Take Your Search Game to the Next Level with Dropbox Dash  🚀✨ Curious how it works? Ask us here! 

Forum Discussion

bradipo's avatar
bradipo
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago

Files and folders have a cloud icon

Hi,

after the last update for Mac, I read about the big changes, especially the location change.

However, what worries me most is the “online-only” feature.
I can read in the last cell of the official Help https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes :

 

Some newly added files will default to online-only.

  • Files added to your Dropbox account from another device or that are shared by another user will default to online-only.

 

Now, is this a permanent decision?

Is there a reason linked to the change in the latest macOS requirements or is this entirely a Dropbox decision?

I have been a Business user for many years and only recently downgraded to the basic plan.

My final question would be: are we stuck with online-only files and folders forever, both on a basic plan and a paid plan?

Or are you just doing this to basic plans in order to get people to pay for the paid plan?

 

I need to understand as this is a very frustrating change in Dropbox behaviour since many years.

Thank you for explaining

3 Replies

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey bradipo, thanks for taking the time to write to us.

     

    I understand your concern, so I will try to give you as much info as possible.

     

    Having your files set to online-only, basically means that your files will be present in the Dropbox folder, as always, they just won't be taking up hard drive space.

     

    You can always sync them to your computer, by right-clicking them in the Dropbox folder and choosing "make available offline".

     

    The updated Dropbox for macOS app has been developed to adhere to the requirement as set out by Apple, so this update was introduced to ensure the best possible experience for our macOS users long into the future.

     

    And this will be affecting all macOS users, not just our Basic accounts.

     

    You can read more about this here.

     

    In any case, I will make sure that your feedback is passed along to our team about this.

     

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    • bradipo's avatar
      bradipo
      Explorer | Level 3

      thanks.

      Just to clarify: 

      If I want to always keep my folders and files available on the disk (offline), all I have to do is to enable it on the right-click menu and select "Make available offline". 

      is this correct?

      if I do this, will this choice remain activated no matter what? Or will it change over time?

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hi bradipo, this would work for folders mainly, since any files inside folders marked as available offline would automatically be downloaded as well.

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

Need more support

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 or Facebook.

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!