Dropbox Taking Up Storage On Mac



When DropBox is installed on your Mac you will see a Dropbox tab under Favourites in the Finder, just drag and drop anything into that folder and it will be backed up to Dropbox, and accessible on. On the Mac, you can dictate what folders sync from Dropbox and are stored locally on your Mac. By default, anything you put in Dropbox will be stored locally. We don’t want that if we are trying to.

Dropbox can automatically upload and backup your photos to the cloud by copying them from your mobile device or camera to your Dropbox folder. With the camera uploads feature enabled, any photo or video you’ve taken with your mobile device will be backed up to your Dropbox account (Dropbox Basic users must have the desktop app installed). Snapshots are a powerful way for backup software to provide a quick point in time to walk back to when you don’t necessarily need to restore the entire volume. But they take up a lot of storage. How to stop Dropbox files set to Smart Sync from taking up storage space on a Mac Labels: Sync and upload. I am using dropbox with smart sync capability on a Mac OS 10.13. I can switch my dropbox folders to online only mode (green check switches to a gray cloud). When I check the info for my dropbox.

Expand cloud storage on Mac
CloudMounter connects unlimited storage to Finder.

A number one cloud-based storage system today, Dropbox essentially made storing data online mainstream. This app simplifies syncing files across different devices and offers an easy way to share photos, folders, or send large files (i.e. too large for emails) to others. Although Dropbox isn’t the only cloud-based storage and syncing service for Mac, it remains extremely popular.

Even though, as a Mac user, you do already have iCloud storage and syncing service right at your fingertips, integrated with your Mac and other iOS devices, there are still reasons for you to download Dropbox for Mac.

Get Setapp for seamless storage control

No matter where you keep your precious files, Setapp apps will help you make storage management easy. A single toolkit for everything.

Dropbox makes it easy to share whatever it contains, by offering advanced features such as shared folders or the ability to copy a Dropbox link to allow someone to download a file from your folder. Besides, Dropbox is one of the more common cloud services used by third-party productivity apps that could offer you great additional features.

Despite iCloud and Dropbox both having basic cloud storage functionality, there are quite a few differences in what you can expect from each. You can’t easily share with iCloud, as its associated solely with a given Apple ID, while Dropbox lets you share folder contents with others, constantly syncing among those connected to the folder. On the other hand, don’t expect Dropbox to automatically sync your data like photos or contacts like iCloud does. You only get quick access to what you put inside your Dropbox folder.

How To Sync Dropbox On Mac Easily

While you can always access your data from the Dropbox website, in the long run, it's easier to install the Dropbox desktop app. Using the Dropbox desktop app means you won't have to manually upload or download files in your Dropbox folder and any time you make a change to a file and are connected to the internet that change will sync everywhere you have Dropbox installed. Dropbox app for Mac works even when you're offline — just like an ordinary folder.

How to install the Dropbox app for Mac?

To download Dropbox for Mac, look for the Dropbox installer on dropbox.com. Once the download of the Dropbox installer is complete, you should be able to find it (DropboxInstaller.dmg) in your Mac’s Downloads folder. Open the file to start your Dropbox download app:

  1. Double-click on the Dropbox icon in the installer window

  2. A warning sign will appear cautioning that Dropbox is an application you downloaded from the internet ➙ click Open to start the installation process

  3. Once the basic installation is complete, Dropbox will ask you to sign in. If you don’t already have an existing Dropbox account, use the sign-up link near the bottom-right corner of the window and follow the online instructions to set up your Dropbox account.

If all done right, after you sign in to your Dropbox on Mac, you’ll see a congratulations message for successfully completing the installation. Well done!

Now on to your Dropbox folder. To set it up:

Install Dropbox On Pc

  1. Click Open My Dropbox Folder button in the final installer window

  2. Enter your Dropbox password ➙ then click OK

  3. Dropbox will add itself to your Finder’s sidebar and deposit a Dropbox for Mac tutorial into your Dropbox folder (a Get Started with Dropbox .pdf file). Take a few moments to read through the guide — it provides a good outline for working with Dropbox.

Tips for using Dropbox on Mac

Understanding how does Dropbox work is easy. Once you install the Dropbox desktop app and set up your Dropbox account, it’ll appear on your computer as a special Dropbox folder, which will become the heart of how does Dropbox work. Anything you place inside that folder is automatically copied to the cloud and synced with your other devices that run Dropbox. Note that Dropbox might not automatically copy all the files on your computer (e.g. when you don’t have enough space) — you might have to pick and choose which ones you want to save.

Transferring files to the Dropbox folder is a matter of seconds. First Dropbox will show a blue icon with circling arrows in the lower left — this means copying the file and uploading it to the cloud. Once it’s done, the icon will turn green and display a check mark. If you wish to transfer multiple files at once:

  1. Hold ⌘ and click on each file you want to move

  2. Drag one of the files to move all selected ones into the Dropbox folder

What you don’t have to worry about is how to sync Dropbox. Dropbox for Mac automatically saves all data placed inside the folder across all devices. As long as you can access your account, you can download any file stored in your Dropbox folder on your local machine. For example, you can move pictures you took on your phone to Dropbox and look at them on your Mac in seconds.

