Forum Discussion

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.

128 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion
Show More
  • ygoffer's avatar
    ygoffer
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    Hi,

     

    I'm running Sierra 10.13.2 and while selective sync seems to work fine, i.e., files are not stored locally, the macOS still calculates them as taking space.  Any solution for that?

     

    Thank you,

     

     

    yossi 

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago

    Selectively Synced folders (those that you have unchecked) do not exist on the computer* so they cannot take up space. Also, since they're not on the computer, your OS can't include them in its calculation.

    * Note: If you've recently removed some folders using Selective Sync, Dropbox has likely moved them to its cache folder temporarily, so they could still be stored locally and taking up space for a short period. Files are held in cache for three days before they're removed, to aid in recovery should it be needed.

  • dmoses's avatar
    dmoses
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    I had the same problem until the 10.13.2 update. Try installing the 10.13.2 supplemental update as well, that might fix your problem.

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

    Rich: You say "Selectively Synced folders (those that you have unchecked) do not exist on the computer so they cannot take up space. Also, since they're not on the computer, your OS can't include them in its calculation." and theoretically that would be correct.

     

    But for instance the photo collection of 2015 has nog been touched for longer than 3 days and thus should not be in cache, yet they occupy nearly 85 GB in space, at least according to Finder. Now Finder may be wrong, or DropBox may be confusing Finder. I would appreciate if the issue would be sorted and not just by stating "it is all right" ;-)

     

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

    Dmoses, you say "I had the same problem until the 10.13.2 update. Try installing the 10.13.2 supplemental update as well, that might fix your problem." but I also have 10.13.2 but when I search for Updates there is none.

     

    No updates availablemy version

  • dmoses's avatar
    dmoses
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    Weird, maybe its being rollled out slowly.

     

  • Helio1's avatar
    Helio1
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    I have the same sort of issue (using macOS 10.13.2).  The folder is marked with the gray cloud and shows size 32GB (zero bytes on disk), however each individual file within that folder shows as taking up its full space.

  • Rako's avatar
    Rako
    Explorer | Level 4
    8 years ago

    Hi Ross 

    Thanks for your help but I am on Sierra IOS 10.13 and still have the same issue my Mac even show that i have more data, than what it is even really capable of... 

     

    And then on some other program i foud out I really have 243gb of 500gb aviable... i want to clear more space.. but I can´t since i don know the "real" size of my folders... 

     

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

    Hi Rako, you write "on some other program i foud out I really have 243gb of 500gb aviable..." -- can you specify what program exactly?

  • Rako's avatar
    Rako
    Explorer | Level 4
    8 years ago

    see it says i have 243,11GB aviable, the hard drive is 500GB  and says i have 657.67 GB so clearly there is huge miss comunication.... 

    now i want to know what dose 243.11 are for but I CANT cause now i dont know which files my mac is counting for real and wich are not, and looking for a litlle cloud asaide each file and hold my calculator on the side seems soo 1919... jajaja so I guess there is nothing to do but to wait until dropbox and apple get along on this issue...

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!