You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
How to move Files to a Folder Outside Dropbox on Mac
I would like to move some files out of Dropbox to another folder on my Mac, outside Dropbox, in order to archive them but also to have them no longer taking up Dropbox space. After searching the help...
You can definitely do it that way, Diane.
Meaning you can just download the files from the website and then delete them from the account. It will work the same.
No, the files no longer appear when I log into Dropbox on the web.
The message I see at the bottom of the screen is 1.75 GB of 2.25 GB used. That's the only message I saw. I believe that that was the same amount of storage that I had left before deleting my files.But they weren't huge files.
Should I just continue downloading files as I've been doing and deleting them from Dropbox since I don't seem to have any of the other options indicated in earlier messages?
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffYou can definitely do it that way, Diane.
Meaning you can just download the files from the website and then delete them from the account. It will work the same.
OK thanks for the help.
- Hannah
Not a problem, Diane!
Let us know if you ever need anything else.
Have a great day!
OK. Thanks for the help.
I'm a casual, residential, non-collaborative DropBox user who is having the same problem as Diane. I've found no useful info from DropBox about how to physically off load some of my DropBox files to my iMac drive. Please advise.
- What is the website you are referring to when you say "...download the files from the website...". Do you mean the DropBox app website, or the DropBox Help Center website, or what?
- And how would one do such a download from a DropBox website?
- What is the account you're talking about when you say "... and then delete them from the account."? I already have a DropBox Basic account. And what guarantee is there that they don't disappear from both DropBox and my iMac drive - I can't risk some of my important private files to that?!?
Because I am getting several DropBox emails that say I'm exceeding my storage quota, all I want to do is physically move some of my larger files and folders on my DropBox to a folder on my iMAC hard drive. I want them physically off DropBox and physically on my iMac drive, so that I can process them directly without further clogging up my DropBox quota. One of my earlier attempts to move a ffile to my iMac seemed to have worked, until I discovered that only the link to file is on my iMac. The original file itself was still in my DropBox.
- What is the website you are referring to when you say "...download the files from the website...". Do you mean the DropBox app website, or the DropBox Help Center website, or what?
- Walter
Hey Phlurim - thanks for joining the discussion here and happy Monday.
When it comes to your concerns, note that the website is the Dropbox website at Dropbox.com not the Help Center or this Community and the account is your Dropbox account while you can download your files from the website as outlined here.
Let us know if you have any follow up questions.
Is your reply equally valid when attempting to download from DropBox mobile app as well as from DropBox desktop app?
Also, I notice that downloaded files (to my desktop) are copies of the originals on DropBox. That being the case, how does this type of download suppose to solve my DropBox storage quota violation - it doesn’t seem to physically remove the file from my DropBox storage?? And what would happen to the copy on my desktop if I deleted the original from my DropBox storage - will the copy get deleted too?
BTW, I only use Apple devices.
- Hannah
Hey Phlurim, just to clarify, do you currently have the Dropbox desktop app installed on your computer?
If you have it, you should have a folder named "Dropbox" in your Finder, which should have all your Dropbox files.
This would allow you to simply move the files out of the Dropbox folder, to a location you prefer, to free up Dropbox space, since moving files out of the Dropbox folder, deletes them from your Dropbox account.
Let me know if you don't have this app, so we can find an alternative way to free up your space.
