Forum Discussion

Brucknerphile's avatar
Brucknerphile
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Mac Finder continues to show large size of Dropbox Folder despite everything being online-only

Hi, everyone. Thanks in advance for your help, wisdom, and support.

 

I have a problem several others have experienced, but none of the solutions I found here seem to be working. Simply put, I have around 300 GB in my Dropbox folder and have everything set to be online only (or so I assume?) Mac finder is still showing this 300 GB as being used, and it is affecting other uses that require a lot of space (video editing, audio sample packages, etc.) I do need that space back. "Space Lens" in CleanMyMac shows the proper amount of space used ( a bit under 500 GB of my 1TB built-in drive on my MacBook Pro M1.

 

Here are the specs: Macbook Pro M1; 16GB RAM; 1Tb drive

OS: Sonoma 14.5

Dropbox Desktop Version: 204.4.5420

 

I have searched the Dropbox folder for the ".dropbox.cache" file, but it does not exist. Here is a screenshot of the only files that appear after invoking "shift-command-.":

 

 

Here is a screenshot (blurred for privacy concerns) of what the folder's directory looks like. Unless I'm mistaken, shouldn't all of these files be online only?:

 

 

The Dropbox directory resides in the "Cloudstorage" in the Library, which is precisely where I believe it should be.

 

Any help or insight the community can offer would be tremendously appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

JS

desktop
Mac
Storage space

26 Replies

Show More
  • Brucknerphile's avatar
    Brucknerphile
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    Hi, Megan.

     

    I'm afraid I didn't receive your direct email. Perhaps it was sent to the wrong address. Where can I find the "Community-linked email address" you mentioned in your last communication? I've checked all inboxes and spam folders. If necessary, I'm happy to share a different email address if we can find a mechanism to do so. 

     

    Thanks!

     

    JS

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey Brucknerphile - the Community email address would be the one you see on this page.

     

    Could you check that email address's inbox and junk/spam folder as well and let us know if you can find Megan's email? 

  • Brucknerphile's avatar
    Brucknerphile
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago
    Hi! Thanks for getting back to me.

    The email listed is correct; nothing in spam or junk. Dropbox Community emails are getting through. Can you try again, or post an email at which I can reach out to Megan? Thanks!

    JS
  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey Brucknerphile, can you check your email address again and let me know if you can see my email now?

  • Ecnerwal's avatar
    Ecnerwal
    New member | Level 1
    10 months ago

    Hi, was there a solution for this problem found? I have the exacte same issue and would like to resolve it ;-) 

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    10 months ago

    Hi Ecnerwal, as of yet, there are no updates to this matter, since it appeared to be an intermittent issue at the time.

    Is your Dropbox folder set to online-only? When you right click the Dropbox folder and choose Get Info, could you copy and paste a screenshot of that window in your next reply?

  • Ecnerwal's avatar
    Ecnerwal
    New member | Level 1
    10 months ago

    Hi Jay, thank you for your reply. 
    Dropbox is set to online only. The info of the dropbox folder shows a size of 41,16GB which could be correct.

    One of the subfolders has a size of 274,15Gb (3,92Gb on disk).

    I have the impression that the size indicated on top is also what's used in Disk Utility to calculate free disk space.

     

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    10 months ago

    Thanks for the screenshot, Ecnerwal.

    Indeed, what you're seeing should be correct, since your files are set to online-only.

    One more thing you can check is the "Online-only files on Mac" setting in your account settings here; is it set to "On"?

  • Ecnerwal's avatar
    Ecnerwal
    New member | Level 1
    10 months ago

    Hi, I checked and this is set to 'On' as well...

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    10 months ago

    Thanks for clarifying that for us Ecnerwal - much appreciated.

    Since everything seems to be set correctly, could you send us a screenshot of where you're spotting the hard drive space discrepancy? 

    Also, what is your computer's OS version and the version and status of the Dropbox desktop app as shown in your menu bar?

About Storage Space

Looking for help with managing the storage space in your Dropbox account? Talk to the Dropbox Community and get advice from members.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!