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Forum Discussion

rondachristie's avatar
rondachristie
New member | Level 2
3 years ago

Dropbox Files Disappeared from Computer

So I have had Dropbox linked to my computer (Windows - HP Envy with 500 GB hard drive) for quite a while. I recently tried to download a game to my computer, and it told me I was out of space - which...
desktop
sync
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    3 years ago

    Hi rondachristie 

     

    You seem a tad confused.... Selective Sync removes the directories completely from the machine where as smart sync leaves the on the machine but with 0 bytes used. They cannot be combined - a file/directory is EITHER Smart Sync'd or Selective Sync'd. 

Janet B.5's avatar
Janet B.5
Explorer | Level 3

i HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. This answer explains WHY but it doesnt tell us what to do to get these files available. Download doesn't work if the file are too big. The files are not visible on computer dropbox so I cannot change the type of sync. Online I can find nothing that tells me how to designate that I want these file to change to smart sync. So in essence the files are no longer available to me if I don't have good internet. Working on line is not a helpful option. So I don't know how to get my files all on smart sync.

Mark's avatar
Mark
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
3 years ago

Hi Janet B.5 

 

Unfortunately if you have no space to initially sync you are quite possibly stuck - they need to be local first before they can become smart sync'd

  • Janet B.5's avatar
    Janet B.5
    Explorer | Level 3
    3 years ago

    Sorry I guess I was not clear. I want to change these files from Selective Sync to Smart Sync so I can see them on my computer even tho stored in the cloud but I don't know how to do that.

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

      Hi Janet B.5, if you was to switch from selective sync to Smart Sync, all you need to do is enable syncing for those folders in the selective sync window.

       

      The desktop app will automatically mark them as online-only files, so they won't take up any space on your machine.

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