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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.
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
Dropbox Staff
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.
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
Super User II
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.
- 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?
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!
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!
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
- 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
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
My son has 3T of space on his drop box. I have just the free dropbox. I often have files that he needs..... he has added me as a user but I can't get them to sync as it says I am out of space. Any thoughts? We don't need a business dropbox as there is just the 2 of us and I rarely use it.
- Rich
lummisharon wrote:
he has added me as a user but I can't get them to sync as it says I am out of space.
He can't add you as a user to his account. What he's likely done is invite you to a shared folder. While you're able to upload and edit files in the shared folder, you're still limited to the amount of space available in your account.
If you don't need to access the files after you upload them, ask your son to send you a File Request instead.
Hello
I'll try to keep this simple
I have a personal account - Account A
In the past I have access to another account Account B
and I'm working on a freelance job now which allows me access to their Dropbox Account C
Account A is very under my 2GB free limit - but tells me it is over capacity due to Account C (see below)
Account B I no longer need access to - and have asked for the refund of the ££ that was charged for the upgrade of capacity
My problem is Account C. It is a massive project folder with layers of files - and I am being told that I need to upgrade in order to sync with it and continue to upload documentation. But I'm a visitor to this folder - I didn't set it up - I am not the Admin on it - so why do I need to pay almost £100 for the access? There are several people in my team that this will affect - and some can't afford to pay this.
I've been in touch with Dropbox admin and, whilst they dealt with the refund, ignored the above.
How is this solved?
Thank you for your help
- Rich
HonestGhost wrote:
But I'm a visitor to this folder - I didn't set it up - I am not the Admin on it - so why do I need to pay almost £100 for the access?
You've been invited to join a shared folder. When you join the folder it will exist in your account and anything in your account takes up space.
If you only need view access to the folder and won't need to edit anything within it, ask the owner to send you a view-only shared link instead.
So we will all need to pay for the upgrade - 😞
Thank you for responding
Mary
I am trying to share a folder with someone so that they can securely share documents with me but they keep getting the notice 'you are over your 2GB allowance' and then giving the option to pay to upgrade.
The other user does not use dropbox personally so has nothing in their account and I have tried to create a shared folder on 2 different dropbox accounts with the same result. The first account is using around 15% of the 2Tb limit, and the other has 20mb used of a 2Gb limit.
My understanding is that even if the other user was using dropbox as the shared folder sits on my dropbox account it counts towards my limit and not the other persons.
I have shared folders with many other people without this issue so that they can securely provide files to me (mainly pdf files of business related paperwork) without this issue.
I believe that this user is trying to populate the shared folder on their phone from the app rather than logging in on a laptop via the web browser?
Any help greatly appreciated!!
- Rich
JamesK1981 wrote:
My understanding is that even if the other user was using dropbox as the shared folder sits on my dropbox account it counts towards my limit and not the other persons.
That's not correct. As they receive a copy of the folder in their account, it takes up space in their account. They need to have enough available space in their account to hold the folder and anything added to it.
https://help.dropbox.com/storage-space/storage-space
I have shared folders with many other people without this issue ...Then those people have accounts with enough space available for the shared folder.
I believe that this user is trying to populate the shared folder on their phone from the app rather than logging in on a laptop via the web browser?How they are populating the folder wouldn't matter. The limit is based on their account, not the method used.
If you only need them to send files to you, and they won't have a need to access those files after they send them, consider using a File Request instead. The sender doesn't even need a Dropbox account.
Considering that this shared folder is their only use of dropbox and only contains 2mb of data it is hard to see how the 2gb limit has been exceeded
