Could you clarify the difference between Online Only and Local content?

[laurachop]

Hi, I'm sure this has been covered, but I feel I need to ask the question myself for added clarity.

I was confused about the difference between online only and local only, but if one could humour me to make sure I've now understood correctly, that would be appreciated.

Local:

This means the files are "stored" locally on the device (macbook in my case) 

They are automatically synced and backed up to the cloud when saved? - Is this correct?

(JUST to confirm, that even though the files are locally stored, they ARE in fact backed up. Silly question, yes, perhaps.)

These folders show the green tick icon.

Online Only:

This means that the files are stored online, in the cloud, yet can be accessed at any point.

They are accessed in the same manner as any usual file access, in my case, from the documents folder in my macbook.

Upon clicking to open the file, dropbox will pull the data from the cloud for a seamless opening experience - is this correct?

These folders show the grey cloud icon.

____

Am I right in thinking that the main reason to use the 'online only' option is to free-up local hard drive space?

And perhaps, to store files that aren't accessed frequently?

Otherwise, there's no harm in keeping them local?

(ie. if my macbook harddrive suddenly failed, the files would still be available via dropbox online and not lost forever due to me storing them 'locally'?)

Apologies for the absolute beginner questions; I'm lacking confidence in online storage after some bad experiences in the past. 

with many thank yous.

[Rich · Accepted solution]

Correct on all counts with one addition; when you open an Online-only file and Dropbox pulls it local, it remains a local file until you again mark it as Online-only.

[laurachop]

Excellent, thank you!

I had read this elsewhere, now it makes sense.

Have a great day!

[Evan M.]

Rich, I have the Pro Version for my company for Dropbox. Even though I checked Online for many folders/files, When i click About My Mac, Go to Storage. It shows a tremendous amount of storage. When i click manage. I shows my the larger files being stored. These files Documents are taking up 832gig of local storage.  Many of these are MXF Files of 10gigs each. is there a reason why they are sitting here locally as well ?

[Rich]

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@Evan M. wrote:

Even though I checked Online for many folders/files, When i click About My Mac, Go to Storage. It shows a tremendous amount of storage. ... is there a reason why they are sitting here locally as well ?

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If you've marked them as Online-only, then they're not stored local. Your Mac is just reporting them as such in error. Refer to the following thread (it's a long one) and be sure to read the marked solution.

• https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Files-folders/Smart-Sync-still-taking-up-local-space/td-p/284499

[miniseb]

Does this mean that if I choose online only, I have to work from the Dropbox folder on the laptop and not in my Documents folder?

[Daphne]

Thanks for joining the thread here @miniseb!

For your files to sync to your account, you need to work on the file within the Dropbox folder. If you make changes to files outside of the Dropbox folder, these won't be saved to your account.

If you have made a file "Online only" with Smart Sync, to work on the file you'll open it as you would normally (eg. double click) which will sync the file locally so it can be opened and edited.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!