Forum Discussion

peterj62's avatar
peterj62
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

How can I keep my files and folders online-only?

I want all Dropbox files and folders to stay online and not on my MacBook which is full. In 'Manage hard drive space' I have ticked them as online only but they later reappear on my MacBook as offl...
desktop
Storage space
sync
Hannah's avatar
Hannah
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago

Hi there, peterj62, and thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.

 

Have you tried right-clicking on the Dropbox folder itself and choosing to make it online-only?

 

That should make all your files online-only at once and as long as there's no other app that looks at your files, like an antivirus, another backup service, a third party app that monitors files, etc., they should stay as online-only.

 

Let me know how it goes!

peterj62's avatar
peterj62
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Hi Hannah,

On my MacBook right-clicking the Dropbox folder in Finder doesn't give any options but on the pull-down menu there is the option to 'Manage hard drive space' and so I tick all folders (or all files) to 'move to online only'.  This then immediately shows no offline files but within seconds the folders (and files) all reappear as online.

  • peterj62's avatar
    peterj62
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    ..sorry, I meant they all reappear as offline - on the hard drive again.

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      2 years ago

      Hi peterj62, you should see context menus when right clicking files and folders in Finder, in order to get the online-only option.

       

      Could you attach a screenshot showing what you're seeing when right clicking a folder in the Dropbox folder?

      • peterj62's avatar
        peterj62
        Explorer | Level 3
        2 years ago

        Hi Jay,

        Here is a screenshot of what I get when I right-click a dropbox folder.  All I can see is 'manage hard drive space' as above.

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