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Forum Discussion

Dennis_Zuiderlicht's avatar
Dennis_Zuiderlicht
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

Dropbox uses a ton of hard drive space despite most files being online only

So, I've put ALL my files on online-only because my Mac was running out of space.

In my Mac settings, Dropbox takes up 108 GB currently. Once I actually look at what folders are taking up space it's less than 2 GB (you can see in the screenshot what I mean).

 

What is taking up all this space? 

 

Desktop
Mac
Storage space
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    2 years ago

    Is it possible that the hidden Dropbox cache folder is taking up space on your machine?

     

    Try deleting the folder using these steps to see if this helps.

  • pf1624's avatar
    pf1624
    New member | Level 2
    2 years ago
    This morning I found Dropbox occupying 120GB from new cache files. Sadly, removing them did not release any disk space. I sincerely hope the officials investigate into this issue as soon as possible.
    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      2 years ago

      Hi pf1624, welcome to our Community!

       

      It sounds like you're facing something similar to the OP of this thread, am I right? 

       

      What is the OS you're using, along with the Dropbox version there? Also, when did you start encountering this issue? Did you recently delete/upload a large number of files to your Dropbox account perhaps?

       

      Keep me posted!

      • John1957's avatar
        John1957
        Explorer | Level 3
        11 months ago

        I have the same issue.  Everything is set to online only, but the more I move to dropbox, the less space I have on my C drive.  What is the answer to this issue or do I just move over to Microsoft OneDrive?

         

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    2 years ago

    Hi Dennis_Zuiderlicht, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

     

    Could you confirm the exact size of the Dropbox folder by right clicking on it and using 'Get info'?

     

    A screenshot of this, while hiding personal info and usernames would be great.

     

    This will help me to assist further!

    • Dennis_Zuiderlicht's avatar
      Dennis_Zuiderlicht
      Helpful | Level 6
      2 years ago

      Hey Jay (once again ;-),

       

      I made a screenshot of the main Dropbox folder, and also all of those folders within that. 

      Blurred out everything I needed to. 

       

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        2 years ago

        Is it possible that the hidden Dropbox cache folder is taking up space on your machine?

         

        Try deleting the folder using these steps to see if this helps.

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