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1839744's avatar
1839744
Explorer | Level 3
6 months ago

Hard drive full of system data on macOS, how can I change it?

Dropbox eats up computer memory in the form of system data, although all folders are not set to "offline available", but can only be viewed online. How do I fix the problem?

The computer has 500 GB of hard disk space, 78 GB are my documents, 53 GB are apps, macOS 20 GB and 340 GB (!) of system data.

The computer's memory is actually full, and the memory for system data keeps growing as soon as I delete files. Some new files cannot be saved (simple text documents) because there is supposedly not enough memory.

I hope someone can help me…!

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi 1839744, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

     

    Could you confirm the exact version of the Dropbox desktop application and Mac OS that you're running?

     

    Have you already tried rebooting the machine entirely?

     

    This will help me to assist further!

    • 1839744's avatar
      1839744
      Explorer | Level 3

      Hello, thank you for your reply. I use MacOS 14.5 and Dropbox was installed 21. Februar 2023, but and the version number is 199.4.6287

      • Hannah's avatar
        Hannah
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Thanks, 1839744, can you confirm that you've rebooted your computer, like Jay suggested, to see if that helps?

  • VirageSonore's avatar
    VirageSonore
    Explorer | Level 3

    I have the exact same thing. Talked to someone on the support, for hours, checking the files and, in the end, they are going to see with a "dropbox specialist" and I'm waiting for them to get back to me.
    In our case, we have 361Gb of system data taken on our 500Gb hard drive. We are working with videos and it's becoming impossible to even have videos on our hard drive.

    Back then, I heard there was a dropbox cache that people could delete, but since there a new "File Provider".... My feeling is that now, whatever was in the cache is not accessible.... If anyone knows what to do, I'll be happy to hear about it. 

    • 1839744's avatar
      1839744
      Explorer | Level 3

      That sounds like the same case. I also had at least 200 GB of data in my Dropbox. If these and the backup files and cashes are stored in the system data, this explains the approx. 350 GB of "system data", which are actually Dropbox cashes. As a normal user, I can't delete anything in the system data. Now the question is how to delete these cashes. Please write when you have made progress in your case.

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey again, 1839744, are you also using the File Provider version of the Dropbox app?

       

      And VirageSonore, can you give us the ticket number for your communication with our support team, so we can check it out?

      • 1839744's avatar
        1839744
        Explorer | Level 3

        @Hannah @Hannah

        yes, I think so. If I click on the sidebar in the Finder window, there appears a file with "Agencyname Dropbox". I can use it like a normal file, but if I need files, I have to make them "offline avaiable" first.

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