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Forum Discussion

BxD's avatar
BxD
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

Files from others shared with me uses MY space allocation -- WHY??

I am new to this, using the free version for now.  One thing I don't understand is why files that do not belong to me that are shared with me take up space on my space allocation.  They are not my fi...
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Shared Folders
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    6 years ago
    Hey BxD and Nosferath, 
     
    Since every member of a shared folder can add and modify the files in it, the shared folder takes up space in each member's account. This policy exists to prevent people from giving themselves unlimited space by stacking Basic accounts and shared folders.
     
    Spoiler
    In general, your Dropbox quota is calculated based on the total amount of contents in your account, which includes shared folders. As such, a Dropbox account can't sync more than its quota, so a 2 GB account can't sync more than 2 GB. 
    If you'd like to receive a folder without impacting your account’s storage, you can ask the sender to share a link to the folder, instead, which allows you to view/download the content.
     
    Finally, if you’d to have a little more storage, you can earn space. For more info on this, check out this article.
     
    I hope this helps to some extent!
Nosferath's avatar
Nosferath
New member | Level 2

Yes, Dropbox actually uses the space in every user's account that shares the shared folder. This behavior is not shared by services such as Google Drive, we should petition Dropbox to change it.

Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago
Hey BxD and Nosferath, 
 
Since every member of a shared folder can add and modify the files in it, the shared folder takes up space in each member's account. This policy exists to prevent people from giving themselves unlimited space by stacking Basic accounts and shared folders.
 
Spoiler
In general, your Dropbox quota is calculated based on the total amount of contents in your account, which includes shared folders. As such, a Dropbox account can't sync more than its quota, so a 2 GB account can't sync more than 2 GB. 
If you'd like to receive a folder without impacting your account’s storage, you can ask the sender to share a link to the folder, instead, which allows you to view/download the content.
 
Finally, if you’d to have a little more storage, you can earn space. For more info on this, check out this article.
 
I hope this helps to some extent!
  • bm11's avatar
    bm11
    New member | Level 2
    6 years ago

    I have a similar issue.  I have space being taken up by files dropped into one of my Shared Dropbox folders.  I want to remove those files to free up space in my own Dropbox folder.  But does that mean others who share the folder can’t see the files any more either?  In other words, if I delete them,  no one who is sharing the folder can see them any more?  I don’t want to prevent others from using them but need more space. 

    • Lusil's avatar
      Lusil
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago
      Hey there bm11, 
       
      If you have edit rights to the shared folder, you can delete files from it, which means that, as you also mention, files that you remove will be removed for every other member, as changes to content in the folder are reflected for all. 
       
      If you want to be able to view the folder but without taking up storage space, you can ask the owner to send you as a shared link to it instead, which gives you view-only permissions. 
       
      If you want to then remove the shared folder from your account, you can do so by following the steps outlined here. 
       
      I hope this helped to some extent!

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