We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.
Forum Discussion
mike52487
7 years agoExplorer | Level 3
Smart Sync enabled still taking up hard-drive space!
I noticed others have had this issue, but I have some files selected as "online only" via smart sync and they are still taking up space on my hard drive, causing my mac to tell me I'm running out of ...
- 7 years ago
Hey there mike52487 - sorry to hear about this.
As you might know, there are various places to see the size of a file in Finder. Some of these locations will display the logical size, others the physical size. A Smart Sync placeholder takes up approximately 0kb, this is the pysical size. The logical size of the file is the actual size of the file, if it were downloaded to the device. Is it possible that this is what you're seeing in your default "Documents" folder?
To see both the logical and physical file size:
- Right click on a file/folder
- Select 'Get info'
- In the properties window you will see the original file size, followed by the actual on-disk size:For example:428,510 bytes (0 KB on disk)
It is important to be able to view both sizes, not just to reassure you that the file is not taking up space, but also to understand the space and speed implications of returning the file(s).
In other views of Finder, your Mac's OS will report the logical size. For this reason you shouldn't be concerned if it initially appears that the placeholder is taking up space. To confirm the file or folder is not taking up space, please check via the above steps.
I hope this helps and let me know what you find Mike. Oh, and happy Monday!
maryam2021
New member | Level 2
Hey Walter, thanks. I have turned Sync on and its showing zero file size but it's still showing it as part of the available space and disallowing me to upgrade to MacOS.
Help?
Walter
4 years agoDropbox Staff
Hey there maryam2021; thanks for joining the discussion here.
Can you please check if this space is being taken up by your cache folder?
If you've ensured that the desktop app is fully synced and showing 'up to date' in your menu bar, you can delete it to retrieve some hard drive space.
Let me know how it goes!
Can you please check if this space is being taken up by your cache folder?
If you've ensured that the desktop app is fully synced and showing 'up to date' in your menu bar, you can delete it to retrieve some hard drive space.
Let me know how it goes!
- maryam20214 years agoNew member | Level 2
Thanks Walter! Cleared the cache (thanks).
Do you mean delete the Desktop app? Or delete the files that are showing as "large files"?
About Create, upload, and share
Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!