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Files on Dropbox are still on my hard drive, why?
The whole point of using Dropbox was to store my files externally from my hard drive to free up space. Now it seems those files are still on my hard drive. What is the advantage of using Dropbox ot...
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorThe folder locations you're referring to are just for the Dropbox app itself. It shouldn't be possible to have the Dropbox folder (where all your files are kept) in the same area.
Could you confirm this by clicking the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, then the top right icon (it could be an image or your initials) and then Preferences. The Dropbox folder location will appear in the Sync tab. Could you let me know about this location?
The green icons means that the files have synced and are taking up space on your computer. Files with the cloud icon with a down arrow in them are online-only and don't take up any space. The blue icons shouldn't be spinning since they can't be animated, but it does mean that the Dropbox desktop application is in the process of syncing those files.
Have you marked files as online-only in order to free up space?
When I followed your directions and opened up preferences in the Dropbox icon on my menu bar it says files are stored 'suzannewalker'. Let me know if I need to change this and 'how' to change it. No, I haven't physically marked files as online only. Can I do that with the files with the green check mark.
- Jay
Okay, so the files are stored in the normal folder it seems.
You can right click any file or folder with a green icon and make it online-only to free up space on your computer.
Thank you. I did go in a marked a few that I know are tied to my Adobe Lightroom catalog. I wanted to make sure they still appeared in that catalog. The catalog doesn't store photos, but just small icons that point to the file locations. So far it seems Lightroom hasn't lost that connection.
Thank you all so much for your help. I have a new ?? I looked in my Dropbox folder on my Mac and there are quite a few that have the little cloud with a down arrow. I haven't requested these be downloaded to my Mac. I selected a few and ticked 'make online only'. I don't understand why those files show the cloud with a down arrow! Any help here will be appreciated.
- Rich
Super User II
Suzanne W.4 wrote:
I looked in my Dropbox folder on my Mac and there are quite a few that have the little cloud with a down arrow. I haven't requested these be downloaded to my Mac.
The cloud with a down arrow indicates a file that is already marked as online-only.
I had previously set those to be online only and by storage was at 200+. Now it is at 17 GB. What is the little blue check mark? Do I need to go back and check them all to be online only AGAIN??
I'm sorry. The check mark is green, not blue. My storage keeps going down even though I've clicked most of them online only.
- Megan
Hi Suzanne W.4, if the files have a blue syncing icon, it means their changes are still syncing.
Would you mind sending over a few screenshots of the icons, along with the app's current syncing status?
- My storage is so low right now I can’t do anything on the Mac except online since my storage is now at 2 GB. I did reach out to Dropbox help chat. Donovan tried to help me as best he could but he finally turned it over to a specialist who should get back to me through email. Donavan sent our chat over to my email. But the specialist hasn’t responded yet.
- Megan
Do you have the ticket number reference, in order for me to locate the ticket on my end, Suzanne?
- #23010914
- Megan
Thanks for that Suzanne W.4!
I was able to locate your ticket, and I can see that it's been escalated to the relevant department.
Hang tight, and an agent will be with you shortly, to investigate on this!
- Thank you.
