My Smart Sync settings won't apply to make files online only

[Michael Hosek]

I use the smart syncing that save my local space, but when I want to cancel it (i.e., to make all files avaliable offline in my laptop), it does not work. I adjusted it in my preferences, but in reality nothing has changed and Dropbox continues in smart syncing. Does know someone how to solve it? 

[Lusil]

Hi @Michael Hosek, I'd be happy to help look into this with you. 

I'll just need a bit more information, to make sure that we're on the same page. For example:

• What do you see when you hover over the Dropbox icon that's next to your computer's clock?
• When you right-click on a file, do you see the Smart Sync option to make a file or folder online-only?
• How many files do you have in your Dropbox folder?

Any additional details would be very helpful. Thanks! 

[Michael Hosek]

Hi Lusil.

Thanks for helping me. Answers are below IN CAPITALS:

• What do you see when you hover over the Dropbox icon that's next to your computer's clock?
• I USE MACOS SYSTEM (CATALINA), SO THE DROPBOX ICON IS ON THE LEFT IN THE ROW, BESIDES GOOGLE DRIVE. 
• When you right-click on a file, do you see the Smart Sync option to make a file or folder online-only?
• THERE IS ALSO 'LOCAL' OPTION, BUT WHEN I CHOOSE IT NOTHING HAPPENS AND ALL FILES I WANTED LOCAL ARE STILL ONLINE.
• How many files do you have in your Dropbox folder?
• TENS OF THOUSANDS. 

[Jay]

hi @Michael Hosek, just to clarify then, the files are showing in Finder with a cloud icon, is that correct? If not, could you forward a screenshot showing what your files in Finder look like (while hiding any personal info)?

When you hover over the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, near the clock, what message does it show there?

[Michael Hosek · Accepted solution]

Hi Jay.

It started working, thanks for the help! 

Best,

Michael

[Jay]

Thanks for the update, @Michael Hosek!

Let me know if you experience this issue in the future. Enjoy your week!

[PeterMH]

I'm having the same problem on a Mac (with Mojave).

At one point, I turned SmartSync on, but then I turned it off because I wanted more control over what files would be on my computer.

But now a lot of files and folders are still marked as online-only, even though I set the dropbox preference for files to be Local instead.

Do I have to manually change each of the files that I want to be local?

(I have over a million files.)

[Daphne]

Thanks for joining us here @PeterMH!

From what you mentioned, the setting that you applied in the preferences is for when new files are syncing to your computer. It doesn't apply retroactively on already synced files.

If you'd like to sync all of the files locally, you can either selecting the Dropbox folder itself or all folders within, and using the right click context menu to sync them locally.

Since you have a lot of files though, it may be best to choose just a few folders at a time to reduce the amount of files the app tries to sync at one time.

Let me know if this helps!

[StephenNZ]

Hi

I seem to be having the same issue - I'm using the latest version of Windows (or whatever it's called these days) - I've set up almost all my folders to be online only and yet Dropbox is still trying to synch with my laptop and it's telling me I don't have enough storage on my laptop.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

Stephen

[Jay]

Hi @StephenNZ, even if you mark files to be online-only in your Dropbox folder, the app will still require a little computer space to accept these changes to then sync the placeholder files. 

How much hard drive space do you have left?