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Forum Discussion
dualice
4 years agoNew member | Level 2
Why do shared files count against my space use???
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage? Is this data counted twice? If someone who is sharing files with me is paying for this space, why should I have to pay as well just to access it? I am out of space, I have no intention of buying more space, and yet, when someone shares some files with me, I cannot access them and I am forced to buy space in order to access them. Why is this?
Thank you.
dualice wrote:
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage?
Because the files exist in your account.
When you have access to a shared folder, you're not accessing someone else's folder. You're accessing your own COPY of the folder within your account, and you need to have enough space available to hold that folder.
If you just need to view or download files that someone else is sharing with you, ask them to send you a shared link instead. A shared link is a view-only method of sharing and you don't even need a Dropbox account to access it.
144 Replies
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- Mark3 years ago
Super User II
The amount of space you have in your account - for a free user probably around the 2gb mark: www.dropbox.com/account/plan
- macyman3 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Hi Mark,
ok what do you mean by "quota"?
- Mark3 years ago
Super User II
Hi macyman
Simply put - you cannot. That isnt how Dropbox works. If you need read/write access to the files you need to also have enough quota.
If you can do with read only access ask for a shared link instead.
- macyman3 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Hi guys...so I have a personal (free version) of dropbox and a person I work with has her own (paid version) of dropbox. Since I am running out of space my colleague sent me an email (subject: colleague shared "XXXX" with you) and the body of the email has an icon "Add to Dropbox". I cannot seem to get this shared folder and I keep getting en error message on my personal dropbox about "running of out storage". How can I use ONLY the shared folder sent by my colleague, seeing as she had the paid version and never runs out of space. Thanks regards Robert
- UberGomp3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
What I don't like about this, is the fact that if people are paying double for the same bits and bytes.
For example.
Let's say User A and B both have 2000GB storage space available (paying users). If User A shares a hypothetical folder containing 2000GB worth of pictures with user B, that means that both of these users have all their storage used up. So basically they are both paying for the same 2000GB of pictures.
I sincerely hope this example makes sense, because it doesn't seem fair, at all. This could be just 2 users, but of course it could be a lot more users...
- Tamara Bean3 years agoNew member | Level 2
Thank you Rich, I appreciate you taking the time to help!
- Rich3 years ago
Super User II
Tamara Bean wrote:
Then why is it that other team members do not have this issue, when we all have the same thing?
They must have more space available in their accounts.
Not all Basic (free) accounts are the same. They all start at 2GB, but additional space can be earned through referrals and other bonus programs. Before I upgraded to a paid account, my free account had 70GB of available storage for free. If other team members aren't having this problem, they must have more storage space available in their accounts.
- Tamara Bean3 years agoNew member | Level 2
Then why is it that other team members do not have this issue, when we all have the same thing?
- Rich3 years ago
Super User II
Tamara Bean wrote:
I can no longer upload files.... it says I need more storage space. However this is a shared company folder that is already being paid for the max storage.
When you're a member of a shared folder, you have your own COPY of that folder in your account so you need to have enough available space in your account to hold the folder.
If you need to need edit access to this folder, you'll need to upgrade your account. If no one else is getting the message about needing more space, then they all have more space in their accounts than you do and they have room to hold the shared folder.
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