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daniel blueyonder's avatar
daniel blueyonder
New member | Level 1
20 days ago

Manage hard drive space and selective sync aren't working; my files are still offline.

I have 2TB of Dropbox for my Photo Albums (and have had for many years).
All folders were synchronised to my laptop but a mix of online and offline.
My laptop has circa 1TB free.
Last month Dropbox updated the Dropbox App and all files were removed from my PC.
I have added the Dropbox app back to my machine and there is not room to add all of my files.

Using selective sync I can add files to my HDD but when I set them to online only to free up disc space they continue to exist on my HDD.  The white tick on solid green background turns to a green tick on white background (like they are online only) but they are still on my HDD.

If I use the 'Manage hard drive space' the app will allow me to select the files and allow me to make them online only.  The dark blue area of the used space bar reduces and I get the message; "All offline files were successfully moved to online-only, Nice!" But no hard drive space is freed.

If you run 'Manage hard drive space' again the offline files are all back.
You can make them offline repeatedly but when checking they are still there - even though the icon is green tick on white background (so they should be online).
If you go into airplane mode the online only files are still on my HDD.

I know I am not the only person having this problem.  I have seen lots of people with similar problems and I cannot see any satisfactory explanation / solution.

  • daniel blueyonder's avatar
    daniel blueyonder
    New member | Level 1

    Update: Whilst writing this it occurs to me that none of my files now have a solid green tick for available offline.
    Every file is saved on my hard drive.
    Every file has a white background with green tick (like as though it is online only).
    When I right hand click files I do not  have the option to make offline or online only.
    When I selectively sync all files behave in this way.

     

    • Nancy's avatar
      Nancy
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi daniel blueyonder, thanks for posting on our forum. 

      To check this further, can you send me a few screenshots of what you see on your end (including what appears in your local Dropbox folder, next to the files/folders that are still taking up space)? 

      Other than that, I’d like to know the syncing status and app version of your Dropbox app at the moment. 

      Ping me when you have more updates.

      • daniel blueyonder's avatar
        daniel blueyonder
        New member | Level 1

        Hi there,
        I have done a complete uninstall and reinstall but things are no better.
        There was an update last week that fixed the colour of the ticks and allowed you to right hand click to select online ort offline.  I was quite optimistic - but everything remained on my HDD.
        As of today the system has revered to green tick on white background (online only), but everything files are occupying space on HDD.
        Screengrabs attached.
        1) Dark blue bar shows HDD being used by Dropbox.  I have 291GB of space on my HDD.
        2) I selected all offline files and moved to online only.  I get a message; "All offline files were successfully moved to online-only. Nice!" Dark Blue Bar has gone. But space on HDD is still 291GB (so no improvement).
        3) Large files have a green tick on white background so online only?
        4) Put PC in aircraft mode - all online services disabled and video still plays from HDD.

        This has been going on for a month now so I would be grateful for a rebate on my service plan cost until you fix the error.

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