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Forum Discussion

KennyFlaming's avatar
KennyFlaming
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Files "offloaded" to dropbox?

I need advice- It seems like my Mac is "offloading" a lot of files from the HD onto Dropbox and when I need the files they have to download from the Cloud.
I have lousy Internet so I want to keep the files on my HD. My MAC has a 1T HD with over 550 Gigs available.
 
How do I get the files back to my Harddrive  and keep them there??
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi KennyFlaming, I hope you're doing well! 

     

    As a first step, can I ask when you first start noticing this behavior? 

     

    If you hover your mouse over your little Dropbox icon, the one next to your WiFi on your menu bar, can you let me know the version of the app that you have installed on the device? 

     

    As for the content: you should be able to right click on them, and change their status to available offline, if you want to have them synced locally. 

     

    If you have any questions, let me know! 

    • KennyFlaming's avatar
      KennyFlaming
      Explorer | Level 3
      If I’m understanding correctly the version is
      179.2.4721

      What is frustrating me the most is: my music files in Apple Music app. It seems like the majority of them are no longer on my computer but in Dropbox.

      Due to my location I have to use my phone as internet for my desktop.
    • KennyFlaming's avatar
      KennyFlaming
      Explorer | Level 3
      You said
      “As for the content: you should be able to right click on them, and change their status to available offline, if you want to have them synced locally.”

      I’m not sure exactly what you are saying.
      Could you explain that a little more for me.
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi KennyFlaming, you mentioned: "I need advice- It seems like my Mac is "offloading" a lot of files from the HD onto Dropbox and when I need the files they have to download from the Cloud."

     

    If I understand this correctly, it sounds like your files are becoming online-only, and you want them available offline, is that correct? If not, feel free to correct me, and give me more info as to what you need to achieve. 

     

    As for what you mentioned about your Music app, and your files, it sounds like you enabled our Backup feature. You can see more about this here.

    • KennyFlaming's avatar
      KennyFlaming
      Explorer | Level 3

      Thanks for the reply Megan

       

      I believe that you are correct that many files are "Online only"- and I want everything native on my hard drive. 

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hi KennyFlaming, as this appears to be the case, you can mark your entire Dropbox folder as available offline by right clicking it and choosing that option. 

         

        This will force the files to download and remain on your machine.