Smart Sync storage issue on macOS Sierra 10.12- macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

[Fowzie T.]

I'm really confused, the premise of smart sync is to free up local storage. This is a screenshot of a folder which contains about 2GB of data.  Am I doing something wrong?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjd34t39t0q7312/Screenshot%202017-02-18%2012.03.41.png?dl=0

[m_a_l_c_o_l_m]

tl;dr You need to know that just because you upgraded to a Professional account and Smart Sync may seem like it's working, your local Dropbox app may need some tweaking to fully work.

I signed up for Professional and then went through my folders, right-clicked, Smart Select > Online Only. The icon next to the folders changed from a filled in green check-mark to an empty green check-mark so I thought everything was doing what it was supposed to. But then I didn't notice any change in the free space on my harddrive. 

Eventually I looked in Preferences on the Dropbox desktop app on my MacBook Pro (running MacOs High Sierra 10.13) and found that there was a little link saying "Enable Smart Sync". I clicked it and had to go to System Preferences to allow Dropbox to install some other little program. I then rebooted my computer (just to be safe).

Now, when I click on a file or folder and click Smart Select > Online Only the icon changes to a grey cloud. See a screenshot below. It seems that the the filled in green check mark means a Local synced file, the empty green check-mark indicates a synced folder that contains a combination of Local and Online Only files, and the grey cloud indicates a file or folder that is completely Online Only.

It didn't happen instantaneously but now, slowly, the free space on my harddrive is increasing.

[Sanchez]

Hey @m_a_l_c_o_l_m, welcome to our community! 

This is very interesting indeed. What version of our app are you using? The latest stable version is 37.4.29. If you’re using a beta, you’ll see something like a xx.3.xx, instead of the xx.4.xx, and we recommend going to a stable build. 

Let me know when you have a chance. 

Thanks for posting this! 

Cheers 

[m_a_l_c_o_l_m]

Now that I followed the steps I outlined in my last post it's version 37.4.29. I don't know what version it was before I followed that step. Is there a way that I can look that up for you?

I'm pretty sure that the little program that was installed is called "Dropbox system extension". I see now that, in my settings, under General, there's a little toggle to turn that on or off and the information mouse-over says that it's necessary for Smart Sync to work (see screenshot below).

[David D.99]

Windows 10 does show the actual size of the folder in Dropbox and in disk, this is a screenshot of a folder with Smart Sync where some subfolders are actually synced locally.

BTW, I do not like that I have to pay 100$ more for using Smart Sync! 

[Sanchez]

Hey @m_a_l_c_o_l_m,

Thanks for getting back to me. Don’t worry about trying to find the last version you were on. 

Yeah, I see now what was going on… the Dropbox System Extension must be allowed! I’m glad that you figured this out! 

So, how is the Smart Sync working out?

Cheers

[Sanchez]

Hey @David D.99, 

Thanks for stopping by with the screenshot and the confirmation that Smart Sync is working out for you! Not much I can do about the extra $$, except to let the team know how you feel about it. 

Cheers! 

[trevgriff]

I ahve the same issue

[CMParrish]

I'm on 10.13 and having the same problem...what OS release is the fix tagged to?

[m_a_l_c_o_l_m]

Hi @CMParrish,

Have you gone through the steps to allow and install the Dropbox sytem extension? You can find the instructions here: https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/filesystem-integration I don't know if it's tagged to a specific OS release. At the top of the instruction page it says, "The system extension for macOS is currently in closed beta for select opt-in users only." So I think you will need to follow the steps to install it and allow it. It won't just happen automatically by installing Dropbox. Good luck!

I've freed up about 40GB of space using Smart Sync.

[m_a_l_c_o_l_m]

Hi @Sanchez,

I would recommend that when someone upgrades their plan to Professional (which is likely to be because of Smart Sync) that Dropbox should send them an email which includes some message saying, "You will need to make sure that the Dropbox System Extension is installed for Smart Sync to work. Here's how you can do that."

It could also be good to explain that people won't necessarily see immediate space being freed up as soon as you mark a file or folder "Online Only" - it may take a couple of hours to start to see the changes.