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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...
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Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
6 years ago
mchamoun12 wrote:

If my collaborators that have shared access to these files attempt to access them, would that explain why they download locally to my computer again?

If you mean shared through Dropbox using shared folders or links, then no, not at all. The comments above are referring to any process or application local to your computer that attempts to access the files within your local Dropbox folder. Think file previews, antivirus or malware scans, backup processes, etc. If it touches the files on your local computer, it can cause Dropbox to download them.

 

Now, if you're sharing access to your computer with other people and they access those same files, then yes, they will be downloaded, because it would be no different from you accessing the files.

Chris C's avatar
Chris C
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago

Lets say I have a folder with 4 video files in it. I have versions 1-3 set to "Online only" via the smart sync dropdown menu in Mac OS. When I open v4 (which does reside on my hard drive) in quicktime to view it, one (or more) of the other versions in that folder begins to download. 

 

These are only a few hundred MB, but I do have folders containing gigabytes of information and if several of those files download it could cause a problem on my computer.

 

I do not have any antivirus software running and no I have one app connected (vimeo) that I don't think has any bearing on this issue. It seems directly related to opening a file in Quicktime.

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    5 years ago

    Thanks for joining us here Chris C!

     

    Can you just clarify, are you opening the file by navigating to the file in the Dropbox folder and opening it from there?

     

    Or are you opening Quicktime and then opening the file through the app?

    • Chris83's avatar
      Chris83
      Explorer | Level 3
      5 years ago

      Hi Daphne – I'm double clicking the actual file in the finder.

      • Daphne's avatar
        Daphne
        Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
        5 years ago

        Do you have the same issue if you simply launch the Quicktime app?

         

        Sometimes, the recents lists for apps can trigger the download of Smart Synced files as they can request data from the file.

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