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Fowzie T.'s avatar
Fowzie T.
Helpful | Level 6
9 years ago
Solved

Smart Sync storage issue on macOS Sierra 10.12- macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

I'm really confused, the premise of smart sync is to free up local storage. This is a screenshot of a folder which contains about 2GB of data.  Am I doing something wrong?   https://www.dropbox.c...
Mac
sync
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
    Howdy folks,
     
    Iā€™m , Iā€™m working on the Community team at Dropbox & Iā€™m posting here so as to stir this discussion towards a different route. Without further ado, Iā€™m going to split this thread off into a number of different ones, as Iā€™d like to avoid any confusion in regards to the topic or the status of this conversation. 
     
    Why are you splitting the thread?
    For context, this thread has been around since last February & a number of very separate (and now resolved) Smart Sync issues have been reported here. This separation was triggered as we like to group distinct issues together to better help users discover relevant content, advice and to help self-resolve.
     
    Donā€™t worry, no information is being removed, we are however moving some posts into other threads & for that reason, Iā€™m going to include links to all the new threads at the bottom here. 
     
    As an example, this thread contains a lot of information & troubleshooting around an issue we experienced on Mac OS 10.13.3, something now resolved. We wouldnā€™t want people on 10.13.4 to attempt troubleshooting steps that werenā€™t relevant to their current state.
      
    But I still have my issue!
    Weā€™ve moved all the open discussions into separate threads listed at the bottom. Apologies if we missed yours! Regardless, anyone who has opened a ticket with Support, that ticket will remain open and is unrelated to this split. 
     
    So, has this been solved forever? 
    The initial behavior reported here has been, however this thread has become a single point for a vast number of other Smart Sync posts,  some of which should have their own threads, some open, some now resolved.
     
    Where do I post Smart Sync comments now?
    Either in one of the below threads - or, if they donā€™t match the behavior you're getting, you may feel free to create a new one! :slight_smile: As this thread will remain public, you may also use it as a point of reference, so as to let us know of any troubleshooting steps you've followed from those mentioned above. 
     
    Thanks for your co-operation and please keep the discussion going in the below, or new, threads!
     
     
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
    For note, issues caught up in this thread, that should have had their own threads included:
     
    Issue 1: I canā€™t enable Smart Sync at all: 
    • Usually this was the result of an incorrect installation & in such cases, re-installing anew helped fix the issue. Alternatively, if you were running a Beta version of the Dropbox app on your desktop, you may need to check if this works on the most updated Stable version (Note: It's currently 48.4.58). 
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 2: Iā€™m on a Professional plan & I canā€™t get Smart Sync to work either: 
    • Some users on the Professional plan were experiencing an issue utilizing Smart Sync, as they had needed to enable System Extensions previously, which has been documented on this resource. 
    • Status:  :white_check_mark:
    Issue 3: Iā€™ve made my files online-only, though theyā€™re still using up my storage locally: 
    • In some cases, users reported that Smart Synced files might be locally stored in the cache folder a little longer, hence taking up space. Clearing the cache folder should resolve this issue. 
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
    Issue 4: I followed the instructions on your resources & set up my files as online-only, though I can see that theyā€™re still taking up space on my pc/ Mac.
    • The Properties (Win) and Get Info (Mac OS) panel will indicate the actual file size instead of the size on disk, as you may expect. ā€œSize on diskā€ is the space being taken up by a placeholder file and should be around 0kb.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 5: I can see that my Dropbox folder on my Mac OSX (v.42.4.114) reported file & folder size incorrectly, making it look like files were still residing on my hard disk.
    • After further investigation, we were able to determine that the Finder was showing the wrong size on disk for folders with compressed files.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 6: I canā€™t back-up my online-only files on the TimeMachine migration assistant & whenever it tries to access them, this action brings them back locally. 
    • This is related to the way TimeMachine reads file sizes and is an on-going issue, though this issue lies with Appleā€™s software. De-selecting the Dropbox folder when restoring if possible will work around this issue.
    • Status: :arrows_counterclockwise:
    Issue 7: Third-party disk management apps report Smart Synced files are present locally.
    • Some third-party app may read the nominal file size rather than the physical size. This is not a Dropbox issue, but down to the way some apps are built.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:

    That's all from me! As usual, I'll be around in case you'd need me to clarify matters in more detail, so feel free to ping me & I'll do my best to check back with you.

SteveA's avatar
SteveA
Helpful | Level 5
9 years ago

Hi Sanchez,

 

Selective Sync is a nice feature, but we upgraded to business for dropbox in order to use Smart Sync. It works, but, as everyone is complaining about, Smart Sync causes the system to allocate space for a folder or file, even if that folder or file is not actually on the computer. This is a huge problem and defeats the purpose of Smart Sync. I hope your engineers are trying to fix this, and I'm not sure why Dropbox doesn't get that it's a problem.

dari_zava's avatar
dari_zava
New member | Level 2
9 years ago

Hi there, is there any progress in this issue? I am running on the MacOS 10.12.3 and I am having the same problem as everyone here since I upgraded to Dropbox Business (for quite a lot of money!). The Smart Sync was actually the only reason for me to upgrade. Thanks for any advice!

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago

    Hey dari_zava, 

     

    Welcome to the Dropbox Community! 

     

    Because we'll need account-specific information in order to further troubleshoot this with you, I'd advise you to log a ticket with our support team, so that we access your account's details and focus on that specific cases. Once you write in to us, please let me know in your reply here, so that I look for your ticket internally. Any screenshots indicating the space usage would be extremely helpful in determining the case. 

     
    Looking forward to hearing back from you!
     
    Warm regards, 
    JaneA
  • alleus's avatar
    alleus
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Hi! Also having problems with Smart Synced directories taking up space. I've submitted a support ticket regarding this, and is instructed in this thread to also post a note about it here.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago

    Hey alleus, 

     

    Welcome to our Forum, thanks for posting this query here!
     
    I ā€˜d like to follow-up on your request. If youā€™ve written in to our team, please let me know a ticket ID to reference in your reply, so that I look it up internally and make sure it's promptly reviewed. Your ticket number is a 7 digit number, which you can find on the email heading that you receive soon after you submit your support request. 
     
    Looking forward to hearing back from you, 
    JaneA

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