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Smart Sync and removing local files
Hello,
I'm attempting to convert my dropbox folder on my desktop to smart sync, so that I'm not storing any local files on my harddrive in order to save space. Currently, my folder has some local ...
Hi Grant W.1
So first and foremost, Dropbox is a sync solution, not a backup. When sync is turned on, it sync the local file to the cloud. If you delete the local file, it will also destroy the cloud copy. You can directly upload your files for storage using the web client https://www.dropbox.com/home and then that will be stored independently of your local files.
As for the status, if you click on the little dropbox logo in the system tray, it should give you the current sync status of your files.
I'm experiencing the same problem with Smart Sync. I switched over select folders to Online Only over 10 days ago and the local versions of the files are not automatically freeing up disk space. For example, A 10GB video file in the Online Only folder is still showing up on my hard drive locally as taking up 10GB of space. Thank you.
Daphne
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey there Grambles12,
Can you just confirm for me that the folder you're referring to is correctly showing the online only sync icon (grey cloud) and your desktop app sync status is "up to date"?
Also, can you please confirm which version of the desktop app you're running and the OS of the computer that is having this issue?
Should you be using a Mac computer and you're not seeing the space reduced after applying smart sync to your files, I'd recommend checking out this post here.
Let me know what you find and we'll go from there!
Thank you @daphne, yes, I can confirm that the folder is showing as a grey cloud, and that my desktop app sync is showing "Up to Date".
I'm using Desktop App v80.4.126.
- Daphne
Hey Grambles12,
In that case, would you mind if I reached out to your email address associated with your Community profile so that we can look into this a but further through our Support channel? This will allow us to look into more account specific info.
Let me know - thanks!
No problem @daphne, thank you.
Hi,
If anyone still needs a quick solution, I simply uninstalled dropbox app on my Windows 10. This completely breaks the link, so you can delete the local files no problem, then go back and re-download the app if you'd like and be a little more selective with your selective sync ha!
Hey guys,
I am facing the exact same issue: I marked a folder to use smart sync online only mode but it seems the files are still there occupying a lot of space on my HD. Just to be clear: it's not only the file name, the full files are still there.
How can I solve this?
