Files on Dropbox are still on my hard drive, why?

[Suzanne W.4]

The whole point of using Dropbox was to store my files externally from my hard drive to free up space.  Now it seems those files are still on my hard drive.  What is the advantage of using Dropbox other than a backup? 

[Jay]

Hi @Suzanne W.4, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

The Dropbox service is primarily to sync files between devices, and not to backup files offsite. This means that the files would remain on your machine, and deleting them from there would delete them from the site. 

Depending on your plan, you could mark files as available online-only, so they don't take up any space, or use the selective sync feature to remove entire folders from your Dropbox folder.

If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.

[Suzanne W.4]

Thank you for your input.  How do I find out which plan I have.  Looks like those suggestions would solve my problem.

[Suzanne W.4]

I found out I have Dropbox Professional.  Are the solutions you offered available for that level?

[Jay]

Yes, you should be able to mark files and folders as available online-only with a paid plan. 

Selective sync is available for all plans, so that is always an option.

[Suzanne W.4]

I’ve navigated to my Dropbox folder on my Mac, right clicked a folder but there is no option to make it on line only. I’ve tried to put a screen shot in this reply but it was not possible to paste.

[Jay]

It wouldn't be possible to do it by right clicking in Finder. 

To use selective sync, you have to do it via the Dropbox desktop application by opening the app preferences and going into the Sync tab.

[Suzanne W.4]

Dropbox is not in my list of applications.  Here is the path where I found it BUT when right clicking there is no app preferences.  This is the path where I found Dropbox:  "Suzanne's MacBook Pro---Users-----****------Dropbox.  What am I missing here? 

[Rich]

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@Suzanne W.4 wrote:

Dropbox is not in my list of applications. ... What am I missing here? 

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If you have the Dropbox application installed and it's running, you'll see a Dropbox icon in your menu bar, near the day/time. This is the icon that you need to single-click to get to the Dropbox menu.

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This is the path where I found Dropbox:  "Suzanne's MacBook Pro---Users-----suzannewalker------Dropbox.

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That would likely be the Dropbox folder, where your files are stored, and not the application itself.

[Suzanne W.4]

It is not in my menu bar.  As far as I know it is running.  I have a new Mac and everything was transferred over.  I don't know how to make Dropbox appear in my menu bar.  On the old Mac it did appear there.  Any more help will be appreciated.