Mac seems to think HD is full of DropBox files?

Hi rproco, sorry to jump in here! 

Can you clarify the app's current syncing status, please? Is it up to date? 

As for the file size, if you change the file to online-only, then it would take up 0 hard drive space, if you don't it would take up the actual file size space. 

Hi Megan,

Currently all files are synced or 'Up to Date'. My workaround for this issue has been going to dropbox.com and uploading files that way. It just takes much longer.

My question regarding file size space allocation is during the transfer, not when synced.

And of course still trying to figure out why my system data space won't free up after files are synced.

Thanks!

Hey rproco, sorry to jump in here, but have you checked if your hard drive space is taken up by your cache folder perhaps?

Hi Walter,

I have followed the instructions to delete dropbox cache (SHIFT, COMMAND, (.)PERIOD) which brought up a .ini file I believe. I deleted that with no success of clearing space. My overall cache folder in Library is only 7gb, nowhere near the 130+gb my system data is taking up. 

Thanks for clarifying that for me rproco - much appreciated.

Could you also send us a  couple of screenshots of where you're spotting the discrepancy and confirm that your files are online only at the moment? 

Hello,

Just wanted to update here on this issue. After speaking with Apple Support over the phone and in person at the genius bar there was no resolve and they recommended wiping my hard drive completely and starting from scratch. This was an effort I did not want to do as it would be a pain to download all the applications I had, etc. So I took a deep dive into the systems library folder and went through every folder that mentioned dropbox. I finally found a folder that contained roughly 90GB of files! I found this under Library>Group Containers>G7HH3F8CAK.com.getdropbox.dropbox.sync>root-mount>file_clones

Deleted the files and have gained back most of my system data space! Computer is finally breathing easy again!

Hey jonpen69 - could you let us know some additional information so that we can assist further?

For example, what is your computer's OS version and if you're running the Dropbox desktop app, what is its current status and version as shown in your menu bar?

Also, a screenshot of where you're spotting the discrepancy would also help, so feel free to include one. 

So... I had to reveal the Dropbox.cache folder by pressing (SHIFT, COMMAND, (.)PERIOD) and delved inside the "old.files" folder. Why this wasn't being emptied after a successful sync is the question. And why it stored it there in the first place is a waste of space and time, I was transferring from an external drive directly to dropbox which begs the question, Why does it even get copied into the mac file system at all?

The Dropbox cache folder acts as a staging place for your sync tasks (uploads, downloads, backups etc.) and keeps the files for 3 days as a fail-safe as you'd be able to restore the files from there in case of an emergency. 

This means that it's auto-cleared after 3 days of a successful sync and if you made sure that the app is 'up to date' and not still syncing, you're safe to clear it manually as you did. 

In any case, I'm glad to hear you sorted this out in the end and thank you for keeping us in the loop too jonpen69 

I'm having this exact issue. Same directory and everything. I paused syncing so the folder doesn't expand faster (it slows it down, then I just restart the computer for it to sort of reset)

I must ask, did deleting those file clones make your Dropbox files vanish? Currently backing up my things right now but if you didn't lose anything, I'd really like to delete those clones now 😂