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linguos's avatar
linguos
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago
Solved

Dropbox app uploading in online only outside of the Dropbox folder.

I've used the free Dropbox for a while but just went to a paid version and would also like to use the Dropbox app to make file transfer and organization easier. In my case with most files I want them...
desktop
Dropbox Transfer
FAQ
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    3 years ago

    Hi linguos 

     

    Dropbox can only work on and upload files inside its own folder. So, there is no way of doing what you'd like it to do. Even with the option to upload and save desktop / documents etc. to Dropbox this moves those actual directories over and puts hidden shortcuts where they originally were. 

Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago

Hi linguos, could you clarify exactly how you're moving files into your Dropbox folder. Copies of files will only be created if you're moving it from another drive entirely, into the Dropbox folder, depending on how your OS makes the move.

 

Marking the file in the Dropbox folder as online-only will make only one copy of the file (the one outside the Dropbox folder) take up space. 

 

The default for online-only files is only when files are syncing from the site to the computer. 

 

Moving files from your computer into the Dropbox folder doesn't make them online-only, since they were already local. Those files need to be manually marked as online-only, once they've synced to the site.

Jbeh's avatar
Jbeh
New member | Level 2
2 years ago
Hi Jay,
I’ve just read through this thread with interest. I’ve just subscribed to the paid version of Dropbox. I am disappointed to hear that if you copy a file into Dropbox from your computer this file wont be online only. I really needed a way to move files in and out of my Dropbox folder with them being uploaded and stored online ONLY. What is the point of the online only option for new files. It seems a bit silly that you have to manually mark files online only after importing them from the hard drive. To not have this option seems strange. Is there a workaround for this issue. If not can Dropbox consider making this possible? When I add files to Dropbox from another source I can’t have it saving to the hard drive of my computer.
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    2 years ago
    Jbeh wrote:
    What is the point of the online only option for new files.

    It's for files that are added to Dropbox from other devices (or the website). With that option set, files will sync down to your computer as Online-only. That option has no effect on files you drag into your Dropbox folder.

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