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If I'm logged in via browser does it affect hard drive space?
On my new laptop I installed the Dropbox app and found that my HDD space was in the red, I uninstalled it and find the HDD space is changing, but not by much (I have around 90Gb on Dropbox).
I then login to Dropbox via the browser and wonder if that is what's causing my HDD space to go in the red?
Can anyone help?
Hey Niall D., thanks for posting your question to the Dropbox Community.
When you install the Dropbox desktop app on your computer and login to your account, the app syncs all your files to a local "Dropbox" folder.
That means that your Dropbox files take up space on your hard drive.
Uninstalling the app doesn't free up your space, though. Do you intend to use the Dropbox application?
If so, you can make your files online-only, or use selective sync to free up hard drive space.
Using Dropbox from the website, does not affect your hard drive space at all.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions.
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- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey Niall D., thanks for posting your question to the Dropbox Community.
When you install the Dropbox desktop app on your computer and login to your account, the app syncs all your files to a local "Dropbox" folder.
That means that your Dropbox files take up space on your hard drive.
Uninstalling the app doesn't free up your space, though. Do you intend to use the Dropbox application?
If so, you can make your files online-only, or use selective sync to free up hard drive space.
Using Dropbox from the website, does not affect your hard drive space at all.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks for your reply Hannah
On my work laptop it's showing as connected to Dropbox even though I uninstalled the app (it says its taking up 108GB of the HDD space which is a concern).
On my home laptop it is installed with online-only set in the preferences, do I need to do that on the work laptop by installing the app again?
- Hannah
Thanks for the additional info, Niall!
Indeed, if you do want to use the Dropbox application on your work laptop, to access your Dropbox files from the Dropbox folder, you'll need to install the app again and set the files to online-only, to free up the space they're taking up.
I see Dropbox on the side bar in File Explorer, if I delete files from there will they also be removed from everywhere else - last thing I want is to lose my stuff.
When I installed the app the first time it did so without admin privileges, this meant I couldn't access preferences to change sync options.
I do not have the app installed and I am not logged in on any browser, is it therefore OK to delete from sidebar with it only affecting that laptop and nowhere else?
I just want the 108Gb back.
- Jay
Could you attach a screenshot showing the Dropbox folder in Explorer, while hiding any names or other personal details, just to be certain we're on the same page?
Is this enough?
- Jay
Thanks, given that the icon is still visible, this means that the app isn't uninstalled from your machine, so you won't be able to delete this folder, since it is in the system itself.
Please could you ensure that you've fully uninstalled the app from Windows using these steps.
I'm not off work until Monday so won't be able to access the laptop until then, but I remember uninstalling the app (it's no longer in ''add or remove programs' and doesn't appear in a search of my laptop), it was previously installed without admin privileges, meaning I couldn't access preferences.
If I were to install again with admin privileges and change 'storage of new files' to 'online-only' would that sort things out?
When I was on the work laptop yesterday I opened Dropbox in the sidebar and deleted a file to see if it remained on my home laptop and via the browser, it did remain - but I am very concerned about the possibility of losing anything!
