whatever!

It is intentional by DropBox to not give us simple access to these unintended synced files taking up the Free 2GB storage space. Like you I spent hours all over the web and the answer is always the same...which is No Answer. I believe DropBox is playing the marketing anxiety game. Build up enough anxiety over time to get a customer to say.."the hell with it" and pop for some monthly payment plan. That whats drives the stock value.

Whatever!

Hi TH9, if files aren't taking up quota on the main Dropbox page, you can try checking the backups page to see if any backups are using the quota.

Incidentally, the previous post from my colleague was back in 2020, prior to the newer version of the backup feature.