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Fowzie T.'s avatar
Fowzie T.
Helpful | Level 6
8 years ago

Smart Sync storage issue on macOS Sierra 10.12- macOS High Sierra 10.13.3.

I'm really confused, the premise of smart sync is to free up local storage. This is a screenshot of a folder which contains about 2GB of data.  Am I doing something wrong?   https://www.dropbox.c...
Mac
Sync
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    Howdy folks,
     
    I’m , I’m working on the Community team at Dropbox & I’m posting here so as to stir this discussion towards a different route. Without further ado, I’m going to split this thread off into a number of different ones, as I’d like to avoid any confusion in regards to the topic or the status of this conversation. 
     
    Why are you splitting the thread?
    For context, this thread has been around since last February & a number of very separate (and now resolved) Smart Sync issues have been reported here. This separation was triggered as we like to group distinct issues together to better help users discover relevant content, advice and to help self-resolve.
     
    Don’t worry, no information is being removed, we are however moving some posts into other threads & for that reason, I’m going to include links to all the new threads at the bottom here. 
     
    As an example, this thread contains a lot of information & troubleshooting around an issue we experienced on Mac OS 10.13.3, something now resolved. We wouldn’t want people on 10.13.4 to attempt troubleshooting steps that weren’t relevant to their current state.
      
    But I still have my issue!
    We’ve moved all the open discussions into separate threads listed at the bottom. Apologies if we missed yours! Regardless, anyone who has opened a ticket with Support, that ticket will remain open and is unrelated to this split. 
     
    So, has this been solved forever? 
    The initial behavior reported here has been, however this thread has become a single point for a vast number of other Smart Sync posts,  some of which should have their own threads, some open, some now resolved.
     
    Where do I post Smart Sync comments now?
    Either in one of the below threads - or, if they don’t match the behavior you're getting, you may feel free to create a new one! :slight_smile: As this thread will remain public, you may also use it as a point of reference, so as to let us know of any troubleshooting steps you've followed from those mentioned above. 
     
    Thanks for your co-operation and please keep the discussion going in the below, or new, threads!
     
     
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    For note, issues caught up in this thread, that should have had their own threads included:
     
    Issue 1: I can’t enable Smart Sync at all: 
    • Usually this was the result of an incorrect installation & in such cases, re-installing anew helped fix the issue. Alternatively, if you were running a Beta version of the Dropbox app on your desktop, you may need to check if this works on the most updated Stable version (Note: It's currently 48.4.58). 
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 2: I’m on a Professional plan & I can’t get Smart Sync to work either: 
    • Some users on the Professional plan were experiencing an issue utilizing Smart Sync, as they had needed to enable System Extensions previously, which has been documented on this resource. 
    • Status:  :white_check_mark:
    Issue 3: I’ve made my files online-only, though they’re still using up my storage locally: 
    • In some cases, users reported that Smart Synced files might be locally stored in the cache folder a little longer, hence taking up space. Clearing the cache folder should resolve this issue. 
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    Issue 4: I followed the instructions on your resources & set up my files as online-only, though I can see that they’re still taking up space on my pc/ Mac.
    • The Properties (Win) and Get Info (Mac OS) panel will indicate the actual file size instead of the size on disk, as you may expect. “Size on disk” is the space being taken up by a placeholder file and should be around 0kb.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 5: I can see that my Dropbox folder on my Mac OSX (v.42.4.114) reported file & folder size incorrectly, making it look like files were still residing on my hard disk.
    • After further investigation, we were able to determine that the Finder was showing the wrong size on disk for folders with compressed files.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:
    Issue 6: I can’t back-up my online-only files on the TimeMachine migration assistant & whenever it tries to access them, this action brings them back locally. 
    • This is related to the way TimeMachine reads file sizes and is an on-going issue, though this issue lies with Apple’s software. De-selecting the Dropbox folder when restoring if possible will work around this issue.
    • Status: :arrows_counterclockwise:
    Issue 7: Third-party disk management apps report Smart Synced files are present locally.
    • Some third-party app may read the nominal file size rather than the physical size. This is not a Dropbox issue, but down to the way some apps are built.
    • Status: :white_check_mark:

    That's all from me! As usual, I'll be around in case you'd need me to clarify matters in more detail, so feel free to ping me & I'll do my best to check back with you.

Sanchez's avatar
Sanchez
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hi everyone, 

I’m sorry that you are experiencing this. We have a new stable version of our desktop app, 39.4.49. Please make sure that you are running this version (not a beta), and if the issue persists, submit a support ticket here, so an agent can investigate further. 

If you are on a beta build, it means that you have opted in to Early Releases in your online account settings. I recommend that you switch this off, and then install our stable build. A beta version is denoted by a xx.3.xx, instead of the xx.4.xx.

Thanks!
JohnDyer's avatar
JohnDyer
New member | Level 2
8 years ago

@Sanchez, I'm on macOS 10.12.6 and Dropbox 39.4.49, but I'm having the same problem others have been reporting where folders marked as "Online" are still taking up space.

 

Is there any solution?

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago
    Hey jquintanilla4 & JohnDyer, let’s check what’s happening together & we’ll take it from there!
     
    #1. jquintanilla4 & JohnDyer: To better determine the case, could you let me know what you can see once you double-click on the “Get Info” option on the Dropbox folder? As you’ve mentioned, you’ve made most of your files online-only, therefore these shouldn’t be taking as much space on your hard disc. I’d appreciate a screenshot of what you can see there, just so as to make sure I understand what you’re experiencing correctly. 
     
    #2. Please make sure to check this & this additional resources on Smart Sync and system extensions. 
     
    Looking forward to hearing back from you here!
  • JohnDyer's avatar
    JohnDyer
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    Thanks @Jane! Here's a screenshot showing that a folder is taking up > 200GB even though it's marked as "Online". I see that it's supposed to only be "201KB on disk" but it's still taking up the full 203.98 GB. Is there a trick to reconciling that?

     

  • jquintanilla4's avatar
    jquintanilla4
    Explorer | Level 4
    8 years ago

    Thanks Jane. I've already followed both link tutorials that you sent before, but I just made sure again that everything was in order. No change. 

     

    Here are screenshots of what you asked for. Let me know if you need more information.

    A big sized folder example that should not be that bigMy main Dropbox folder infoA screen shot of most of my Dropbox folder to show how much is actually being told to be online-only

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