@Curtis_Perrin wrote:
Would software searching file explorer cause Dropbox to download files?
Yes.
The video editing software (Davinci Resolve) has a search functionality to automatically reassociate the media clips with the files. I ran it and now it seems like Dropbox is trying to download hundreds of gigs of video files.
In order for an application to be able to access a file in your Dropbox, that file needs to be on your local hard drive. Files that are Online-only can't be accessed directly in the cloud. Instead, when Dropbox gets a request to access a file from your operating system, Dropbox has to re-download that file to your drive so the application can access it.
If all you're searching is the file name or other metadata that may be stored locally, then Dropbox might not need to download the file (an assumption, on my part), but you're using an application that's searching the content of each file for a string located within it. The only way for that to work is if the files are stored on your local drive.
