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Forum Discussion
How to free up space in your Dropbox account
I've unshared many folders, permanently deleted lots of files but dropbox still reports that it is full. How can I free up space? I've already followed dropbox instructions with no results
Permanently deleting files isn't needed to clear space. Simply deleting them is enough. Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota.
If Dropbox is saying your account is full, then it's still full. You need to remove enough files to bring your account back below your quota before that message will go away. It could be that you're still a member of a large share that just keeps filling your account as you make more room.
You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.), which hat may help you identify files that you can remove to free up some more space.
Looks like this is an old answer and may no longer be valid.
I cut/pasted files from Dropbox to my PC. It still says I'm way over quota. It looked like what's taking up quota is Dropbox\.dropbox.cache\new_files, so I also cut 'em all and pasted them to my PC for backup. It still says I'm way over quota. What can I do? I had a peek inside several of the cached items, and they consist completely of blanks. Is this normal? ...and why does Dropbox continually add these files and never delete them? That's where all the space is being taken up.
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
Betsy2 wrote:
I had a peek inside several of the cached items ... why does Dropbox continually add these files and never delete them? That's where all the space is being taken up.
The items in the .dropbox.cache folder don't take up space in your account, only on your local drive. The folder is necessary for sync operations. You can delete the content of the folder, but Dropbox will just recreate it as needed. Deleting anything in the folder will have no impact on your space usage.
Your Plan page will show you a breakdown of your space usage. Have you checked your Backups page?
