Dropbox full because of shared folder

[Michele A.]

Hi, i have a dropbox account and the free space that i have is full because of the files inside the shared folder that i have with some friends.
Is there a way to avoid that the shared folder that uses the free space of my account without cancelling those folder?
Because i have no more space and i haven't uploaded any files

Excuse me for my english but i found problem on trying to traduce this message from my language

[ubo · Accepted solution]

Although I don't agree with Dropbox, and this is the primary reason I won't spring for Pro, I understand why they did this.

It's simple, really. Say, someone creates 10 free accounts. 10 x 2GB = 20GB. Now, that person, from each account shares a folder with his main account. That person just got more, free, space.

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[User 1556073]

I have a free dropbox account with only a few files stored in it directly (files I've uploaded or others have uploaded to my account).  Recently someone shared a folder with me that has many files including one folder with nearly 4GB of files.  Those files are (as far as I can tell) in the account of the person/organization that shared them with me.  So do files shared with me also count toward my storage space (as if they are taking up space in two accounts)?

[User 1556073]

Someone I know pointed me to this, so I guess I've answered my own question.  I searched but didn't find that document earlier.  In short, yes it DOES count toward my storage space so my alternative is to either re-build the share omitting that folder, or use a shared link to the entire thing.