Why do shared files count against my space use???

[dualice]

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 access it? I am out of space, I have no intention of buying more space, and yet, when someone shares some files with me, I cannot access them and I am forced to buy space in order to access them. Why is this?

Thank you.

[bigsonmk2]

Hello, 

I'm currently using Dropbox plus plan, and I'm willing to share a folder (500GB size) to my colleague who is using basic plan

If I share this, can my colleague still sync this folder when he installs Dropbox desktop app?

or he needs to be upgrade his plan?

[Mark]

If he needs full read/write access or to sync it to his own computer (i.e. not just view via a link on website) he will also need to upgrade to a bigger plan. 

[ardouglas]

I left Box (Personal Pro) for Dropbox (Professional).  Luckily, I am still in the trial and will cancel today based on this subpar design and policy.  I pay $$$ for a larger storage capacity since I am the power user, but I share folders with my wife and friends, who occasionally view or edit files in my space.  I work in computing and have a master's degree in operating systems.  The files are stored once, they take up space once, they have metadata that controls the permissions.  Sure, there's some incremental cost for bandwidth and etc. but requiring each shared folder to pay over again for the entire storage volume of your files is highway robbery.

Next up, I'll give Google Drive a try.  Worst case I can roll back to Box -- although you pay more for the space.  But at least it doesn't try to shake down each of my collaborators to pay for my storage.  What a joke.  It's hard to get clear comparison data when shopping for a file sharing platform.  I hope this note saves some of you time and money!

[MSMichels]

Hello all...

Shared files only use up my storage - and not the shared person's storage (Dropbox external) ??

[Rich]

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@MSMichels wrote:

Shared files only use up my storage - and not the shared person's storage (Dropbox external) ??

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Shared folders count against the storage of all members. If you have a folder that's 2GB and you invite someone to it, it will take up 2GB of space in their own account as well.

• https://help.dropbox.com/storage-space/shared-folder-count-against-storage

[Tmorri35 1]

Thank you @Rich 

[Rick]

I was provided a link to the folder, I was able to download 2gb, how do I download more without buying a tariff?
Maybe there is a setting on the owner so I can download more?

[Hannah]

Hey @Rick, welcome to our Community!

If this is a shared folder you were invited to, you'd need enough space in your account to add it as well.

Do you need edit access to the folder? Or just to access it?

If you only want to access/download the files to your computer, the owner can send you a "can view" link instead.

And if you need to upload files to their account, they can send you a file request.

I hope this helps!

[Zowathraa]

Hello,

Came across this thread because I'm in the same boat.

I'm in a situation where a 'file request' seems to be the necessary go-to, but I will have to upload new files regularly (up to 3x/month).
Is there a way to send files to a specific dropbox folder without 'file request'? (Other than buying a plan)

I would like to avoid paying a yearly plan only to upload files to ONE client that pays a subscription and asks for the files to end on their Dropbox.
Also I would like to automate the upload because it will be recurrent and they're big files, It would avoid sending/receiving 3 requests per month...

[Jay]

Hi @Zowathraa, file requests are indefinite, and can be redirected to any folder the creator chooses upon creation of the request. 

There isn't a monthly limit on their usage, aside from the daily bandwidth restrictions. Could you let me know where you read that there were only 3 requests per month?