Recover Files From Local Cache

[Tom M]

I am working with some large files (over 1tb) synced to a local drive. I accidentally made a folder Online Only and now those files are sitting in the cache folder where I cannot access them. 

When I select Make Available Offline Dropbox starts downloading them, but it will take a long time and I don't have enough local space to allow it to redownload. 

Is it possible to recover these files from the cache without redownloading?

[Nancy]

Hi @Tom M , and welcome to our Community. 

The cache folder that you mention should only be visible if you’ve enabled the option to view hidden folders on your OS. 

The files that you made online-only though, were they all synced to your Dropbox account previously or just a bunch of them were available offline due to the lack of space?

Let me know, and we’ll take it from there.

[Tom M]

All of the content is synced, so the material is safe on Dropbox.com. However, because it was marked to Online Only, the content is simultaneously unavailable to be used locally and taking up a huge amount of space in the cache folder. Is it possible to restore the folders from the cache folder rather than re-downloading? I have large video files so it would be preferable to restore them if they're still technically there on the hard drive. 

To reveal the contents of the cache folder I followed the instructions here: https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/cache-folder

[Hannah · Accepted solution]

Hey @Tom M  , sorry to jump in here.

This is actually something that's not really supported, nor do we have a process for it. 

It might also affect permissions etc., so we wouldn't recommend it.

The best way would be to just switch them to available offline and let them sync.