Hidden .dropbox_bi folder storing 87GB of files locally!

[UBG]

Hi, I've just recently set up a new Dropbox Professional account. After installing the desktop app on my Mac I also set up a backup of my external SSD, which completed successfully yesterday.

Standard Dropbox file sync seems to be working fine, and the Dropbox app says everything is up to date, but for some reason I now have a new hidden folder under my Mac user folder called .dropbox_bi. That folder is storing 87GB of files on my primary SSD, apparently related to the 220GB of data backed up from the external SSD.

Is this my life now? Or is there some way to recover that massive waste of precious primary SSD storage space?

[Megan]

Hi @Jean-Marc P, sorry to hear about that! 

In regards to your case, do you have an active ticket with our support? If so, could you send it over to me?

Keep me posted! 

[Jean-Marc P]

I had a lot of tickets about this problem but the latest one is #20197408

[Megan]

Hi @Jean-Marc P, thanks for letting me know! 

So, I did some digging, and it seems that the initial ticket (the one you sent me) was closed due to inactivity. I can also see that you responded some days later, but the ticket was closed.

Should I reach out to you anew, so I can re-escalate your case? 

[Jean-Marc P]

I received some replies on this ticket number and I'm still exchanging on it, so it's not closed.

I'm not complaining about not receiving any answer.

I'm complaining about the fact that none of the solutions is working and solving the problem.

[bea1356]

I am having the same problem described in this thread. There is a file called .dropbox_bi in the User directory that is taking up 73.6 GB and causing my Hard Drive to be out of space. If I drill down further the culprit is a Backup of my external hard drive. I don't need a back up of that drive, that is it's main purpose (to back up my hard drive). Is there a solution for this? 

Thank you. 

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Hi @bea1356, if you're still being affected by this, please try the following steps:

1. Navigate to https://dropbox.com/backup/all. You should see a page listing all of your active backups.
2. Any affected external drive backups will have an adjacent icon indicating that there are restored files.
3. Turn off automatic backup for each of these backups from the backup management UI:
   1. Open the Dropbox tray on your computer.
   2. Under “Sync and backups”, click on the affected backup. You should now see a page for managing the backup.
   3. Scroll down to the “Adjust settings” section. 
   4. Find the “Automatically back up drive” slider.
   5. Turn the slider to off. This will pause automatic backup.
   6. Repeat for each affected backup.
4. You should see free space on your computer start to go up.
5. Wait until free space on your computer has stabilized. This may take 30 minutes or more.
6. Turn on automatic backup for the affected external drive backups from the backup management UI.
   1. Open the Dropbox tray on your computer.
   2. Under “Sync and backups”, click on the affected backup. You should now see a page for managing the backup.
   3. Scroll down to the “Adjust settings” section.
   4. Find the “Automatically back up drive” slider. 
   5. Turn the slider to on to resume automatic backup.
   6. Repeat for each affected backup.
7. Return to https://dropbox.com/backup/all
8. In the affected backups, you will find a folder containing any restored files. Verify that your backup already contains the files in this folder, then go ahead and delete it. 

Keep me posted with any updates!

[Loladzinergirl]

This is exactly what happened to me and I spent hours on the chat with this guy and he kept telling me try rebooting . What I finally realized ( I think) is that once you choose to back up your hdd or external hdd to Dropbox you lose ownership of those files basically and Dropbox will keep backing up and saving a copy of your original files on your pc.
I will never use cloud storage other than iCloud again. I had a huge issue with one drive also . Maybe don’t sync the drives ?
Maybe someone could clarify or verify if what I’m saying is indeed true?

[Loladzinergirl]

I’m hoping the solution will be posted? If yhere is one? But if it’s due to what I mentioned above then it won’t be posted for all to see because drop box will have lots of angry customers wanting their original files back in the original hdd folders not in the Dropbox folders which they require a subscription to access. There is no easy way to remove your files from Dropbox folders once backed up to Dropbox. At least that is what has been my experience. Please correct me if I’m wrong. ( I hope I am wrong on this!)

[Loladzinergirl]

Did you uncheck sync ? I wonder if syncing is the culprit? Did you delete any files? Or did the update on Mac OS fix the storage problem magically?

[Hannah]

Hey @Loladzinergirl, if you're having the same issue, can you try the steps in Jay's reply above, to see if they help?