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

Konsider's avatar
Konsider
Helpful | Level 5
3 years ago

Why is Free Storage Space Removed by Dropbox?

I've been reading through some community posts, and a few people have said similar to the following:

They have a free account, have storage of over 20GB, but Dropbox has messaged them to say the space will be reduced back to 2GB.
Why is this? I don't want to go to the trouble of referring people to get more space, then have Dropbox message me and tell me the space will be removed.
Does space get reduced if you don't use it after a certain amount of time or something?

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    2 years ago

    Hi RRRarchit, when was the last time you accessed your account? If you're not seeing the referrals on this page, then it means that this specific account never had them, which would indicate that either there was another account, or the original account was deleted and recreated later under the same email.

     

    manngroup, how large is the shared folder you're trying to add to your account? Is it possible that it's greater than your available free quota? 

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Space from referrals does not get removed unless there is deemed an abuse of the referral system. 

     

    However, other space is time limited. Dropbox does not give out over 16gb for referrals, so, if you have had 20gb+ thats come from elsewhere. 

    • kiritdave's avatar
      kiritdave
      New member | Level 2

      I also suddenly lost my storage without any explanation. Why? Years ago I had received 25 Gig storage for a referral. And now it is gone!

    • russee4's avatar
      russee4
      Explorer | Level 4

      Hi I have had 25 GB of free storage after making referrals over years. The Dropbox icon on my task bar still says, "Dropbox 25 GB".

      I'm in the middle of passing files to members of a neighborhood counsel. Yesterday I sent a Dropbox link to some of the subcommittee and today it gives me a message "Couldn't copy - Your out of Dropbox space".  Why after years of earning the space am I dinghied its use. This is bad timing. I need immediate help. 

      Thanks - Russ Erickson -current email address - I may have originally signed up using my old work email address  can't remember which email I used.  Use the current address 

      I see in the post below that space is only removed if there was abuse of the referral system.  I never abused the system. All referrals I did was done prior to changing jobs in 2017. It took years to build up the referrals. I'm retired now and this is a problem for me. I'm doing free community work, and this puts a halt to my efforts - please help.

       

       

      [Moderator edit: Personal information removed as per the Community Guidelines]

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        Hey russee4, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

        Could you please have a look at your account's plan tab and let me know what's reported there?

        Also, is the email address you see on your account's settings online the same as the one you're using on the desktop app?

        Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there.
    • Roymond's avatar
      Roymond
      Explorer | Level 4

      Hi Mark,

       

      I have a similar problem. Through a number of referrals, I have had 10gb of storage space for many years. I regularly remove files to make sure I don’t run out of space. I have only one account based on the same email address since I installed Dropbox. I have recently had emails from Dropbox telling me that I have run out of space and that my limit is 2gb. My account online is showing that I only have 2gb. I have also noticed that the Dropbox icon has disappeared from the task bar in Windows 10. I’ll appreciate your help in reclaiming the missing 8gb. Incidentally, I have certainly not been abusing the system.

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

        Hey Roymond, sorry to jump in. 

         

        Can you please upload a screenshot of what you see here

         

        Also, in regards to your Windows device, have you checked whether there’s a small arrow showing in your system tray? If you click on it, are you able to see the Dropbox icon perhaps, or is it missing from there, too? 

         

        Keep me updated!

  • almighty972's avatar
    almighty972
    New member | Level 2
    Good morning,
    I used to have 150go of storage on my account. When I signed in today, I saw you reset my storage space to 5,8go . Why that ?
    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      almighty972 wrote:
      I used to have 150go of storage on my account. When I signed in today, I saw you reset my storage space to 5,8go . Why that ?

      Did you have any bonus space on your account that has expired? Extra space earned through certain promotions , like with the purchase of a laptop or mobile device, usually expire after 6 month, a year, etc., depending on the promotion.

       

      You can see a list of the space you've earned and whether or not it expires on your Referrals page.

  • simrinm's avatar
    simrinm
    New member | Level 2
    I had 8 GB storage space last week but now it looks like I only have 5.75 - not sure how I’ve lost space?
    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      simrinm wrote:
      I had 8 GB storage space last week but now it looks like I only have 5.75 - not sure how I’ve lost space?

      Could you have had some bonus space that expired? Not all space you earn lasts forever. Referrals do, along with a few other things, but there are some promotions and bonuses you can earn that have an expiration. You can see all the space you've earned and whether or not it has expired on your Referrals page.

       

      You can also look at your Plan page to see exactly how much space your account has along with how much is in use.

  • DuaneM's avatar
    DuaneM
    New member | Level 2

    When I first started using dropbox I earned a few extra gigs of storage as a result of recruiting other users.  Then I started a paid account for a lot more storage.  Now I've dropped back down to the free level on the same account but seem to have lost my earned gigs of storage that I had before.  I'm back down to the entry level 2 gigs.  That doesn't seem right.  Suggestions?  I don't know how to get in contact with an actual dropbox rep.

  • ahmadi 's avatar
    ahmadi
    New member | Level 2
    سلام فضای ذخیره سازی قبلا ده گیگابایت بود چرا کم شده من نمیخوام ارتقا دهم باید چکار کنم
    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      سلام Ahmadi امیدوارم حالتون خوب باشه

       

      سطح فضای ذخیره سازی حساب پایه و رایگان ما همیشه 2 گیگابایت بوده است. اکنون، به شرطی که از برخی ارجاعات استفاده کرده باشید، ممکن است فضای بیشتری برای حساب Dropbox خود داشته باشید. به خاطر داشته باشید که فضای ارجاع از بین نمی رود.

       

      با این حال، اگر سهمیه شما کاهش یافته باشد، حدس می‌زنم تبلیغی داشته‌اید که منقضی شده است. با دسترسی به صفحه طرح خود می توانید موارد بیشتری را مشاهده کنید.

       

      امیدوارم روشن شود.

       

      PS: من یک ترجمه خودکار از پیام خود را در بالا اضافه کرده ام. بابت هر اشتباهی که ممکن است پیدا کنید عذرخواهی می کنیم.

       

      --

       

      Hi Ahmadi , I hope you're doing well! 

       

      The level storage of our Basic, free account had always been 2GB. Now, provided you've used some referrals, you might have extra space for your Dropbox account. Keep in mind that the referral space doesn't get taken away.  

       

      However, if your quota was reduced, then I am guessing you had a promo that expired. You can see more by accessing your plan page

       

      I hope that clarifies. 

       

      PS: I've included an automated translation of my message above. Apologies for any mistakes you might find. 

  • ARACHNA's avatar
    ARACHNA
    New member | Level 2

    I just lost my storage. I didn't get a warning. I am down to 2 gb. I have been reorganising on a new computer so my have loaded to cloud cpu but have been exemplary member for as long as dropbox has existed.

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

      Hi ARACHNA!

       

      As a first step, can you please upload a screenshot of what you see on this page?