Why is Free Storage Space Removed by Dropbox?

[Konsider]

I've been reading through some community posts, and a few people have said similar to the following:

They have a free account, have storage of over 20GB, but Dropbox has messaged them to say the space will be reduced back to 2GB.
Why is this? I don't want to go to the trouble of referring people to get more space, then have Dropbox message me and tell me the space will be removed.
Does space get reduced if you don't use it after a certain amount of time or something?

[Mark]

Space from referrals does not get removed unless there is deemed an abuse of the referral system. 

However, other space is time limited. Dropbox does not give out over 16gb for referrals, so, if you have had 20gb+ thats come from elsewhere. 

[kiritdave]

I also suddenly lost my storage without any explanation. Why? Years ago I had received 25 Gig storage for a referral. And now it is gone!

[russee4]

Hi I have had 25 GB of free storage after making referrals over years. The Dropbox icon on my task bar still says, "Dropbox 25 GB".

I'm in the middle of passing files to members of a neighborhood counsel. Yesterday I sent a Dropbox link to some of the subcommittee and today it gives me a message "Couldn't copy - Your out of Dropbox space".  Why after years of earning the space am I dinghied its use. This is bad timing. I need immediate help. 

Thanks - Russ Erickson -current email address - I may have originally signed up using my old work email address  can't remember which email I used.  Use the current address 

I see in the post below that space is only removed if there was abuse of the referral system.  I never abused the system. All referrals I did was done prior to changing jobs in 2017. It took years to build up the referrals. I'm retired now and this is a problem for me. I'm doing free community work, and this puts a halt to my efforts - please help.

[Moderator edit: Personal information removed as per the Community Guidelines]

[Walter]

Hey @russee4, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please have a look at your account's plan tab and let me know what's reported there?

Also, is the email address you see on your account's settings online the same as the one you're using on the desktop app?

Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there.

[russee4]

Hi Walter - Thanks for the reply.

Hey @russee4, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Q - Could you please have a look at your account's plan tab and let me know what's reported there?

Answer The accounts plan tab says - Dropbox space is the Basic Account - currently there are 1.4 GB of files - Unused space 3.35 GB (Note - I removed something like 9 or 10 GB's worth of files so I could get it to do the work I needed to do.)

Q - Also, is the email address you see on your account's settings online the same as the one you're using on the desktop app?
Answer - NO- The email address on the "settings online" shows my old employer's email  which doesn't exist anymore. I saw the "Edit" button and tried to change the email address to my current address  but don't think I was successful making the change as I couldn't remember the old password despite receiving the account verification email a few times.

Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there.

[Moderator edit: Personal information removed as per the Community Guidelines]

[Walter]

Thanks for the updates @russee4 

If you'd like to change the account you have linked to your desktop app on your computer, you'll need to unlink the old one and then link the account you'll be using from now on through the app's preferences. 

When it comes to the issue you mentioned originally, can you clarify which account is affecting after all? 

[Roymond]

Hi Mark,

I have a similar problem. Through a number of referrals, I have had 10gb of storage space for many years. I regularly remove files to make sure I don’t run out of space. I have only one account based on the same email address since I installed Dropbox. I have recently had emails from Dropbox telling me that I have run out of space and that my limit is 2gb. My account online is showing that I only have 2gb. I have also noticed that the Dropbox icon has disappeared from the task bar in Windows 10. I’ll appreciate your help in reclaiming the missing 8gb. Incidentally, I have certainly not been abusing the system.

[Nancy]

Hey @Roymond, sorry to jump in. 

Can you please upload a screenshot of what you see here? 

Also, in regards to your Windows device, have you checked whether there’s a small arrow showing in your system tray? If you click on it, are you able to see the Dropbox icon perhaps, or is it missing from there, too? 

Keep me updated!

[Roymond]

Hi  Nancy

Thanks for replying and for your kind offer to help. Apologies for the delay in coming back to you, but I only managed to get to my computer about an hour or so ago with the intention of replying to you (I've been otherwise engaged for the last two and a half days). As I expected, the same situation I described still existed. But before sending you further info, I decided to delete the program and reinstall it. Wow, Success: the correct amount of storage is being shown and the icon is back where it should be!! Gremlins?? Whatever the reason(s) for the problems, it's been resolved. Panic over. 

If you or anyone else in the community has any idea of the cause of these problems, I'd love to know.