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Forum Discussion

adamschoales's avatar
adamschoales
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

"Smart" sync keeps downloading Online Only Files

I am growing increasingly frustrated with this so called "smart sync" feature Dropbox has recently introduced (or rather forced upon me). I have a number of files I've brought over to Dropbox using...
desktop
Download
sync
Fiona's avatar
Fiona
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago

Thank you for updating the thread with additional information. 

I would like us to continue responding to the email, if this is OK with you, so I can have all your responses there, in case I need to escalate. 

You are of course welcome to post back here, when we get this resolved for you. 

Thank you for your understanding and patience. 

busboys45's avatar
busboys45
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

I am having the exact same issue.  Almost every day I turn on my laptop to discover files I have sent online are now local again.  What is the solution?

  • onnovanvelzen's avatar
    onnovanvelzen
    Explorer | Level 4
    6 years ago

    sam happening to me. very annoying as i keep running out of space. 

    any solutions? 

    • Lusil's avatar
      Lusil
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago

      Hey busboys45 and onnovanvelzen, thanks for nudging us on this thread. 

       

      In general, due to some processes on your computer that may look at files that you may not have manually opened, in order to fulfill those requests, Dropbox syncs the files. Examples of such include backup services, antivirus, recently used file lists or third-party applications that monitor files in general.
       
      Although you can turn local files into online-only by simply right-clicking on them and selecting the Smart Sync option, if there are apps that constantly/persistently look at your files, they may come back as local, just as you described in your posts. 
       
      For this reason, try temporarily quitting or disabling apps systematically, until you see that the issue is resolved. The last app that you closed when the behavior in question no longer occurred may be the one performing this action.
       
      Let me know how you get on with this and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Cheers!
      • MBVIP's avatar
        MBVIP
        Explorer | Level 4
        6 years ago

        I am also having this same issue and it's very problematic. I have no anti-virus software, no third party apps, nothing. Please help

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