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Forum Discussion
Dropbox files now take up double space on my Mac
Hi there!
So today, just out of nowhere, I noticed all my Dropbox files have gone online-only. So I click on the clouds with the arrow down to download them to my MacBook. However, I noticed that a...
I just wanted to add these videos to your issue before I open my own and maybe support can fix both of our issues at once since they are essentially the same thing.
This video shows how in one of my dropbox folders, suddenly images are suddenly showing up with little cloud icons (online only) when they were originally offline (this is happening in all of my folders, I'm just showing you one of them). It also shows that when I simply open one of them, it makes it offline, but does not add the green checkmark. But when I simply choose "make available offline" rather than just opening it, it puts it on my computer but gives me the green checkmark this time (and as a reminder, none of my offline files ever had green checkmarks next to them after the conversion to the new mac cloud organization switch):
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8euggtegvutygkqykh5nz/1.mov?rlkey=gqwl2ttu6cl9bjpapwb8m7jo2&dl=0
This video shows that when I add a new folder/file to the root dropbox folder it always gives me a green checkmark. But when I add a folder or file to any of the already existing folders (in this case the "Active" folder) it never gives me a green checkmark...unless after I add it, I go and click "make available offline". Obviously when I add something and don't set it to "online only" it should automatically get a green checkmark, right?
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j30x5jkb6j3jwznlugnl4/2.mov?rlkey=chuoxqcnqljxh7b83lza0zktf&dl=0
But, the main issue is that many of my offline files (not all of them like the OP) have suddenly appeared as online only, even though they are clearly somewhere on my computer taking up the space already. Going through and re-setting them to "available offline" begins to take up double the space on my hard drive, just like the OP.
(Just noticed that when I quit the Dropbox app, the checkmarks and cloud icons remain. In the old structure, they used to disappear. Not sure if this means anything) (this is after quitting the dropbox app on my macbook):
Thanks Azodl, good to know that it's not me only or I didn't change something randomly.
I noticed many of the files that I downloaded last night they're back online only again.
Also see these two images and see the size of apps and system files (first and last), they changed in 10 seconds.
That's crazy, armin. Mine doesn't seem to have that issue.
Out of curiosity, do you have these checkboxes checked in Privacy & Security, Extensions, Added Extensions?
I unchecked mine a few days ago because I wasn't sure they were necessary, and that may have caused the issue (will wait to hear from your support person). I rechecked them yesterday and no more of my offline files seem to be changing to "online only" anymore, but all the ones that suddenly changed, and there are thousands of them, still remain as online only and I will have to manually change them, but I fear it will duplicate the hard drive space necessary and want to hear back from tech support first.
Also, here is the screenshot of the app still saying Beta. I have no idea how I'm supposed to update it because it's supposed to update on its own:
And here is a screenshot of finder not providing me the size of the dropbox folder, no matter how long I wait:
Also, here is a screenshot of Dropbox related items running on my macbook. Not sure if this will help the support person. Maybe it's lacking a necessary process or a couple are extraneous? I don't see DropboxMacUpdate, for instance:
Here is a screenshot of my current DB version:
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey armin_alimardani and azodl, thanks for all this info and screenshots, they're quite helpful.
Would you both mind hovering over the Dropbox icon in your menu bars, to see the exact version of the Dropbox app?
The most recent stable is 180.4.4912. The xxx.4.xxxx indicates that it's the stable version, whereas the beta would appear as xxx.3.xxxx.
Also, what's the sync status? Are both your computers 'up to date'?
Sorry I missed your quesiton. My privacy and security extensions for dropbox are all checked. I never touched those.
