Dropbox files all dumped into my new computer and are taking up all my memory

[cb57]

I synced my Dropbox files to my new computer and it dumped all the files into my computer. I realized it because my memory showed almost nothing left. I went back into each file and made them online only but the files are still somehow using all my memory. So now I cannot use my computer. I have my own business so this is putting me out of work while I wait for Dropbox to get back to me, as I did put a ticket in. I don't want to lose my files on Dropbox by trying to fix this myself... How can I expedite customer service so I can work?

[Walter]

Hi there @cb57 - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you send us a screenshot of the app's exact status as shown in your menu bar/system tray at the moment?

If you could also clarify your device's OS version, i'd appreciate it. 

Thanks!

[cb57]

I would love to but my computer won’t work as its memory is full. I have 8gb ram and 256 memory.

[cb57]

I have an HP laptop 15t 15.6inch screen. Intel core i5, 64 bit

[Hannah]

Hey @cb57, I understand your hard drive space is full, but can you let us know more about how Dropbox is stopping your computer from working altogether?

Also, do you see a small Dropbox icon at the bottom right of your screen, by the clock?

Can you hover over this icon and let us know what you see?

[cb57]

When I saw that the files were still in my memory I uninstalled the app thinking that would get rid of the files on my computer. That didn’t work. So I don’t have the icon on my computer.

[cb57]

My computer is completely full of memory so I can’t get get on online calls. The computer is still working; I can get into my system but can’t do anything else on it.

[Rich]

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@cb57 wrote:
When I saw that the files were still in my memory I uninstalled the app thinking that would get rid of the files on my computer.

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If you've uninstalled the Dropbox application from your computer, there's no way for Dropbox to be able to sync and continue the process of making your files online-only.

As long as you've uninstalled the app, you can safely delete the files from your computer. I would delete the entire Dropbox folder (or rename it) so it doesn't interfere if you try to reinstall the app.

When you do reinstall, there's an option to choose which folders will sync to start with. I'd suggest unchecking all folders so you start with an empty Dropbox folder on your computer. You can then go into Selective Sync and check the folders that you want to have on your computer. They should sync back to the computer as Online-only.

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I have 8gb ram and 256 memory.

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And for future reference, RAM and memory are the same thing. You have 8GB of memory, and 256GB of disk space or storage.

[cb57]

Hi Rich, thank you for the future reference. I still cannot get the dropbox files off my computer. They should not have remained on my computer, as I put all the files to online only. So I need someone to help me get these off my computer. When I added the app, I do not recall any options to only add certain files. I suggest dropbox app only have online only so this doesn't happen unexpectedly to people.

[Nancy]

Sorry for jumping in too, @cb57. 

Since you’ve uninstalled the Dropbox app, the only way to get rid of the local Dropbox folder is by deleting it (in general, it’s expected behavior for the Dropbox folder to remain on your device, even if the app has been removed).

However, keep in mind that, if your Dropbox app hadn’t synced everything online before the uninstall, and you delete the Dropbox folder now, then you won’t be able to recover these files, and you run a risk of losing them.

Have you checked www.dropbox.com to make sure all your files are there, along with their updates? 

If they’re not, you’ll either need to upload the missing content manually to the Dropbox website, or reinstall the Dropbox app. If you choose the latter, and you’re not seeing the online-only option, let us know.