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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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  • fransg's avatar
    fransg
    Helpful | Level 6
    9 years ago

    PS and two days later, with all picture folders still online-only, 158GB of space is taken up locally by these files again, according to Finder... So there still must be a misunderstanding between Dropbox and Higfh Sierra, cropping up or disappearing without explanation.

     

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago
    Hey fransg, I appreciate your detailed description of the issue here & I'd like to follow-up on the matter. 
     
    As you've mentioned that you've already raised a ticket with our team, could you include a ticket ID to reference in your reply here, so that I look it up internally and check back with my colleague?
     
    Thanks in advance & I'm looking forward to hearing back from you!
  • Tambe257's avatar
    Tambe257
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    FYI - I am running Sierra 10.12.6 and I have the same issue. In the screenshot below you'll see that the Mac says I have 165.91 GB available, but it also says that 331.48 GB of documents are on my HD. (398 GB HD total available) Almost all of the large files listed in teh image are stored online only.

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

    Hi folks,

     

    I work on Smart Sync. The Finder info panel has occaisonally had issues in the past (we're checking with the powers that be of a certain OS vendor for the recurrance of any issues). Things that would be helpful:

     

    1. Are you running on APFS or any non-HFS+ filesystem?
    2. When you run `du [relevant dropbox folder]` do you get back disk usage that agrees or disagrees with the Finder info panel?

     

    Thanks in advance!

  • Tambe257's avatar
    Tambe257
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Hi bn,

        I am still running Sierra, so I am using HFS+. For a folder containing file stored online only: Running du returns 0, which is correct. "ls" returns the file name. I ran a Grand Perspective scan as well and that looks like the files are stored locally. I don't know how Grand Perspective does their scans, but if it is a Finder issue, then it's not surprising that Grand Perspective also looks wrong.

     

    Thanks, 

     Tony

  • cvonie's avatar
    cvonie
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago

    Thank you for responding.  I am looking for direct support from DropBox, as the responses here are addressing issues that are different from what I am experiencing.  My mac is older and running Yosemite 10.10.5.  When trying to get DropBox files off my local hard drive, I do this... 

     

    Is there something else I should be doing?  What am I missing?  My local hard drive is at max capacity and from the way the others are talking, this should be easy enough to keep these files 'online only.'  Help please!  Gotta backup my phone and the computer is too overloaded loaded to do that...

  • fransg's avatar
    fransg
    Helpful | Level 6
    8 years ago

    I found something that may be of interest here.

     

    I very rarely use Path Finder since originally it would not work with High Sierra and I got used to doing everything with OSX's Finder instead.

     

    When I do open Finder and view a folder on Dropbox that is online-only, immediately all files in that folder will be downloaded to my local HD.

     

    This is only visible when I open the Finder and watch what's happening in the folder that was moments before open in Path Finder.

     

    I then immediately set that folder to online-only and all is corrected after some time has passed.

     

    It may be a good idea to now use Path Finder at all for the time being.

     

    I enclose information about the version of Path Finder that I have on my machine.

     

  • diamonte21's avatar
    diamonte21
    Explorer | Level 3
    8 years ago

    I'm having the same problem with Dropbox Professional.  All my folders and files are set to "online only" (grey cloud) but it is still taking up the same space as a local file (green tick).  I'm running macOS High Sierra v10.13.2 with only 120GB of storage space.  My ticket reference is 7423104.  I can no longer add anything to my 1TB Dropbox as it says I don't have enough hard drive space.  So not only can I not use my laptop but I also can't use Dropbox.  Really disappointed and I hope there's a quick solution.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago
    Hey diamonte21, I appreciate your detailed description of the issue & including your open request# in your post here. I hope you’ve spent a wonderful time during the holidays & I’m wishing you the best for 2018! 
     
    As I've located your support ticket on our system, I can see our colleague has replied to you there yesterday sending over some steps to follow & they're awaiting your reply, so that you proceed to resolution together. Please include all relevant info on what you’re experiencing (eg. any screenshots of the “Get info” window or other troubleshooting steps you’ve followed would be very useful) on this correspondence & they’ll make sure to follow-up with you as closely as possible.  
     
    At your convenience, could you check your inbox for our latest message and let me know here if can't find it, so that I make sure to send that again? 
     
    You can also reach back out here in case you need further assistance, just let me know in this discussion!

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