How to free up space in your Dropbox account

I know I have files and folders in my DropBox but it shows up as empty. How do I clear out folders and files if I can't see them? Is DropBox forcing me to upgrade to see the files to delete them and go below my quota? I don't want to upgrade I just want to delete files and folders.

Hey there JMTrudell13, 

You can check if you have any private or shared content taking up space and how much of your storage is available from your Plan tab. 

You can also see your deleted files from your deleted files tab and removed shared folders from your Sharing tab.

Finally, please remember that permanently removing already deleted files doesn't free up storage as deleted files and folders don't take up space in your account. 

If you see any discrepancy or you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to give me a nudge and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

I am having this issue, as well!  Very frustrating!  What is the fix?!?

Hey cmcn2, sorry to hear that you're also having trouble with your storage. 

In general, if you're running out of space, have a look at your Plan tab first which will show you what is taking up the majority of your accont's space.

From there, you can follow these instructions if you find that you have shared folders that you want to remove and these steps if you have any unwanted files. 

Let me know how it goes or if you have any questions!

Okay, so I see lots of suggestions to look at my plan tab to see what is taking up room. When I look at my plan tab, it shows I have 2.83 of 2.75 GB of shared data taking up space. However, I've deleted every shared folder I have except for one that only has a handful of documents in it. Unfortunately your platform won't show me how much data that folder takes up specifically, but it can't be more than 20 MB. Is it a matter of time so that the system recognizes that I've freed up space by deleting shared folders and files? Or is it actually just impossible to free up space so that I have to purchase a larger data plan?

Hey AndyPants, welcome to the Dropbox Community!

In general, you can calculate the size of folders from the website by following these steps. 

When you remove personal or shared content from the website, it's reflected on your Plan tab, but you can also earn storage to increase your quota. 

If you find that the shared folder doesn't take up much space but your account is reporting that it is, please don't hesitate to nudge me back here. Thanks!

I'm having the exact same issue. I have Dropbox linked to my Linux laptop. From there I can see that I'm using exactly 5.8GB of space (well below my 7.75GB of space available) however the Dropbox website insists that I'm out of space and reports that I'm using 8.83 GB on the plan page.

Here's the kicker: if I use ncdu to examine the space used by my Dropbox folder on my linux laptop and include hidden files, which includes the .dropbox.cache file, it reports the EXACT SAME VALUE OF 8.83GB.

This means dropbox DOES include the cache as used space, despite what they say. Which is horrendous way to get people to buy more overpriced storage.

The worst part is, I deleted the cache locally on my linux machine, but the space still stays used on the Dropbox website. Two thumbs down for Dropbox

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okin33 wrote:

This means dropbox DOES include the cache as used space, despite what they say.

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The .dropxbox.cache folder is NOT included as part of your storage space. Only the files in your account online are counted against your storage, and teh cache folder does not sync. The cache folder will also be different sizes on each computer. It has nothing to do with space calculations.

If the website is showing 8.83 GB of used space, then you're account has 8.83 GB of files in it. If you're only going to check file sizes on your local comptuer, make sure the Selective Sync and Smart Sync settings are set so all files are local. If there are any folders or files that aren't syncing locally, they're still in your account and taking up space. Also look for shared folders that you're a member of, that might not be syncing fully (due to you being out of space).

Thank you for the community message. Please can you help. I can't seem to identify the folder & file sizes to commence maintenance of getting rid of large folders/files. Thanks

Hi SGHelp1, thanks for nudging us on this thread. 

If you're trying to find the size of files and folders from the website, you can have a look at this article which has the relevant steps. 

Give me a nudge if you have any other questions, cheers!