Smart Sync storage issue on macOS Sierra 10.12- macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

[Fowzie T.]

I'm really confused, the premise of smart sync is to free up local storage. This is a screenshot of a folder which contains about 2GB of data.  Am I doing something wrong?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjd34t39t0q7312/Screenshot%202017-02-18%2012.03.41.png?dl=0

[dropinthebucket]

Hi Ross -- Is there a direct message feature here so we can talk. Luke from advanced support reached out to me after you sent this and I haven't heard from him since. Desperately need assistance here.

[directorscut]

I have a business account and i am working with MacBookPro having OSX 10.10.5 working. I did upload my data and then i got the message not enough storage because my sytem SSD has 250GB and my drive has 1TB. The Drobbox shows 60GB for its folder.

So i cant work on with uploading. Each time i upload it will increase the local usage of storage on the SSD. I try to change it to my 1TB drive but it didnt work.

But the goal is to save storage on my local Mac and not double all storage???

Thanx for your help in time! I would love to continue working with my files on dropbox...

Peter

[BertaOCHA]

Hi Fowzie,

I'm going to the same trouble, but I have directly unsynced my Business Account from my Desktop app.
And still, can't do anything on my computer as I have the storage 100% filled with ghosts.

Did you get to any solutions?
Going nuts, Smart Sync should have been the end of my storage issues, but instead, I need more than I used to!!!!

Thanks for your time,
Berta

[ael1558]

I am having the same issue with the most up-to-date version of iOS, although I do not have Dropbo for business. I NEED the space on my hard drive; hence my upgrade in dropbox storage. What is going on? Please fix. 

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[Sanchez]

Hey @ael1558, welcome to our forum  

We have a similar feature that is available to all our levels of service, called Selective Sync. This will allow you to keep all your content online, and select which folders you want to sync to your computer!

We made this feature specifically to help with local hard drive space issues, and you can find out all about it here. 

I hope this helps. 

Thanks

[SteveA]

Hi Sanchez,

Selective Sync is a nice feature, but we upgraded to business for dropbox in order to use Smart Sync. It works, but, as everyone is complaining about, Smart Sync causes the system to allocate space for a folder or file, even if that folder or file is not actually on the computer. This is a huge problem and defeats the purpose of Smart Sync. I hope your engineers are trying to fix this, and I'm not sure why Dropbox doesn't get that it's a problem.

[ael1558]

Thanks for your response, but it actually does not work. Even though I am using selective sync, there is an issue with Dropbox and iOS which means that even though I have told the Dropbox not to sync to my laptop, it is taking up space on my hard drive. I don't have room on the hard drive, which is why I am using the Dropbox. I know that I am not the only person with this issue, as this forum clearly indicates. I really hope this issue gets fixed ASAP.  

[Mark]

ael1558 - your issue is different to this one in that Selective Sync doesnt take up space on a device at all (and in fact isnt available on iOS in anyway shape or form). However, what does happen is that when you choose to selective sync things it takes a few days for those files to clear as they move in to a local hidden cache.

Once that clears you will get the space back.

To try and speed it up restart your machine.

[ael1558]

Thank you, Mark. However, I mistyped in my previous comment--I did not mean iOS, but macOS (Sierra 10.12.5). And yes, I understand that it SHOULD NOT take up space on my Macbook, but it IS. I spent a lot of time trying to move files around, and I gave it days to move. However, when I opened up my storage tab on my device, it showed I was nearly at maximum capacity on my hard drive. I have a 64 gig file that I want to be in my dropbox without taking up space on my device. I moved the file to the dropbox (which took 2 days for the entire thing to transfer), and even after waiting several more days and restarting my computer, it still showed that it was taking up hard drive space. I deleted it from the dropbox (because I had it on an external device as well), and it freed up that space on my hard drive. I added it back (because I want in the dropbox), and the space was taken up again, even after several days. I had deselected it from the sync options, but it still took up space. I finally disconnected my dropbox from my Mac so that I could put the file there without having it take up space. As soon as I did that, it no longer took up space. But ideally, I'd like to be connected to my dropbox at all times and work on these files without them taking up hard drive space. 

[dari_zava]

Hi there, is there any progress in this issue? I am running on the MacOS 10.12.3 and I am having the same problem as everyone here since I upgraded to Dropbox Business (for quite a lot of money!). The Smart Sync was actually the only reason for me to upgrade. Thanks for any advice!