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Forum Discussion
The System Data on my macOS computer shows 7.9TB used when it's not
Dropbox Plan
Business Standard
Device
MacBook Pro 14" Nov 2024
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Mac OS Tahoe 26.0.1
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
238.4.6075
Question or Issue
I bought this Macbook in August 2025. I spec'ed it with 8TB SSD because I travel a lot and often don't have reliable internet access.
System Storage looks like this:
Note two things: 1) Mac Documents are 3.33TB 2) System Data is 3.96TB
But now look at the screen print belowFinder shows
a) Dropbox Personal of 911GB, OtRExp Dropbox [company] of 1,590GB, and Movies 832 GB = total of approx 3.33TB which is exactly what's shown in System Storage/Mac Documents = 3.33TB.
Also note that System is a 23.78GB, a bit high, but nothing unusual.
So far so good.
b) But then, back to the first screen print above, on top of that, the System Storage/System Data figure is 3.96TB as shown above.
The result being that out of the 8TB my Mac has 7.81TB are used up.
There is, it seems, some double counting going on in the Mac OS. I've spent countless hours with Apple so-called "senior" advisors with no resolution at all except for to tell me "Reinstall Dropbox". Sure, I can do this, but a clean re-install means several days of syncing all my Dropbox (Personal and company) data back to my laptop.
More than happy to do this if someone here can tell me: yep, that's going solve your problem.
Very grateful to anyone who can shed led on how to solve this problem. At the moment, I feel like having wasted a huge amount of money on SSD of which 1/2 is "missing".
Cheers,
14 Replies
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Hello jameswalker,
that is exactly what I suspect is happening. I need an expert in the Dropbox Support team to help confirm that this is what is going on.
In the meantime, thank you all for your constructive replies.
Cheers,
Peter
Thanks Hannah. Will do!
This does sound very frustrating especially with such a large SSD. It looks like system data may be counting cached or synced files twice. Dropbox local storage and indexing can sometimes inflate system data. A rebuild or reset may help but it is hard to know without clear guidance. Hopefully someone has seen this exact case and can confirm a fix.
- Vicker
Super User
Hi, peteraschindler
Checking individual folder for their file size is tedious and time consuming. Any chance you could install a graphical tool like DaisyDisk to help you visualise where the storage gone? Once we are able to identify where it goes, it should be easier to decide the next step, whether it is Dropbox related or maybe not.
I understand that installing a non Dropbox-related app may sound odd to you. Though, I am just trying to think of any possible options to resolve your issue, not to mention that these visual tools usually have free trial. There are other ways to do it as well via some Terminal program, but that may looks even more complicated...
Cheers
Vicker - Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Sorry to hear about that, Peter and thanks for your sincere feedback.
If you've opened up a new ticket with our team, please give us the ticket number, so we can track it on our end as well.
Noted. Sadly my experience with the Dropbox support team has been miserable, but I suppose I'll have to give it another go.
- Jay
Hi peteraschindler, thanks for the images. At this point it might be better for the support team to look into this in more detail.
You can contact them directly via this link, and they'll be able to investigate further. Hello Hannah,
here I am again:
"Are the files in both folders set to online-only?" 1) The reason why I bought the Mac with 8TB SSD is that I need everything offline. 2) But, because of the issue I face, I had to put set infrequently used folders to online-only.
Those that are set to online-only are do NOT take up any space. Here is an example:
The first 4 are set to online-only; the remaining 2 are set to "offline".
As regards the screen shots you requested, please see below. If you need more, please let me know.
I really appreciate your help.
Cheers,
Peter
Screen shots:
In addition to the 2 Dropbox folders, I'm also giving you screen prints of the Mac HD sub-folders. If you tally it all up, you will see that it doesn't even come close to 8TB, and yet
Overview of what I'm including
The 8 screen shots:
Hello Hannah,
thank you! Am busy for a couple of days; will reply/provide that you're asking as soon as I can.
Cheers,
Peter
- Hannah
Thanks for the reply, Peter.
Would you mind right/control-clicking on each Dropbox folder (both personal and team) and sending me a screenshot of the "get info" section for each?
Are the files in both folders set to online-only?
If they are and they appear to be taking up space, make sure to check that you've also enabled the "Online-only files on Mac" setting here.
