Forum Discussion

PeteDaveBush's avatar
PeteDaveBush
New member | Level 1
8 days ago

Why do the files that I upload use up hard drive space and not Dropbox storage only?

Hello, I purchased the dropbox plus for the 2TB. I am uploading photos and vids to dropbox desktop app on my file explorer, however, I got a message saying my computer storage was running low on sp...
desktop
Storage space
sync
Nancy's avatar
Nancy
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
8 days ago

Thanks for posting on our forum today, PeteDaveBush! Welcome aboard.

If your files are synced locally/offline on your desktop app, then they’ll continue to take up hard drive space from your computer. 

To make sure this doesn’t happen, you can use either selective sync or make your files online-only instead. 

The first feature allows you to completely remove folders from your local Dropbox folder and only have them show on www.dropbox.com (you can use this feature with folders you don’t access often via the desktop app, for example). 

If you make a file/folder online-only instead, you’ll still see their placeholder in your local Dropbox folder, but the full version of the file will only be accessible on your web account, unless you make them available offline again. 

Please also check out the Help Center articles I’ve linked above and ping me, if you have any further questions. 

Let me know if that helps.

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