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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.com/s/sjd34t39t0q7312/Screenshot%202017-02-18%2012.03.41.png?dl=0

Mac
sync
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
    Howdy folks,
     
    I’m , I’m working on the Community team at Dropbox & I’m posting here so as to stir this discussion towards a different route. Without further ado, I’m going to split this thread off into a number of different ones, as I’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.
     
    Don’t worry, no information is being removed, we are however moving some posts into other threads & for that reason, I’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 wouldn’t want people on 10.13.4 to attempt troubleshooting steps that weren’t relevant to their current state.
      
    But I still have my issue!
    We’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 don’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 can’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: I’m on a Professional plan & I can’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: I’ve made my files online-only, though they’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 they’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. “Size on disk” 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 can’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 Apple’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.

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  • 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
  • bweets's avatar
    bweets
    New member | Level 2
    9 years ago

    You mean like this? I've turned off every Smart Sync folder and my MACbook is crawling. Shows 650GB of docs on a 500GB HD. 

  • 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 ‘d like to follow-up on your request. If you’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
  • tmewis's avatar
    tmewis
    Helpful | Level 6
    9 years ago

    Hey Ross,

     

    I have version 10.12 and the smart-synced folders have maxed out my hard drive. I can not work on any projects until this is fixed and have been waiting for a reply from your techs. Please help me! 

  • ak_crux's avatar
    ak_crux
    New member | Level 2
    9 years ago

    Hi,

     

    Reading these posts from March of this year, I can say that I have macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and smart sync files set to online only show as taking space on my hard drive.

     

    So this still is not working right. 

     

    Anyone else experience this?

     

     

  • Sanchez's avatar
    Sanchez
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    Hey everyone, 

    If you are experiencing this Smart Sync issue, I urge you to contact our support team. Our agents can take a peak at your account and provide more specific troubleshooting. They can also forward your cases to the appropriate department for further review. 

    This can potentially benefit the whole community, as gathering information from real-world users like you, is a vital part of the troubleshooting and development process. 
     
    Thanks!
  • cesarastudillo's avatar
    cesarastudillo
    New member | Level 2
    9 years ago

    Dear Luke,

     

    Thanks for your update. Can you help me with this:

    I've got Mac Os 12.2 and when I see the info on my folders set to "online only" with Finder via Command+i , it shows the size of the files, and then the real physical size they're taking up in my drive, which is negligible (maybe only filesystem info about files, subfolders, etc.)

    My problem is, my favorite disk organizer (Disk Inventory X), which shows the space taken by my files in a neat treemap format, uses the nominal file size rather than the physical size. This renders my disk organizer app useless since I cannot locate which files and folders are actually eating up my physical disk space.

    Now comes the question: Do you guys know of any disk organizer app which uses the physical size, not the nominal size, so it becomes actually useful when organizing the physical disk in our drives when we're using Smart Sync?

    Hope I worded the question properly. I'm sure the answer will be useful not only for me but for any others.

  • Sanchez's avatar
    Sanchez
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    9 years ago
    Hey cesarastudillo, welcome to our community! 

    I don’t know about any such app, and I really don’t remember seeing anything like this around here before. I’m not sure if this would be possible, but now that we offer Smart Sync with our new Professional plan, 3rd-party app developers may be more inclined to come up with something that will do what you’re looking for. 
     
    Cheers! 
  • m_a_l_c_o_l_m's avatar
    m_a_l_c_o_l_m
    Helpful | Level 5
    9 years ago

    tl;dr You need to know that just because you upgraded to a Professional account and Smart Sync may seem like it's working, your local Dropbox app may need some tweaking to fully work.

     

    I signed up for Professional and then went through my folders, right-clicked, Smart Select > Online Only. The icon next to the folders changed from a filled in green check-mark to an empty green check-mark so I thought everything was doing what it was supposed to. But then I didn't notice any change in the free space on my harddrive. 

     

    Eventually I looked in Preferences on the Dropbox desktop app on my MacBook Pro (running MacOs High Sierra 10.13) and found that there was a little link saying "Enable Smart Sync". I clicked it and had to go to System Preferences to allow Dropbox to install some other little program. I then rebooted my computer (just to be safe).

     

    Now, when I click on a file or folder and click Smart Select > Online Only the icon changes to a grey cloud. See a screenshot below. It seems that the the filled in green check mark means a Local synced file, the empty green check-mark indicates a synced folder that contains a combination of Local and Online Only files, and the grey cloud indicates a file or folder that is completely Online Only.

     

    It didn't happen instantaneously but now, slowly, the free space on my harddrive is increasing.

     

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