Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨‍💻? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

DBmaparikh75's avatar
DBmaparikh75
Helpful | Level 6
8 months ago

How can I see all files in Windows explorer without having to download all content first?

I am using desktop application on windows 10 and have Dropbox Family plan So far I have seen that I had to download all my content, then right click on it to make it offline to see the file and fol...
desktop
sync
windows
Hannah's avatar
Hannah
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
8 months ago

Thanks for the clarifications and additional info, DBmaparikh75.

So, just to confirm, when you're checking folders through your selective sync settings, instead of "online-only", they sync to your computer as "available offline" and are taking up hard drive space, is that right?

Can you let me know which Dropbox version you're using and what the sync status is?

You can see that by hovering over the Dropbox icon in your system tray.

DBmaparikh75's avatar
DBmaparikh75
Helpful | Level 6
8 months ago

Yes, the problem is as you described.

Drop Box Version is : 221.4.5365

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    8 months ago

    Hey DBmaparikh75! Hope it’s OK to jump in. 

    Can you also clarify the current syncing status of your Dropbox app? 

    If it says it’s up to date, can you right-click on the folders that have been downloaded to your computer and select the “Make online-only" option? Do they get removed from your hard drive then?

    • DBmaparikh75's avatar
      DBmaparikh75
      Helpful | Level 6
      8 months ago

      Nancy the other ticket (https://www.dropboxforum.com/discussions/101001014/provide-an-option-to-only-download-the-metadata-of-a-file-without-downloading-th/829655/replies/830304) should not have been closed, as I do feel having a button to "skip downloading" or "keep online" from the status window of the app would be beneficial and is different from the current issue.

      Also once everything is downloaded, “Make online-only"  does remove the content and shows only the filename, folder listing and shows thumbnails.  This is the behavior i am expecting without having to download full content.

      • linibean's avatar
        linibean
        New member | Level 2
        2 months ago

        Was this issue ever resolved? I'm having the same issue and it's infuriating. I don't have the harddrive space on my laptop to download my entire Dropbox folder first before making "online-only". Tried uninstalling/reinstalling with no luck. It either syncs the folders as "available offline" or I cannot see them on Windows at all.  Older versions of Dropbox allowed you to select how to sync each folder upfront, seems that useability was removed for some unknown reason.

About Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!