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cmj83's avatar
cmj83
New member | Level 2
11 months ago

Since when do you have to PAY to view a shared folder?

A client shared has shared rather large files from their dropbox account and I'm unable to view them without paying for a dropbox account, what in the world is this dark pattern money gouging effort by dropbox?!.

My business does not use Dropbox (and hasn't intentionally since it started going downhill in 2014.) 

  • Hi there cmj83 - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

     

    Shared folders take up space on all of the accounts that are members of the share. 

     

    If you'd like to view the folder without impacting your own account's quota, you can ask the owner to share a link with view only rights with you instead.

     

    I hope this helps!

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

    Hi there cmj83 - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

     

    Shared folders take up space on all of the accounts that are members of the share. 

     

    If you'd like to view the folder without impacting your own account's quota, you can ask the owner to share a link with view only rights with you instead.

     

    I hope this helps!

    • fmk1's avatar
      fmk1
      Explorer | Level 3

      Hi Walter, 

       

      If the sharer creates the link with view only rights, will I be able to download said files onto a hard drive? Or will I forever need to rely on the sharer keeping the files on their dropbox account, and utilizing the specific sent link?

       

      Thanks,

      Faye

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

        HI fmk1, if the owner of the file has allowed them to be downloaded, then you can download them onto your computer. 

         

        If they've disabled downloads, then you'll only be able to access those files via their shared link, which does rely on them keeping the files on their account.

  • jackrataty's avatar
    jackrataty
    New member | Level 2

    I requested a free data set from Equibase.  They sent me a link to a shared folder containing historical files for racehorses.  This data should not change.  I kept gettin alerts that my account is too small and need upgraded to contain the data.  I'm sharing a file.  Why am I paying for the storage?

    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      jackrataty wrote:

      They sent me a link to a shared folder containing historical files for racehorses. ... I kept gettin alerts that my account is too small and need upgraded to contain the data.


      If you're a member of a shared folder, you're not accessing that folder in someone else's account. The folder exists within your own account taking up space. If the folder is larger than the space available in your account, then you would need to upgrade to be able to hold the entire folder.

       

      • jackrataty's avatar
        jackrataty
        New member | Level 2

        I dont need all of the data in the shared folder.  Can you remove files of the shared folder I dont need?

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