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Can I delete the dropbox-dist-tmp folders on linux?
I keep getting a message from Dropbox that it cannot sync because I am out of disk space.
I used a disk space analyzer and it turns out that Dropbox itself is using approx 600MB accross multiple folders with the name dropbox-dist-tmp-XXXXXX (they are located in my /home/):
> du -sch .dropbox* 2.2M .dropbox 191M .dropbox-dist 159M .dropbox-dist-tmp-7hyie7y2 113M .dropbox-dist-tmp-d75lfgzf 132M .dropbox-dist-tmp-txi2smoy 596M total
I've looked at these folders and they all seem to contain the same thing (except for the .dropbox).
I've googled and found this somewhat similar issue on the Docker version of Dropbox.
Can someone confirm that these are just cache files? Is it ok for me to delete some or all of them?
Thanks
PS: I am on Ubuntu 16.04 and I am not using any simlinks.
Hi mairabay,
Similar things could happens when you try 'play' with the distribution directory while dropbox is still running (confirmed from my experience). Probably this could be some update process side effect (I haven't seen this but...). Anyway: While the main distribution directory (.dropbox-dist) is consistent and ready, any other similar directories are meaningless and could be removed safely. :wink:
Hope this helps.
5 Replies
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- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Hi there mairabay,
Generally, .tmp files are temporary files created to temporarily hold data on your device while you're using a specific app.
For this reason, I'd recommend not deleting them, but instead rebooting your device - maybe that will do the trick.
Let me know how it goes!
Hi Lusil,
While I appreciate the speed of your repsonse and your willingness to help, I would like to ask you (and whoever else reads this): please read the question throughly before trying to answer.
1) I am not talking about .tmp files. I never mentioned the .tmp extension or asked about deleting files. I am talking about a folder that has the following name structure: .dropbox-dist-tmp-XXXX. Please read the question throughly before trying to answer.
2) This has been happening for weeks now and rebooting does nothing to it.
Hi mairabay,
Similar things could happens when you try 'play' with the distribution directory while dropbox is still running (confirmed from my experience). Probably this could be some update process side effect (I haven't seen this but...). Anyway: While the main distribution directory (.dropbox-dist) is consistent and ready, any other similar directories are meaningless and could be removed safely. :wink:
Hope this helps.
