Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨‍💻? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

TM100's avatar
TM100
New member | Level 2
2 months ago

Unable to make files available 'online-only' despite managing disk space

Application Affected
Dropbox
Device
Laptop
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
MacOS 14.6 
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
234.4.5591

Question or Issue
I am unable to clear my hard drive space from Dropbox files, despite making them available online only.

After navigating to the Sync & Storage section and clicking 'Manage Hard Drive Space', I select the files I wish to make available online-only, but Dropbox then syncs for about 1 minute and shows the disk as empty however I open it up again straight away and the disk is full again. 

I have tried resetting, restarting and clearing cache and none seem to work. 

Any suggestions? Thanks

9 Replies

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

    I've just sent you an email so please take a look at your inbox and we'll take it from there TM100 

  • TM100's avatar
    TM100
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Thanks Walter​ - unfortunately no luck! 

    Please let me know next steps, appreciate your support. 

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

    I see, thanks for giving that a go TM100​ 

    As a last step before we take this to email, can you restart your computer and internet router? 

    If the app gets stuck again, I'll send you an email to investigate further with account and device specific info. 

  • TM100's avatar
    TM100
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Thanks Walter​ - I just tried this and unfortunately no luck - still persists with showing 95% indexing with no progress. 

    Thanks

  • TM100's avatar
    TM100
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Hi Megan​ , thanks. 

    No proxy or VPN, firewall etc. 

    An yes I tried following those steps and logging out the app and rebooting the devise - still no luck it always shows as 95% indexing.

    Any suggestions?

    Thanks,

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hey TM100!

    If the app is still syncing that might be the culprit there. Essentially the app needs to be fully updated before any of the changes that you make get applied.

    When you say you logged on and off, do you mean that you signed out of the app using these steps? Does the issue go away after rebooting your device or quitting and relaunching the app by any chance?

    Lastly, do you have any proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router settings that could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains? If you do, try temporarily disabling those, to see if that helps.

  • TM100's avatar
    TM100
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Hi Megan, thanks for your response. The syncing status is currently showing 'Indexing (95%)' and has been stuck on this for hours despite logging on/off, uninstalling/restalling, and pausing the sync. 

    Yes, when i navigate inside my local dropbox folder I can see the option to make it online-only, yet when I click this nothing happens. 

    Thanks,

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hi there, TM100, welcome to our Community! 

    When did you first notice this behavior? Also, would you mind clarifying the app's syncing status

    You can find this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon in your menu bar next to your WiFi.

    If you navigate inside your local Dropbox folder, and right click on a file/folder do you see the option to make it online-only? You can see more about this here

    Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

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.

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!