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

Forum Discussion

thefc's avatar
thefc
Helpful | Level 6
8 years ago
Solved

MacOS 10.14 SmartSync files included in disk storage calculation

So I don't think I'm the first to ask this, but I don't see any real solutions, so here goes... I have 2016 MacBook Pro 13" 250GB which is now showing storage issues. For example, one of the docu...
desktop
Mac
sync
  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    8 years ago

    Thanks for the swift and elaborate response thefc - most appreciated.

    First off, thanks for using our BETA versions - I guess you've opted in "early releases" on your Dropbox account, right? 

    [Kindly note that as beta builds are still in the testing process, you could experience some issues or an inconsistent experience.]

    Now, as per the matter at hand, from what I see in your last screenshot this specific file is physically taking up no space (i.e. this is what the "Zero bytes on disk" means). Read on for more context:

    As there are various places to see the size of a file in Finder, it's good to know that some of these locations will display the logical size, others the physical size. A Smart Sync placeholder takes up approximately 0kb, this is the pysical size. The logical size of the file is the actual size of the file, if it were downloaded to the device (the size reported through your "Large File Report" is the physical size of the file). 

    To see both the logical and physical file size:
    - Right click on a file/folder
    - Select 'Get info'
    - In the properties window you will see the original file size, followed by the actual on-disk size:

    For example:428,510 bytes (0 KB on disk) 

    It is important to be able to view both sizes, not just to reassure you that the file is not taking up space, but also to understand the space and speed implications of returning the file(s).

    In other views of Finder, the operating system will report the logical size. For this reason you shouldn't be concerned if it initially appears that the placeholder is taking up space. To confirm the file or folder is not taking up space, please check via the above steps. Files that are not taking up space on disk will have an icon overlay that changes from the usual green tick to the grey cloud icon, denoting that the file isn't locally present.

    Please note that third party disk management software may not read the physical size of a Smart Sync placeholder, therefore that software may not correctly report disk usage.

    I hope this inforrmation helps and please let me know if there's anything else I can do.

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
8 years ago

Thank you for your elaborate response Stuart (thefc) - your feedback helps us improve our product so I'll make sure to pass your comments along to our dev team. 

If you have any additional feedback, don't hesitate to reach back out Stuart. 

Cheers!

RaxAdaam's avatar
RaxAdaam
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

Has there been any update on this? The issue is wreaking havoc on my Macbook Pro, as it's storage space is ~1/12th that of my iMac, but I have dropbox set up on both. 

I've set nearly all files to "online only" on the macbook pro, but am constantly getting warnings about storage space, and it seems to be affecting the performance of my laptop (perhaps a safety mechanism from the OS)?

Anyhow, it's very tiresome and wastes a lot of time for everyone on my team  -- would be keen to know if there has been a solution. 

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!