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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 have Dropbox Plus and my friends have Basic. I am trying to share folders with people so they can upload files I want, but every time, they get a message saying their Dropbox is full. If I have 2 TB and that is somehow disabling them from uploading files to my folders, how can I reduce my folder size so they can share with me?
- Mark
Super User II
Do you need them to just upload to you? If so why not look at Requests instead: https://help.dropbox.com/share/create-file-request
DropBox says I'm using 1.58 Gb of file space. The drop box folder on Mac OS is empty. I have zero files local on my machine, any files I create for DropBox are online only. I have no backups. (I use a different service). Looking at "all files" shows me the one shared folder I participate in, and nothing else. I don't own it, but I have access. I have removed all "my files" from that shared folder. And the end result is... DB says I'm using 1.58 GB of space, when I have, literally, nothing.
Years ago I used DB to share photos, but that was other machines, other versions, long ago, long since (as far as I know) removed.
Any suggestions for how to search for ghost files? Or why DB insists I've sucked up 1.5GB of space?
TIA for any help.
- Helen DBX
Dropbox Staff
Hi, I have a free account but am working with a client with a pro account. I am unable to upload files onto his account as my account has apparently ran out of space. Can I check why is the shared folder taking up space in my account when it should belong to the client?
- Hannah
Hey basekidz, thanks for joining the Dropbox Community.
When you're given edit access (access to upload/edit/delete files) to a shared folder, the folder needs to get added to your account, thus it will take up space in your account as well.
If you just need to upload files to your client's account, they can send you a file request.
This will allow you to upload files, without affecting your own Dropbox quota.
I hope this helps!
Hi,
When other people try to share their Dropbox, the size of their files are now MY size of files that I need to pay for.
It ends up being 2 people paying 2 seperate times for the 1 same file.
I can't get support for a free account.
People keep trying to send me Dropbox, and it makes me upset because they are sending me costs.
Google Drive only does this one way - the owner of the files, not every side that accesses it.
I am really sad and lost on what to do - and WHY people use this....
I wish thre was a way that I didn't have to pay for files that other people send me
- Hannah
Hey jojopants, thanks for taking the time to post to the Dropbox Community.
I understand you're having trouble, because a shared folder is taking up space in your account.
This happens when you're given edit access to the folder, which means that you need to add it to your account and this it takes up space.
If you want to access some files without affecting your own space, the person that shared the folder with you, will need to send you a "can view" link instead.
I hope this helps!
- I've been using Dropbox for years without issue. Recently I had occasion to grant access to a colleague for the purpose of sharing files. He has full permissions. A day ago he received a pop-up message indicating that the storage was full and needed to be increased. Why, when I pay for the account, and I am the admin, would a USER get a message indicating that storage space was used up?
In addition, when I turned to chat support for help, I was told by a very kind and polite young lady that the user has to up the storage capacity at HIS end which made no sense to me at all. He does not have a Dropbox account. So I am now horribly confused and desperately in need of a solution. I've reopened the support ticket but I'm trying to cover all the bases.- Rich
Great Lakes College wrote:
Why, when I pay for the account, and I am the admin, would a USER get a message indicating that storage space was used up?When someone is a member of a shared folder, that folder exists in their own account and takes up space in their account. They need to have enough available space for everything in the shared folder. They're not directly accessing a folder in your account.
https://help.dropbox.com/storage-space/storage-space
... the user has to up the storage capacity at HIS end which made no sense to me at all. He does not have a Dropbox account.A person can't be a member of a shared folder without a Dropbox account. You can use a shared link, which doesn't require an account and grants view-only access, but if you invite someone to a shared folder, a Dropbox account is required, along with enough space in that account to hold the data in the folder.
- I'm quite certain that this colleague does not have a DropBox account and has never set one up either deliberately or in response to a request from Dropbox. So is it possible that the notifications he's getting are some sort of scam?
I have paid account with 2 TB space but the shared folder (via link to edit) person despite being made owner of the folder states the capacity for the folder is 2 GB and have used up all. Total space used out of 2 TB is less than 100 GB. I am confused. Guidance is appreciated,
- Rich
tpatel0 wrote:
I have paid account with 2 TB space but the shared folder (via link to edit) person despite being made owner of the folder states the capacity for the folder is 2 GB ...
You have 2TB of space available in your account. The other user does not. Since the shared folder exists in their account, it takes up space in their account, and they're still limited to the space available in their own account.
Hi, so I personally have a Google Business account and primarilly use Google Drive as storage and collaboration. IF I share a folder and make it so an external team I'm temporarily working with can edit/upload then anything they upload goes to my quota (I am the one granting permission to utilise my drive space temporarily) this is absolutley how you'd expect it to work..Google still get the money from me but I can share/lend others my space for collaboration as if it were a physical rented space until the project is over.
Dropbox doesn't seem to work like this? If client 'A' shares a project folder with me, I too have to have enough 'space' in my account to collaborate, even though I do not use Dropbox myself unless it's the clients platform.
So you are essentially forcing payment from someone to edit/collaborate on files that the host has already paid to use? I don't get it...Client 'A' has sent me a dropbox link I cannot even access because apparently I don't have enough space, even though I've got 0mb uploaded with a free account...
- Hannah
Hey mwoo, thanks for reaching out to us.
When it comes to sharing folders with edit access, the folder needs to be added to each member's account, so it can be edited, thus it needs to take up space for that.
Someone can send you a "view only" link instead, for you to access the files, which won't affect your space.
And if you need to upload files to their account, they can send you a file request.
I hope this helps.
