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TheGaffer13's avatar
TheGaffer13
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago

Is there a way for emptying Camera Upload without having it delete from everywhere it has synced?

I had camera upload functioning, without realising how much space it takes on dropbox. I have now disabled it, so it won't auto upload and sync. I will now manually download photos, etc.

However, I tried deleting from camera upload, and it deletes from iPhoto. Is there a way fo emptying Camera Upload without having it delete from everywhere it has synced?

 

Cheers

 

 

 

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    7 years ago

    Thanks for the additional information TheGaffer13 - how are you today?

    Can you please let me know if you have tried to do this with a file only - just as a test to see what this kind of action actually does? 

    Give this a go and let me know the results. 

    Additionally, the message/warning you're seeing is referring to your Dropbox account (all places mean from all devices that are linked to your account and the website respectively).

    Moreover, as iPhoto is deprecated since 2015 I'd also advise to double check this with Apple too. 

    In any case, keep me posted on your findings! 

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

    Hey there TheGaffer13 - could you please elaborate on what exactly you'd like to accomplish as I think I am missing something here?

    From what I understand you'd like to delete your photos that were automatically uploaded to your account which then in turn synced with the 3rd party app(s) you use like iPhoto to free up space on your Dropbox account while simultaneously keeping those files synced with your iPhoto library.

    Is that correct? 

    • TheGaffer13's avatar
      TheGaffer13
      Explorer | Level 3

      That's it exactly - am getting a notice that my dropbox is nearly full, and I saw that the Camera Upload is the largest folder. But all the folders are synced into my laptop (am a Mac user, so it's synced to iPhoto). When I deleted one from dropbox/camera uploads, I had a warning that it would delete from anywhere it was synced to. I didn't want that to happen, so I've left the photos in Camera Upload, but I don't need them there, as I have them on the laptop, which is backed up regularly.

       

      Cheers!

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

        Thanks for the additional information TheGaffer13 - how are you today?

        Can you please let me know if you have tried to do this with a file only - just as a test to see what this kind of action actually does? 

        Give this a go and let me know the results. 

        Additionally, the message/warning you're seeing is referring to your Dropbox account (all places mean from all devices that are linked to your account and the website respectively).

        Moreover, as iPhoto is deprecated since 2015 I'd also advise to double check this with Apple too. 

        In any case, keep me posted on your findings! 

  • CyndiN's avatar
    CyndiN
    Explorer | Level 3

    I have the exact same situation except when I did a test run to delete a phone from my laptop under "camera uploads" in the Dropbox folder, it *did* delete the photo from Photos on my laptop. 

    How do I free up space on Dropbox without this happening again?

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

      Could you guide me through the exact steps you took to do this CyndiN ? 

      In any case, if you are close to being over - quota on your account you can do any of the following: 

      1. Upgrade your account – check out www.dropbox.com/plans for other information if needed.
      2. Increase your quota using referrals bonuses or other promotions.
      3. Leave any shared folders that may be putting you over (or close to being over) quota.
      4. Move files that don't need to sync out of your Dropbox folder.

      Let me know how it goes!

      • CyndiN's avatar
        CyndiN
        Explorer | Level 3

        Hi, thanks for answering.  First of all, telling me I have to spend $120-240 per year because I'm not "allowed" to delete anything is pretty unacceptable.  I'm apalled that you'd even mention it, let alone as the first option.  The other "options" are also quite unreasonable.  I already have tons of referral bonuses and have already dumped files I don't need.  I also don't need those photos!  The only reason to sync them in the first place is an additional backup for a couple of days.  After that, they're safely on my computer and in my home and my cloud backup programs.

        To answer your question:

        - I go to the finder and then to the "Camera Uploads" folder inside the Dropbox folder and highlight a file. 

        - Then I check on Photos on my Mac to see that the picture is there.

        - Back in finder, I choose "move to trash." 

        - I get a popup saying that my only choices are: See sync options, Cancel, and Delete Everywhere.  There are no other choices.  The sync thing turns out to be useless as it's a way to free up space on my hard drive without freeing up space on Dropbox.

        - If I choose to delete, the file disappears from the finder (as expected).

        - Then I go back to Photos to look for the picture and, surprise!, it's missing.

        How do I delete photos from Dropbox without having them deleted from my computer or my phone?

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