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Forum Discussion

Benjo1216's avatar
Benjo1216
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago

Time Period for Smart Sync

Hi,   Is there a way to adjust the time period for smart sync to 'unload' files back to online only?   we have some large projects and files that may not be touched for a few months and we ke...
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  • DV87's avatar
    DV87
    3 years ago

    there’s not a specific period of time over which the Dropbox app converts your files automatically to online-only.

    Thanks Nancy ... I'm honestly just not sure I believe this. The Dropbox app must have some method to determine that downloaded files and/or folders haven't been accessed for while... Maybe it's not a super-specific interval or "countdown" timer, but I was just hoping for a bit more detail on how this feature works. Thanks anyway!

DV87's avatar
DV87
Helpful | Level 6

Out of curiosity, how long is the default time period before Dropbox makes inactive files / folders online-only again?

 

Personally, I'd prefer if my Dropbox would never automatically offload files that I've specifically chosen to download. If I want to offload files / folders later, I'm more than happy to do it manually. Actually... Based on my Smart Sync preferences (screenshot below), it seems like files I've downloaded shouldn't be getting automatically offloaded... But they are. Can you shed any light on why this might be?

 

 

Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
3 years ago
DV87 wrote:

Personally, I'd prefer if my Dropbox would never automatically offload files that I've specifically chosen to download.

Mark them as Available Offline and they'll never switch back to Online-only.

 

Based on my Smart Sync preferences (screenshot below), it seems like files I've downloaded shouldn't be getting automatically offloaded... But they are. Can you shed any light on why this might be?

Make sure you've marked those files at Available Offline. If they started out as Online-only files, then they'll remain as such (or in the temporary state if you open them) until you mark them as Available Offline.

  • DV87's avatar
    DV87
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago

    Thanks so much for the reply! Can you be more specific about the procedure I should use to "mark" files as "Available Offline?" I always thought that's what I was doing by right-clicking my files in Finder and choosing "Make available offline" (see screenshot below) — but I noticed one folder in particular that got offloaded at some point within the last 3 weeks or so. Perhaps I'm doing it wrong? 🙂

     

    Thanks again!

     

     

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      3 years ago

      Hey DV87!

       

      The process you're following is indeed correct.

       

      Have you tried to quit the Dropbox app and then relaunch it, to see if that changes the behavior you're seeing?

      • DV87's avatar
        DV87
        Helpful | Level 6
        3 years ago

        Thanks. It's not a huge issue for me, but I'll give that a try.

         

        Out of curiosity: If I were to turn on "Save hard drive space automatically" and mark a folder to be "available offline," exactly how long would that folder need to be inactive before Dropbox would automatically offload it, making it "online only" again?  I assume there's some sort of countdown timer that resets every time a file inside such a folder is accessed locally... Since that duration can't currently be customized, I'm just wondering how long it is.

         

        Thanks again for your insight!

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