Dropbox v165.4.4300 not releasing disk space

I recently upgraded to v165.4.4300 on my MacBook Pro Monterey 12.6.1

Before the upgrade, I had 1TB of files in my DB folder and 700 GB of free space. I require all files to be accessible offline. When I started the upgrade, DB only allowed me to select "online only" saying that there was insufficient space on my laptop.(????) After the upgrade, all my files were online only, but the 1TB of disk space previously occupied by my files, was still "used" - i.e. DB did not release any disk space in taking files online.

I then selected some files and toggled them to "offline" and DB started to use up more of my available disk space. The position I am in now is that 1TB of my disk is in limbo. If I try to bring the entire folder offline, DB says there is not enough disk space - i.e. it is trying to duplicate the entire folder.

Simply, the new version of DB took all my files online and did not release any space occupied by these files.

I have had at least 20 interactions with support who keep giving me stock answers to problems I DON'T HAVE! Anyone help please?

Quota

Storage space

Nancy
3 years ago
Hey Des! I hope you’re doing well and sorry for jumping in.

As Hannah mentioned above, our team has informed us that this issue has been properly resolved, so you shouldn’t face this behavior in the future.

Now, in case something comes up or if you need something else, feel free to let us know here and we’ll most definitely be glad to further assist.

22 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi Deskal, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you try enabling the 'Online-only files on Mac' option on this page on your account?

Afterwards, try rebooting your machine to see if this helps.

Keep me updated with any progress!
Deskal
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
Hi Jay,
All files are already marked "online" and "online-only files on Mac" is enabled.
The problem is that when the new version of DB took all the files (1TB) online, it did not release the 1TB of disk space, so if I change all to "offline", DB grabs ANOTHER 1TB of disk space.

Regards,
Des.
EdwardBlackmon
New member | Level 2
3 years ago
Online-only files on Mac are enabled, and all files are already designated as such. The issue is that the new DB version uploaded all of the files (1TB), which is a concern.
Deskal
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
Sorry, I do not understand your response. I would appreciate some more detail. Thank you.
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi Deskal, and sorry for jumping in.

Can you please let me know what’s the current syncing status of your desktop app? You should be able to see this by clicking on the small Dropbox icon located in your menu bar.
Deskal
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
The status is: "everything is up to date"

For every filename on my SSD on my MBP, there are two versions of every file/folder when I do a search in Finder:

1. username>library>cloudstorage>dropbox>filename of zero bytes size

And

2. username>dropbox>filename of full file size

So there is a hidden set of all my files totalling 1TB in an inaccessible location (the old Dropbox folder) and only discoverable via Finder.

This is exactly as I described at the outset. DB did not release the file space occupied by the old DB folder when it set up the cloud storage location.
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hmm, what you describe is a bit odd, indeed.

Can you please send me two screenshots showing a file that’s located on both the old and new location, along with its filepath? Just make sure your username is hidden before uploading it here.

I'd like to have a visual, so that we can investigate this further.
Deskal
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
Nancy, I have attached two screenshots. I searched in Finder for folder "kwantum". You will see in one shot the file is in the old Dropbox folder and the second one is in the cloud dropbox folder. (breadcrumb is at the bottom of the screen.) I have tested that if I modify a file (word document say) in the old Dropbox folder, it does get synced as cloud DB does not know about it. Although the files kwantum files have different dates - they are identical and have not been modified. I have repeated this for several pairs of folders.

Regards,

Des.

not get synced as new cloud DB doesn't see .
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi Deskal, do files in the folders themselves have different sizes and dates?

Which files have the sync icons next to them?
Deskal
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
Hi Jay,
All the files in the cloud dropbox folder have the cloud icon next to them as they are all online.
The files in the old "hidden" dropbox folder do not have any icon and they are all offline as they were before the update.
The files in both DB folders generally have the same dates unless one or the other has been updated. File sizes in the cloud DB folder are zero bytes, files in the old DB folder have full sizes. As I said above.
It just seems that the update to the cloud created a new DB folder but did not tidy up the old folder and now has no knowledge of it.

Regards,

Des