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Forum Discussion

XMoDiiFy 's avatar
XMoDiiFy
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago

Charged storage for shared content

Hello,
I keep getting messages to upgrade my drop box because it’s full. My drop box account does not have any files stored in it, everything is shared from someone else’s premium Dropbox account. Why is it taking up space in my personal Dropbox and trying to charge me for the shared space and the person who is hosting the content for the same amount of space being used? They pay for the storage of their files and shared it with me why should I have to as well if they pay for it. It’s not being saved twice it’s being saved in their account?

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Shared Folders
Space and storage
Storage space
  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    3 years ago

    Hi all, I hope you’re doing well. 

     

    In general, shared folders/files take up space from your Dropbox account, as they’re being added to it and they act like normal/personal files. So, just like your personal files, they’ll also take up storage from it. 

     

    You can also check this Help Center article for more details, if you want. 

     

    If another user wishes to share files with you, and you don't wish to add them to your own Dropbox account, they can share a link with you instead.

     

    Hope this clarifies things a bit!

  • Dance2this's avatar
    Dance2this
    Helpful | Level 5
    3 years ago

    I have the same issue….it doesn’t make sense that if they pay for an account and I’m just looking at it that it uses all my space up 🤨

    • Nancy's avatar
      Nancy
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      3 years ago

      Hi all, I hope you’re doing well. 

       

      In general, shared folders/files take up space from your Dropbox account, as they’re being added to it and they act like normal/personal files. So, just like your personal files, they’ll also take up storage from it. 

       

      You can also check this Help Center article for more details, if you want. 

       

      If another user wishes to share files with you, and you don't wish to add them to your own Dropbox account, they can share a link with you instead.

       

      Hope this clarifies things a bit!

      • lohphat's avatar
        lohphat
        Explorer | Level 4
        2 years ago

        Those files by the owner exist in a single account. Sharing doesn't duplicate the files taking up more physical storage.

         

        Charging each share recipients quota for files shared by the owner is just a cash-grab.

         

        We're now moving our clients to Google Drive instead.

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    3 years ago

    Hi XMoDiiFy  

     

    That is how Dropbox works. Shared folders use up the space of everybody in the share. 

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