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Smart Sync enabled still taking up hard-drive space!
I noticed others have had this issue, but I have some files selected as "online only" via smart sync and they are still taking up space on my hard drive, causing my mac to tell me I'm running out of hard drive space. It's happening with multiple files, but I've included screen shots for one as an example. I'm running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6, and dropbox v59.4.93.
As you can see in the first screenshot, my Mac HD says my largest file is "CC IBD Training.MOV" stored in "Next Steps-->Citygroups-->Videos" folder.
"Large Files" stored on my hard driveNow if you look at this screenshot, I pull up the folder Next Steps-->Citygroups-->Videos. The whole folder is selected as "online only" as is the "CC IBD Training" video. Strangely, the other 2 videos in this folder do not show up on my hard drive, but "CC IBD Training" still says it's stored on my hard drive, as indicated above.Same file here indicated to be "online only"What can I do about this? As you can see, I'm low on hard drive space and as a result cannot install MacOS Mojave.
Hey there mike52487 - sorry to hear about this.
As you might know, there are various places to see the size of a file in Finder. Some of these locations will display the logical size, others the physical size. A Smart Sync placeholder takes up approximately 0kb, this is the pysical size. The logical size of the file is the actual size of the file, if it were downloaded to the device. Is it possible that this is what you're seeing in your default "Documents" folder?
To see both the logical and physical file size:
- Right click on a file/folder
- Select 'Get info'
- In the properties window you will see the original file size, followed by the actual on-disk size:For example:428,510 bytes (0 KB on disk)It is important to be able to view both sizes, not just to reassure you that the file is not taking up space, but also to understand the space and speed implications of returning the file(s).
In other views of Finder, your Mac's OS will report the logical size. For this reason you shouldn't be concerned if it initially appears that the placeholder is taking up space. To confirm the file or folder is not taking up space, please check via the above steps.
I hope this helps and let me know what you find Mike. Oh, and happy Monday!
11 Replies
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- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey there mike52487 - sorry to hear about this.
As you might know, there are various places to see the size of a file in Finder. Some of these locations will display the logical size, others the physical size. A Smart Sync placeholder takes up approximately 0kb, this is the pysical size. The logical size of the file is the actual size of the file, if it were downloaded to the device. Is it possible that this is what you're seeing in your default "Documents" folder?
To see both the logical and physical file size:
- Right click on a file/folder
- Select 'Get info'
- In the properties window you will see the original file size, followed by the actual on-disk size:For example:428,510 bytes (0 KB on disk)It is important to be able to view both sizes, not just to reassure you that the file is not taking up space, but also to understand the space and speed implications of returning the file(s).
In other views of Finder, your Mac's OS will report the logical size. For this reason you shouldn't be concerned if it initially appears that the placeholder is taking up space. To confirm the file or folder is not taking up space, please check via the above steps.
I hope this helps and let me know what you find Mike. Oh, and happy Monday!
That was the issue! Thank you, Walter.
Walter,
Does this mean that even though the Mac shows full logical storage that downloads are still able to take place? If everything is set to online only, and there is actually plenty of storage.
Thanks,
Sam
- Walter
I can't be sure about this as I don't have much info at the moment Sam - could you share a screenshot of where you spotted the discrepancy so I can have a better look into this?
While you're at it, could you also tell me your desktop app's exact status?
Thanking you in advance ennik1009 !
The sync is up to date.
The screenshot would be similar to the above. My question more is to ensure that even though the mac reports that the Dropbox folder is 39gb it's on disk space < 1gb. So There is actually more space on the harddrive than the Mac is indicating, as it's showing the logical size.
Does this mean if the Mac shows that the harddrive is full there is actually more space to download?
Sam
- Walter
Hey Sam - thanks for getting back to me so swiftly!
While I'm not sure if this addresses your concern, I found a thread that has extensively gone through this matter and also has an update from an expert from my team that describes our current position on this one.
Here's a directly link for that thread:
I know it's not much but I hope it helps clarify matters further. Let me know of any updates!
Hi Mike,
I'm having the same issue that you originally posted about, however, I don't see how Walter's response would help in the case of your macbook telling you you're running out of space (Like mine currently is!!) How did this solve that issue? I'm somewhat computer savvy but definitely not an expert and I need this problem solved asap for work purposes!!
Thanks in advance!Hey Walter, thanks. I have turned Sync on and its showing zero file size but it's still showing it as part of the available space and disallowing me to upgrade to MacOS.
Help?
- WalterHey there maryam2021; thanks for joining the discussion here.
Can you please check if this space is being taken up by your cache folder?
If you've ensured that the desktop app is fully synced and showing 'up to date' in your menu bar, you can delete it to retrieve some hard drive space.
Let me know how it goes!
