Missing space in my dropbox

[gpk]

Hi, in my settings it says I am on Dropbox Basic plan 2GB. Under refer-a-friend it says I've earned 3.75GB as follows:

1 referral at 500MB

Getting started 250MB (2013)

Cameral uploads bonus 3GB (2012)

Total bonus space earned

3.75 GB

Under Plan it says I'm Using 5.63 GB of 5.75 GB

However my computer tells me my Dropbox folder is using about 3.2 GB. I could accept a discrepancy between 3.2 and 3.63, however 3.2 is way less than 5.63. It looks as if my total space is really only 3.75GB and that the standard 2GB has got lost somewhere along the way.

Any thoughts about this and how to get my original 2GB space back? Many thanks!

[Rich]

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@gpk wrote:

Under Plan it says I'm Using 5.63 GB of 5.75 GB ... However my computer tells me my Dropbox folder is using about 3.2 GB.

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You likely don't have all of your data synced to your computer. Any files or folders you've removed using Selective Sync or Smart Sync would not be reflected in the space used on your computer, but would still be accounted for when viewing your account online.

When viewing your account online, whatever it shows as your usage is the real number. You haven't lost any storage space.

[gpk]

Hmmm interesting, how would I check what is synced? I can't see any Selective Sync or Smart Sync options but I'm probably not looking in the right place as I'm a very occasional (confused!) user.

Many thanks for your input @Rich 

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Hey @gpk, sorry to jump in here, but I just wanted to mention that you can check your sync settings under the relevant tab in the app's preferences. 

I hope this helps!

[gpk]

Great, many thanks to all for the replies, following those instructions I see there are 2 folders (Photos and Camera Uploads) which are in Dropbox but not on my computer. I think I have all those photos somewhere else and backups too so when I have a moment I can double check that and then clear them out of Dropbox. This probably accounts for all the missing space. Thanks so much 🙂

For other users who may be reading this, it's Selective sync that is relevant here, which can cause stuff to be stored in Dropbox and taking up space there but not showing in your computer's Dropbox folder. I've no idea how or when I activated this but there you go. Smart sync is not available to Basic plan users so not relevant to my issue.

[Walter]

Glad we could clear this up @gpk

Let us know if anything else comes up!

[dlinsalata]

Hey all!

I just left my company, and they disconnected my link to their shared work dropbox as a result. Before that happened, my personal account had something like 50 gigs of storage that I had earned through various promotions over the years. However, after the work disconnect, my personal is now down to 2 gigs, so I'm immediately over quota.

How can I get back the previous extra storage I had earned?

Thanks!

[dlinsalata]

Update: It turns out some of the extra space is there still (yay!): "Using 20.2 GB of 8.38 GB"

However, I'm still confused as to why I was under quota until my account was disconnected a few hours ago - clearly my quota must have been higher before, since I didn't have any alerts about being over space. Do you just automatically get more when you are linked to a company? 

[Megan]

Hi @dlinsalata, happy Monday! 

Is the space you're talking about earned through referrals? 

If so, then the space remains, however the value changes. It's 500 MB per referral to a Basic account, and 1 GB per referral for Paid Dropbox Accounts. 

Can you check your account's page here, and let me know? 

Thanks!

[dlinsalata]

Thanks for the reply!

That must explain it - I still have my referrals, but the value was less.

Thanks again