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Forum Discussion
Why do shared files count against my space use???
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage? Is this data counted twice? If someone who is sharing files with me is paying for this space, why should I have to pay as well just to access it? I am out of space, I have no intention of buying more space, and yet, when someone shares some files with me, I cannot access them and I am forced to buy space in order to access them. Why is this?
Thank you.
dualice wrote:
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage?
Because the files exist in your account.
When you have access to a shared folder, you're not accessing someone else's folder. You're accessing your own COPY of the folder within your account, and you need to have enough space available to hold that folder.
If you just need to view or download files that someone else is sharing with you, ask them to send you a shared link instead. A shared link is a view-only method of sharing and you don't even need a Dropbox account to access it.
I received an invitation from a friend to view and edit the content of a folder set up specifically for me (primarily to add photos). The invitation appeared as an "Add to Dropbox" button - when engaged, the folder was added to my personal basic Dropbox account and the photos added counted against my 2 Gb limit. My friend upgraded to a 2 Tb account specifically for adding about 25 folders for people to upload and share their photos. Is there a setting I need to change so I am only working on the external account? Thank you.
- Mark
Super User II
Hi hudsontw3141
No, sorry, thats not how Dropbox works. If you need edit access you also need enough quota to accept the share.
I'm sharing a folder with my boss, who has a paid version of Dropbox (mine is the free one). Now she can't access the information that I save on the folder because my Dropbox reached the limit. But if she is paying for it, then why is it not working?
Does Dropbox wants two paid versions to be able to provide the full space for both?
And why do I have to write on a community chat to be able to get any answer?
If I'm going to pay for storage, definitely I won't be using Dropbox, if that's how they do business. I can share my OneDrive with my boss there are plenty of space there.By the way, Microsoft loves that kind of business you do Dropbox 👏👏👏
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hi Blavious_B, thanks for posting here!
I've merged your post under a similar thread, where others have also expressed this question. Feel free to have a look at what was mentioned here.
Essentially, since the folder exists in both accounts, you'd both need space to edit, and make changes.
If you have any questions, let me know!
Looking for help.
I share access to files (read and update) to my customers.Some work fine, others experience a problem where they run out of space. Why i space an issue if they are sharing files in my dropbox account?
- Rich
tonyweetman44 wrote:
Why i space an issue if they are sharing files in my dropbox account?
Because they aren't accessing the files in your account. They get their own copy of the files in their account and they need to have enough space available to hold those files.
If they only need view and download access, consider using a Shared Link instead.
Hi Rich,
Thx for getting back to me. So what i am trying to achieve is letting my customers share some of my project folders so they can pass data to us, or we can share training videos with them etc. Sounds like i cant do this without them having their own Dropbox account with sufficient space available?.
Dropbox is telling my I am at capacity for storage. I am only accepting folders from a coworker that pays a for a professional account which is suppose to give me ample storage. What do I do besides signing up to for my own account to access these folders.
- Rich
talisha80 wrote:
I am only accepting folders from a coworker that pays a for a professional account which is suppose to give me ample storage.
That's not how it works. If you're a member of a shared folder, you have your own copy of that folder in your account, so you need to have enough space available in your account as well.
https://help.dropbox.com/storage-space/shared-folder-count-against-storage
If all you need to do is view or download the files, ask your co-worker to send you a view-only Shared Link instead.
Thanks - I appreciate you taking the time to respond!
The folder was created by my friend for me to add content, so it seems we both need enough capacity to handle the work flow.
Hello, I have a question reagrding access to dropbox. Our customer has 2TB DropBox account. His employees have free 2GB accounts. If the customer share a folder bigger then 2 GBs for his employees, they cant edit that folder. Is that normal behavior or there is a way ho to edit folder bigger then 2GBs?
Thank you
- Megan
Hey there, Zbynek, welcome to our Community!
Do they have a problem editing the folder, or generally an issue adding the folder on their Dropbox account?
Even if your customer has a 2TB account, when he shares the folder with the rest of his employees, they need to have enough quota on their Dropbox account to add it, and make any changes there.
