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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.
- 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
Dropbox Staff
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!
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
Super User II
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 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.
- 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!
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!
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.
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?.
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
Hi hudsontw3141
No, sorry, thats not how Dropbox works. If you need edit access you also need enough quota to accept the share.
Hi Folks -
I pay for 2TB storage but now my team members are getting errors that their storage is full. One of my team members just deleted a whole folder of files to clear up space on his Dropbox but then my whole team lost those access to those files (I was able to restore).
Maybe I'm confused but it seems like DropBox is double-counting this storage space against both my quota and my users/team members quotas? Also doesn't seem easy to check storage utilization or clean it up, maybe I'm missing it.
Can someone please enlighten me as to the DropBox policies for storage quotas and multiple users? Is there a link where I can read about this?
Thanks,John
- Mark
Hi John
Simply put whatever is in a persons folder uses their quota. So your upgrade has no benefit at all on any other person. The only plan this is not the case on is if all users are paid business customers.
Hi there,
I am trying to receive a lot of files (pictures) from somebody. So I tried to share a dropbox folder where that person can add in the pictures. I have a Dropbox Plus (2000GB) account, whereas she has a Basic account with no referrals (2GB).
Since the amount of pictures greatly exceeds the 2GB, she is not able to upload, due to the fact that it is limited by her Basic account.
Now I understand the example Dropbox is giving in the help article: One reason this policy exists is to prevent people from giving themselves unlimited space by stacking Basic accounts with shared folders.
Also, I understand that Dropbox wants to force more users to bigger accounts. I mean, forcing her to a Dropbox Plus account would be the easiest option. But basically you're then paying twice for the same amount of storage, since you're using up both accounts storage space (if that makes sense).
But I do not quite understand why I, a paying user, is not able to receive files from a non paying user on behalf of my storage limit. So I would like to suggest the following limitations, rules or possible solutions:
Option 1
Disable the creation of editable shared folders for basic, let them pay $1/month to enable the edit right for others. I think that this small micropayment is fair for what you get for it (considering $10/2000GB=$0.005 per GB). So basically they are paying way too much for the 2GB's you're getting by stacking accounts. And even with all the referrals (max 16GB), it'll make a profit. You could even lower it to $0.16 to break even on a maxed out account (if you are just talking about dollars per GB).
Pros: easiest to program (I think), more profit from micropayments
Cons: will piss of a lot of basic users who use this feature for... basic stuff.
Option 2
- If all the users have a basic account, it'll be as per the current rules.
- If the owner has a basic account (or a premium account, but just not enough storage), one of the members who has a premium account, can 'share' or 'allocate' storage to this folder. Therefore, allowing the group to use up his account's storage.
- If the owner has a premium account, the folder will default to the storage space of that account.
Pros: won't piss of the basic users, gives an extra boost for users to switch to a premium account.
Option 3:
Base the storage limit of the shared folder on the account of the owner. And just use up the storage space of the owner. As long as this owner has a premium account.
Therefore, if the owner were to request a few files from a lot of users (some of which are basic accounts) and the shared folder exceeds 2GB (or the storage space of one of the users you requested a file from), the basic accounts are still able to use the service for their own personal use and will still be able to upload files to that shared folder.
Pros: won't piss of the basic users, gives an extra boost for usersto switch to a premium account.
----
I think it's fair to have something like this, that I'm actually able to request files from others, without using up their storage space. If I were to request a few files, from a lot of people, it would use up all their storage, because I am requestin files. Doesn't make sense, right? You'll always be using up everybodies storage space. Paying users will always pay double, triple, quadruple, ... (depending on the amount of users in a shared folder) for the same bits and bytes.
Basically I am requesting/suggesting something to change on this matter.
Let me know what you think and let's get the discussion started. Maybe you have another idea that kinda resolves this?
