After unsyncing folders on Mac desktop app, the space taken on my Mac moved to "System". Any ideas?

[AC135]

I'm using a 2017 MacBook Pro running Mojave OS 10.14.5.

My Dropbox files were taking up too much space on my hard drive, so I used Selective Sync to unsync some folders. However, all of that space seems to have transfered over to system files instead of freeing up space on the hard drive. I've tried uninstalling the Dropbox app, deleting all my Dropbox folders/files, emptied the trash, and shutdown/rebooted my computer and the hard drive space remains unchanged.

[Daphne]

Hey there @AC135, I hope you're well today!

Can you try clearing the cache folder for the desktop app with the steps outlined here and let me know if that does the trick?

This is a hidden folder, so if you deleted the contents of the Dropbox folder but didn't empty the cache folder, this could be what's causing the space to show in "System" files.

Let me know how it goes!

[AC135]

Hi Daphne - I cleared the Dropbox cache according to the instructions but it did not make a difference. 

[Daphne]

Thanks for getting back to me here @AC135!

That's rather strange, if you've reinstalled the app and even completely deleted the local Dropbox folder, then it would suggest the space is being taken up by something else.

Can you let me know if emptying the Trash bin on your computer does the trick? Please only delete this if you're sure you don't want to recover any files from there at a later point.

Keep me posted!