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Forum Discussion
Why do shared files count against my space use???
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage? Is this data counted twice? If someone who is sharing files with me is paying for this space, why should I have to pay as well just to acc...
dualice wrote:
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage?
Because the files exist in your account.
When you have access to a shared folder, you're not accessing someone else's folder. You're accessing your own COPY of the folder within your account, and you need to have enough space available to hold that folder.
If you just need to view or download files that someone else is sharing with you, ask them to send you a shared link instead. A shared link is a view-only method of sharing and you don't even need a Dropbox account to access it.
I have not used my Dropbox account since 2015-16. My account was well under 2GB when I last used it and now it says I have 6.5Gb of files! How does this happen? I did have 2 friends accounts linked to it, but now I can only see 1. I do not have contact with these people any more, 1 user is not linked anymore (trent) and the other one (harley) is still there. I cannot remove the other linked friend(harley). What is going on? I feel like you're trying to scam me to buy the upgrade, because how can I get 6.5Gb of files on account that I have never ever upgraded??? I can't even see where this extra 4Gb is coming from!
Edit: I found a folder full of photos that are not mine or harleys and have no idea where they come from. They're a kids school photos of people we have no association to and they were uploaded in 2019. How does 5GB of photos get uploaded to a basic account anyways?
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey Sooty, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.
A shared folder will take up space in the accounts of all the members that have edit permissions on the folder.
It sounds like the folder in question was very small, with just a few files back when it was shared or added to your account.
Then files added to the folder accumulated, thus making your account over quota.
However, I'm happy you were able to locate the culprit and remove it from your account.
I hope this clarifies things, but let me know if you have any questions.