Essentially the shared folder takes up space on both the recipient's, and the sender's Dropbox account.
I hope this clarifies!
- Hi. So, I've never used Dropbox before and I have the basic plan. I really can't afford to upgrade to the price of some of the plans they recommend me, but my boss is trying to share with me his YouTube Shared Folder of his videos so I can edit them for his YouTube channel. I have not been able to access them because it tells me my Dropbox is out of space even though I have nothing in it. Is there any way that he can send those files to me or send me the folder so that I don't have to pay in order to get them? I literally have to click add to Dropbox just to be able to open the folder, but I don't want to have to pay for a plan when I already need to pay for editing software. Can anyone help me out here?
- Hannah
Hey Vrdenton, thanks for reaching out to our Community.
I moved your post to this thread, which is relevant to your issue and has some info on what you can do.
Basically, since shared folders take up your own space as well, your boss could send you a "can view" link instead.
This will allow you to access and download the files.
And if you need to upload the edited versions to their account, they can send you a file request instead.
I hope this helps!
I have not used my Dropbox account since 2015-16. My account was well under 2GB when I last used it and now it says I have 6.5Gb of files! How does this happen? I did have 2 friends accounts linked to it, but now I can only see 1. I do not have contact with these people any more, 1 user is not linked anymore (trent) and the other one (harley) is still there. I cannot remove the other linked friend(harley). What is going on? I feel like you're trying to scam me to buy the upgrade, because how can I get 6.5Gb of files on account that I have never ever upgraded??? I can't even see where this extra 4Gb is coming from!
Edit: I found a folder full of photos that are not mine or harleys and have no idea where they come from. They're a kids school photos of people we have no association to and they were uploaded in 2019. How does 5GB of photos get uploaded to a basic account anyways?
- Hannah
Hey Sooty, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.
A shared folder will take up space in the accounts of all the members that have edit permissions on the folder.
It sounds like the folder in question was very small, with just a few files back when it was shared or added to your account.
Then files added to the folder accumulated, thus making your account over quota.
However, I'm happy you were able to locate the culprit and remove it from your account.
I hope this clarifies things, but let me know if you have any questions.
As the title states. At work I share a folder with colleagues with a large collection of useful files.
However I have noticed if their drobox personal storage amount is full they are automatically deleting my files. Its happened a few times and I have only just realised. Even though I'm paying for the storage.
What gives?? Thanks
- Mark
Dragor699 wrote:
Even though I'm paying for the storage.
What gives?? Thanks
You are paying for your storage. Not theirs. Therefore if they are in the shared folder they need enough quota to use it. If they dont have it syncing stops and people delete things I'm afraid.
They need to get more space, or, use things like Shared links instead.
That's a shame.
I'm paying premium prices so I can host my own files and provide other people access. I guess it just doesn't exactly fit my needs.
I was given edit permission by an employer to a Dropbox Folder but Dropbox requires me to add the shared folder to my Dropbox account. It's a large folder so I don't have enough space on my account.
Is this normal? I can't find any information connected to this on the website nor does my employer.
Thank you,
Sandra
- Rich
sandragouveia wrote:
I was given edit permission by an employer to a Dropbox Folder but Dropbox requires me to add the shared folder to my Dropbox account.
Yes, that's normal. When you're a member of a shared folder you get your own COPY of the folder in your own account, and that copy syncs back to all other members of the share. In order to add a shared folder to your account, you need to have enough space to hold the entire folder.
Thank you for your help! 🙏
- Hello, so my manager at work subscribed to a certain plan on dropbox, after that he made shared folder with me(I don’t have subscription). He uploaded large files that exceeds my storage, but still didn’t understand why I’m not able to access the files(please note I download via the application on windows not the browser) so the question is should we both have subscription? Cause this doesn’t seem to be logic for me! Or is there a way where he the one who already have subscription can upload files on shared folders and I download those files normally on my PC
Thanks.- Megan
Hey there, Zein awada, happy Thursday!
I merged your post under this thread, since many others also had the same question.
Feel free to take a look at the existing info our superusers have shared, along with what has been suggested already, and let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
