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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 (click the grey cloud) it doesn't switch and it has now downloaded the contents of the folder onto this machine and it's taking up all of my space.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Joshua
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.
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I am having the exact same problem. I have tried multiple times to switch a file and folder from local to online only. And it will just switch back. I have tried removing the files from the drop box folder then reuploading them in folder already designated to be online only, and again the file is local. I'm almost completely out of space on my hard drive and have no idea what to do. I need help resolving this.
FYI - YOU APPARENTLY NEED TO "ENABLE" SMART SYNC IN PREFERENCES. NO IDEA WHY THEY WOULD SET IT UP THIS WAY, BUT NOW IT'S WORKING.
It took quite a while, but eventually the smart sync started to work. Sometimes it can take several minutes or more to sync if its a large file.
@galatea52 Thank you so much!! YOU solved the problem for me. I really appreciate you posting that. I never would have guessed it - why show the option and make it look like the user can act upon it when they can't? That UX needs an update.
@galatea52 been yelling at this for +1 hours THANK YOU.
I'm not even seeing Smart Sync in my preferences. I did try the "online only" option a few months ago, and created a folder, added a file to it as a test, set it to "online only" and it reverted to "local" almost immediately. Soon after, I couldn't see the "online only" option any longer, and still can't. I just had a look at my preferences as suggested above, and there's no sign of it.
EDIT: I was looking in my preferences online when I wrote the above; in my local file manager I can right-click and select "online only", so have tried a few folders and will check again tomorrow to see if they've reverted again this time round.
Martin
NZ
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!
Everything was perfectly set up but all of a sudden dropbox switched all folders to "local" start downloading all the files back and locks up. Even the uninstaller locks up. You really should have a "set all folders to online-only" setting. That is the whole point of dropbox. I've been banging my head against the wall for hours now with this.
