Create, upload, and share
Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.
My laptop keeps showing me that my Dropbox files are taking up space on my hard drive. I am certain they are syncing and on the cloud. How do I resolve this? Thanks.
Hi @FredericVT
To upload initially they have to go in to your Dropbox folder locally. Thats the only way to upload via the software. Once they have then uploaded you can use the web interface to move them to a none sync'd folder or turn it to Online Only. However, you HAVE to do the local part first
- - - -
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Did this post not resolve your issue? If so please give us some more information so we can try and help - please remember we cannot see over your shoulder so be as descriptive as possible!
Oh, that's bad news! I have huge files on external drives. I can't copy them locally first. So I need to change by dropbox directory to each external drive until everything is uploaded for the first time? I wish it was are easy as a FTP client...
I'd not recommend changing drive lots... you risk data loss. All I can suggest is uploading in smaller batches
- - - -
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Did this post not resolve your issue? If so please give us some more information so we can try and help - please remember we cannot see over your shoulder so be as descriptive as possible!
OR @FredericVT would https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/external-drive help?
- - - -
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Did this post not resolve your issue? If so please give us some more information so we can try and help - please remember we cannot see over your shoulder so be as descriptive as possible!
Using smaller batches is not an option for me, my files are huge, hundreds of megs each. I'll try to external drive feature, thanks for pointing it to me. I have several drives and I need to backup a few files per drive, but maybe this is supported.
Why do large files I uploaded to Dropbox from my MacBook to free up storage space still count against my storage capacity?
Hi @Undrbgt, I'd be happy to respond to that!
Do you use the desktop app, when you upload content to your Dropbox account? If so, then keep in mind that since the app uses a local copy of your content, it'd make sense for the files and folders to take up space on the device.
Also, can you clarify if you're referring to the device's storage space or your account's?
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!
Is there a difference between files that have only "place holders" in Selective Sync and can be downloaded to the computer and files that are On-line only in Smart Sync?
Hi @Photon_wrangler, with selective sync, there are no placeholders, the files literally do no exist on your machine, and will only appear on the site.
Only Smart Sync with online-only files have placeholders on your machine.
Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!
I have this problem as well. I have already set everything to online-only through smart sync. It doesn't matter - the laptop that I use which I need to access my dropox with still screams that it's out of space, and that huge files in my dropbox are the problem. I have looked everywhere and found no more options to set, no more menus to pull down... no matter what I do, DB is still claiming local HD space.
Please help.
Hi there!
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for a 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!