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

pimvh's avatar
pimvh
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

Dropbox folder size includes backed up files

I have an issue on mac with the way finder calculates the size of my dropbox folder I have about 20gb in the folder but it measures as over 200gb. That would include the folders i have selected as ...
Desktop
Mac
Storage space
  • pimvh's avatar
    pimvh
    2 years ago

    Right clicking and selecting online only solved this issue, saved me 200gb 

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

Hey there pimvh, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

 

Could you please send us a screenshot of where you're spotting the discrepancy? 

 

Also, what it your computer's exact OS version and the version and status of the desktop app as shown in your system tray/menu bar?

 

When you say folders you selected to be backed up online, are you referring to files that are syncing in your Dropbox folder and made them online only or maybe you were talking about folders you backed up via the Dropbox Backup feature?

 

Any additional information you can share is more than welcome! 

pimvh's avatar
pimvh
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

It has to do with the dropbox backup feature

Im on Monterrey 12.5.1

dropbox version v179.4.4985

All contents of the folder selected:

Full dropbox folder selected:

 

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    2 years ago

    And is your desktop app 'up to date' or still syncing pimvh?

     

    Also, have you rebooted your computer to see if that makes any difference? 

    • pimvh's avatar
      pimvh
      Helpful | Level 5
      2 years ago

      everything up to date and syncing.

      Reboot does nothing, this is a long term issue that i have had for months

      • pimvh's avatar
        pimvh
        Helpful | Level 5
        2 years ago

        I found the culprit which is a hidden folder which just contains the same files as the ones that need to be backed up. 

        But in fact this should be online only, i will try to put it online only and see what that does

        I find it a bit strange though because i already have those folders on my harddrive, thats the whole reason for backing them up

        So its strange that dropbox in fact copys the whole folders into the dropbox on my harddrive, thats why its counted double

         

About Storage Space

Looking for help with managing the storage space in your Dropbox account? Talk to the Dropbox Community and get advice from members.

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!