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Can't switch to online only
I've got a file that's pretty big and I've put it up to dropbox with selective sync. The original version of the file is on an external hard drive. When I switched the dropbox folder to online only (...
Hey there ajbentley - sorry to hear about this; let's take a look now.
When using Selective Sync, and choosing to sync a folder you had previously excluded on the desktop client, you may notice the files appearing with a grey cloud icon beside them. This means that the files are ‘online-only’. You can see and interact with these files as normal, but they take up practically no space on your computer.
Through our Smart Sync feature you now have greater control and can sync only the folders or files you need by right clicking, choosing Smart Sync and then selecting 'Local'. This helps optimize your hard disk usage.
Once we have returned these 'online-only' files/folders through Selective Sync you can now see the files and folders and then proceed with re-downloading only the content you need and want.
If a file has been synced locally that you would prefer to have online-only, simply right click on it and select online-only from the Smart Sync menu.
Let me know how this goes Joshua.
I tried hard right-clicking and selecting "Online Only". but nothing changes
Had the same problem. Dropbox seems to want to download it all, only when complete the local/online options will work. But as my dropbox contains more files than my hard drive has space, this is not an option. Tried a couple of things, this workaround worked:
- First, in preferences, select "Save hard drive space automatically". I put it to online-only, for new files.
- In preferences, go to the selective sync options and DESELECT all the folders. Click Apply.
- Wait untill all the folders from dropbox are gone from your local drive.
- Go back to the selective sync options and select all the folders you want visible on your computer. They will then be added online-only.
...and then you can right-click on the folders to mark a few of them Local!
- That might be the way forward for big uploads in future - thanks!
same exact problem, i searched and found this problem has never been fixed my unlimited 20.00 a month trial is soon up and i will be dropping drop box. get off your seat and get this fixed. when you select SMART SYC ONLINE ONLY ITS DOES NOTHING IT WILL NOT WORK. GET A CLUE FIX THIS - OR YOU JUST SCAMMING PEOPLE ON UNLIMITED BY ACTUALLY LIMITING BY THEIR HARD DRIVE SPACE?
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi sheepdogconcept, what device and OS are you using? What happens when you right click a file, which has a green tick on it already, and then select Smart Sync > Online only?
Any information you can provide would be helpful!
