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Forum Discussion
How to free up space in your Dropbox account
I've unshared many folders, permanently deleted lots of files but dropbox still reports that it is full. How can I free up space? I've already followed dropbox instructions with no results
Permanently deleting files isn't needed to clear space. Simply deleting them is enough. Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota.
If Dropbox is saying your account is full, then it's still full. You need to remove enough files to bring your account back below your quota before that message will go away. It could be that you're still a member of a large share that just keeps filling your account as you make more room.
You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.), which hat may help you identify files that you can remove to free up some more space.
- Rich
Super User II
Permanently deleting files isn't needed to clear space. Simply deleting them is enough. Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota.
If Dropbox is saying your account is full, then it's still full. You need to remove enough files to bring your account back below your quota before that message will go away. It could be that you're still a member of a large share that just keeps filling your account as you make more room.
You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.), which hat may help you identify files that you can remove to free up some more space.
Deleting very large files didn't free up any space acording to my Dropbox message. My box still shows the same data as before I deleted them. Help please.
- MarkIf you deleted them from your computer have you given the account time to sync back to a green tick and thus update the online account?
I know I have files and folders in my DropBox but it shows up as empty. How do I clear out folders and files if I can't see them? Is DropBox forcing me to upgrade to see the files to delete them and go below my quota? I don't want to upgrade I just want to delete files and folders.
- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Hey there JMTrudell13,
You can check if you have any private or shared content taking up space and how much of your storage is available from your Plan tab.
You can also see your deleted files from your deleted files tab and removed shared folders from your Sharing tab.
Finally, please remember that permanently removing already deleted files doesn't free up storage as deleted files and folders don't take up space in your account.
If you see any discrepancy or you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to give me a nudge and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!
- What you mean by Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota?
- MarkOnce a file is deleted and you can no longer see it at www.dropbox.com/home Dropbox saves a version of that file for 30 days. Those files no longer count against your quota.
They obviously do, however, if you restore them.
- MarkAs well as unsharing you also need to delete the files. Basically if you can see things at www.dropbox.com/home they use your quota.
Deleted files use no space so permanently deleting makes no difference.I'm new to this. I set up a Dropbox account, and the first message I see tells me that my Dropbox is full. How? I didn't do anything to put files into a folder. So, where are these files, and how do I get rid of them to start again?
- Megan
Hey Stephen Allen, I hope you're having a great Friday!
You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.).
Could it be that you're a member of a large shared folder that just keeps filling your account?
Let me know more on this!
- If you have Dropbox on your desktop/computer, copy the files onto your computer and then delete them from Dropbox. That way you will still have saved whatever files you copied and then they will be out of your Dropbox account. I suggest looking at what files are older and that you do not access frequently.
I've been trying to transfer DropBox files back to my computer desktop--so I don't accidentally lose them before I delete them from DropBox. But it's not working. How can I transfer those files?
- LusilHey StevejMusicman, thanks for posting your question here.
Just to make sure that we're on the same page, are you trying to download these files to your device so that you have a local copy of them?
Norahi have a paid subscription, been saying its getting full over the last few weeks, so I deleted a heap of gear yesterday, estimate 1 third of capacity now this morning its saying sycing has stoped until you upgrade. It appears that its trying to con you into upgrading.
In my experience when using Dropbox, there is almost no way to free up storage space on Dropbox, even if you've permanently deleted files to free up storage space on Dropbox. If you really need free space on Dropbox, you can upgrade your Dropbox account for additional space, or using ZIP, 7-ZIP, or RAR compression technology to compress your files and folders. Or you can also use Dropbox together with other cloud-based file and folder storage services, such as Google Drive, Box, Mega, or OneDrive
- Yes this will work too.
- How can I free up spece?Thank you!
I finally gave up and just created a new account copied the 500MB of files I needed into it and left the old account sit dormant. If they make it this hard it is merely a ploy to try to get you to sign spend $120.....
not sure what to do now:(, Ive paid for 12mths in may20, cleared over a third of gear out of the box and now its saying its not syncing. And now try and talk to someone:(:(. can someone give me a phone number to call?
Great!
I have paid (and charged) to expand my drop box but it has not accepted pictures sent to me
What do I do?
Hi, if your space is still full maybe you should start a new account. :slight_smile: This way you will get 2 GB again for free.
I hope I could help you.
