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Forum Discussion
Dropbox full because of shared folder
Hi, i have a dropbox account and the free space that i have is full because of the files inside the shared folder that i have with some friends.
Is there a way to avoid that the shared folder that ...
Your English is very good Michele - well done!
And no, if you need read write access to that folder if will use your quota. If you just need read only access leave the share and ask the other person sends you a read only Shared link.
You can LEAVE and REJOIN a shared folder when ever you like.
So one method of getting space is to LEAVE the shared folder. And REJOIN it when you need it.
If you ONLY need some files from the shared folder and ONLY at some times, I would additionally ask the owner of the shared folder for a LINK to it, in that way you can use the link to it and download via web the files you need when you need them.
Although I don't agree with Dropbox, and this is the primary reason I won't spring for Pro, I understand why they did this.
It's simple, really. Say, someone creates 10 free accounts. 10 x 2GB = 20GB. Now, that person, from each account shares a folder with his main account. That person just got more, free, space.
the Web o.: Your entire poorly-written reply comes across as arrogant, condescending, and smug. We already understand how shared folders affect storage quotas. The problem is that this behavior is both (1) utterly non-intuitive and (2) never explained to the user.
Even those with technical knowledge have complained in this tread, myself among them. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well the user understands the underlying technology because Dropbox accounts are marketed at a given capacity of storage.
You don't seem to grasp that this problem extends to paid users as well. For example: Alice signs up for a Dropbox Pro account, giving her a total storage capacity of 1 TB. She has paid for this space, and is happily using it without problems. She brings in Bob, a Dropbox Basic user, to collaborate with her on a project. Alice creates a folder and shares it with Bob, and they're all set...until the files in Alice's shared folder exceed the free space in Bob's own Dropbox and his ability to sync anything is revoked. Why, though? Alice paid for the extra space, so Bob shouldn't have to.
At no point, during the process of sharing or joining a folder, is the user made aware of the fact that files in that folder will count against the storage quotas of all users involved.
The problem at hand isn't that we think this should change (although some of us do have that opinion), it's that this behavior is counter to the overwhelming majority of users' expectations, and by not making an active effort to inform them of this, Dropbox is failing to properly communicate to its customers. I'll prove it: this thread exists.
