Re: drop box storage still full weeks after removing files + no way to contact someone about it

Natacha B. · ‎01-26-2023

Drop box storage still full weeks after removing files + no way to contact someone about it

I have removed dropbox from my macbook and re installed it as it wasn't working then suddenly it was full when I reinstalled it. So I did it again, then i removed half the files, still no joy, now 5 out of 10 folders just show blue dots with arrows instead of ticks and anything new I add has a cross by it. I have the free 2gb option and they are just basic files, not photos or films.

Also when on the website I try to see the folders by size but it wont show me just little dashes, so I can't even check it.

ahhh please can anyone help, i`'m not very techy

Rich · ‎01-26-2023

@Natacha B. wrote:

... re installed it as it wasn't working then suddenly it was full when I reinstalled it.

You likely activated the backup feature during the reinstall. Check your Backups page.

Natacha B. · ‎01-26-2023

sorry i accidentally pressed accept solution but i did not understand your answer. where is the dropbox.com folder I cannot see it on the web version of dropbox. can you help me locate it?

Once found should i drag all the shared folders into it ?

Megan · ‎01-26-2023

Hi @Natacha B., I hope you're doing well!

When you mention the dropbox.com folder, could you give me some additional info, since I am not too sure what you're talking about? Are you able to access your content, and account online?

Have you tried accessing the link @Rich provided above? What do you see there?

Also, can you take a look at your account's plan page, and send me a screenshot to let me know too?

If the issue remains, don't hesitate to let me know!

Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

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Natacha B. · ‎01-30-2023

Thank you so much,

I was away now I'm back. It does look like it backed up see photo , does it need to? I've sent shots of my account and the files with the whirry bits and ticks by them, best wishes Natacha

Rich · ‎01-30-2023

@Natacha B. wrote:

It does look like it backed up see photo , does it need to?

Your first photo shows that you have a backup of your Mac computer using 3.27GB of space. If you're no longer backing up that computer and you no longer need the backup saved, you can turn off the backup feature and delete the saved backup.

https://help.dropbox.com/organize/how-to-use-dropbox-backup?fallback=true#disable

Natacha B. · ‎01-30-2023

Ok is it kept somewhere though I’m getting confused. I thought drop box was safe in a cloud. I don’t need to access it from every device or use it on tap or have it on my computer as long as it’s in the drop box cloud and I can’t lose it. Is that the case if so I’ll remove the computer back up which I didn’t even know I had on 🙂 thank you for helping

Natacha B. · ‎01-31-2023

Dear Rich, I think I've done it see above. I don't really understand what I've done. I think now all my files are now in one place - dropbox cloud? not in two places (dropbox AND my computer) as before is that correct, I'm not techy I'm sad to say. Now there is also an alert

Should I get started? I'm a bit nervous about all this

Thank you for taking the time to answer me

Best regards Natacha

Rich · ‎01-31-2023

@Natacha B. wrote:

I don't really understand what I've done. I think now all my files are now in one place - dropbox cloud? not in two places (dropbox AND my computer) as before is that correct ...

It looks like you've removed the backup now.

The important thing to know is that Dropbox is not just a cloud-only service. If you've installed the Dropbox application on your computer then you have a local Dropbox folder that takes up space on your local hard drive. It's not a special folder where the items inside only exist in the cloud. You can use features like Selective Sync or marking files as Online-only so they only exist in the cloud, but any files marked as Available Offline still exist on your drive and will take up space.

Should I get started?

That's a question I'll leave for the Mac experts. Short version is yes, you should, but it changes things a bit with how Dropbox will work on your Mac. I'm not a Mac user so I can't really comment on it other than to point you to some help articles.