How to make all files on iPad to be ONLINE only

[Michael B.10]

My iPad Settings > General > iPad Storage says I have 11GB of local storage used by Dropbox.

How can I make ALL my Dropbox data be ONLINE only to free up space.

Thanks

[Lusil]

Hi there @Michael B.10, thanks for nudging us again on the Dropbox Community!

Unlike the desktop app, the mobile app does not automatically store files locally on your device, and so the contents won't take up space on your mobile device unless you choose to offline them.

Could you check if you have any offline files saved by going through your mobile app's Offline files screen?

Have a look and let me know what you find, thanks!

[Michael B.10 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Lusil,

My Offline tab does not show any files, only a big icon with Caption "Get to your files offline" and a 'Show me how' link.

Yet Settings > General > iPad Storage says 11.18GB, of which 10.91GB are Documents and Data. Rest is the app itself.

My iPhone, signed into same account, also with no offline shows 180.2MB Documents and Data.

I have deleted Dropbox on the iPad and reinstalled. All seems to be well now. Space recovered.

[Lusil]

Could you clear the mobile app's cache before you uninstall completely? Maybe that will do the trick.

[Michael B.10]

Thanks.

As I said, I have already uninstalled/reinstalled and it has solved the problem, so deleting the cache is not an option now.

From researching 'deleting the cache' it seems there isn't a specific setting in Dropbox settings to do this, but using the "Offload App" option in Settings > General > iPad Storage > Dropbox > Offload app would have the same effect. 

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/clear-cache-iphone-ipad/

Deleting and reinstalling was very painless and quick, so don't see an advantage for a cache clear option.

Anyway all good for now. Thanks.

[Lusil]

Glad to hear that, @Michael B.10!

If anything else comes up, just give us another shout and we'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you!

[dcbell]

This worked for me ! Thanks