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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.
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- Rich
Super User II
MSMichels wrote:
Shared files only use up my storage - and not the shared person's storage (Dropbox external) ??
Shared folders count against the storage of all members. If you have a folder that's 2GB and you invite someone to it, it will take up 2GB of space in their own account as well.
Hello all...
Shared files only use up my storage - and not the shared person's storage (Dropbox external) ??
I left Box (Personal Pro) for Dropbox (Professional). Luckily, I am still in the trial and will cancel today based on this subpar design and policy. I pay $$$ for a larger storage capacity since I am the power user, but I share folders with my wife and friends, who occasionally view or edit files in my space. I work in computing and have a master's degree in operating systems. The files are stored once, they take up space once, they have metadata that controls the permissions. Sure, there's some incremental cost for bandwidth and etc. but requiring each shared folder to pay over again for the entire storage volume of your files is highway robbery.
Next up, I'll give Google Drive a try. Worst case I can roll back to Box -- although you pay more for the space. But at least it doesn't try to shake down each of my collaborators to pay for my storage. What a joke. It's hard to get clear comparison data when shopping for a file sharing platform. I hope this note saves some of you time and money!
- Mark
If he needs full read/write access or to sync it to his own computer (i.e. not just view via a link on website) he will also need to upgrade to a bigger plan.
Hello,
I'm currently using Dropbox plus plan, and I'm willing to share a folder (500GB size) to my colleague who is using basic plan
If I share this, can my colleague still sync this folder when he installs Dropbox desktop app?
or he needs to be upgrade his plan?
- Mark
Hi Veralu
Shared folders use the quota of everybody, so, if you have a free account you only have 2gb of space (www.dropbox.com/account/plan) then the share is bigger than that you'll get the out of space error - you need to upgrade or get more space.
www.dropbox.com/gs may help 🙂
Hi
My boss recently shared two folders access but every time I tried to get inside the folders is giving me the error of out of space, I don't have anything save on this dropbox I just create this access to be able to see the shared folders. I was able to see them before but last couple of weeks I been getting this message that I have to upgrade in order to have access.
- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi danandjess2000, wishing you a great week ahead.
Because the OP expressed the same concern, I've merged your question into this thread.
Feel free to take a look at what has been suggested here, and let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
I have a Basic account, but someone sharing files with me has an unlimited account. Do I need to upgrade my account to view files they share with me that are above the 2 GB limit of my account?
thanks....I get it now!