One of Dropbox’s strongest features you should definitely benefit from is sharing files with colleagues and family members. To designate files for sharing:

  1. Right-click on the item you wish to share in your Dropbox

  2. Select the option that says “Share…” with a Dropbox icon next to it

  3. In the text field below the question “Who do you want to share with?”, type the email addresses of the people with whom you want to share the file

  4. Grant the permission you want, either view only or with the ability to edit the file

  5. Once done, you’ll be able to write a message for the recipient(s) if you want to do so. You can also create a link to send to people yourself if you don’t want Dropbox to send the link by email.

Using Dropbox on Mac as pure cloud storage is popular too, as it helps you keep backup copies of important files safe and ready to restore should need be.

What is Dropbox pricing?

Dropbox is available in four pricing plans: the first three let you expand the amount of storage you have by referring others to the service. For example, the basic free version of Dropbox will give you 500 MB per referral, expanding the initial 2 GB to a possible maximum of 18 GB of free storage. A Plus plan for $9.99 per month will give you 1 TB of storage space.

More than just Dropbox app for Mac

Having been one of the best choices for cloud file storage for a long time, more and more often Dropbox isn’t the only one in the cloud services portfolio for many people. For personal and professional data storage needs, more than one service is frequently used.

Why? A combination of cloud-based storages increases your Mac’s disk space to virtually unlimited, as long as you have an active internet connection. Unfortunately, it also turns managing different cloud accounts into quite a hustle.

Use CloudMounter to keep every storage in one place

Forget the trouble of switching across your cloud storage accounts. CloudMounter enables you to access it all from one app.

Luckily, there are apps like CloudMounter that allow you to use all your storage solutions in one place. CloudMounter connects your cloud storage providers to your Mac as if they were your external drives. This lets you treat cloud data just like local files and even move documents between the different clouds.

Another benefit of using CloudMounter is its latest encryption algorithm that guarantees the security of your cloud files. Plus it allows encrypting sensitive data on the cloud and doesn’t share your login info with third parties. The app works perfectly with all major cloud services and could become your ultimate cloud manager if you’re constantly dealing with several cloud services or feel there’s not enough free space on your Mac’s SSD.

Even better, you could match amazing cloud-storage opportunities with clever productivity apps. One such example that uses Dropbox to sync your work files across all devices is Unclutter.

Unclutter does wonders for those of us with busy clipboard lives: when you often have to copy several things at once and be able to paste each of them multiple times. Instead of creating temporary work folders and flood your desktop with files, opt for Unclutter’s drag-and-drop area that keeps your desktop clean and all your files, links, and notes at your fingertips.

Even more, Unclutter keeps track of everything you copy to your Mac’s clipboard even after the system was rebooted, lets you create separate lists to save particular clips for future use, has a memo assistant to remind you of things you don’t want to miss, and can have all the different files ready for you every time you open your Mac. And you’ve guessed it right, all the content is auto-synced across all your Dropbox-connected devices!

Best of all, you can find CloudMounter and Unclutter mentioned above on a free trial through Setapp, a platform of more than 150 useful Mac apps and tools that will completely overhaul the way you interact with your computer. So you decided how to use Dropbox on Mac yet?

Setapp lives on Mac and iOS. Please come back from another device.

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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Whether you’re using it to safely back up your files or transfer files to a team member, Dropbox is an easy-to-use cloud-based solution for you. But like any other storage, your Dropbox account is only useful if you have space to store things. This article will show you how to check your Dropbox capacity. And it’ll offer a few tips for free up space.

How much space do I have on Dropbox?

Checking how much storage you have left available on Dropbox is really easy to do. Especially if you already have the Dropbox app installed on your Mac. Here’s how you do it:

  1. Click on the Dropbox icon in the toolbar.
  2. Then, click the arrow next to your profile icon.

If you don’t have the app, don’t worry. You can still check it using your browser. Just follow these steps:

  1. Go to Dropbox.com and sign in.
  2. Click on your profile icon.
  3. Then, click Settings > Plan.

The great thing about the graph on this screen is that it will show you a breakdown of how much space is being used by files you created versus ones shared with you.

How to check what’s taking up space in Dropbox

The quickest way to see what using up all of your Dropbox storage is by arranging your files by size when you log into the browser.

  1. Sign in to Dropbox.com
  2. Click All Files in the sidebar.
  3. Then, click on the Size column to organize your files by size.

If you don’t see a size column, you can click on the arrow in one of the columns and select Size.

After organizing your files by size, you’ll probably notice that the size of your folders aren’t showing up. You can see those folder sizes by clicking on the ellipses next to the folder and selecting Calculate size.

Dropbox taking up storage on machine

How to free up space in Dropbox

While there are some obvious ways to free up space, there are a couple of other tricks you can do to reclaim your storage on Dropbox. One of the great features of Dropbox is when you delete a file, it automatically lowers your storage. You don’t need to empty the trash can or permanently delete the files like you need to do with other services.

1. Manually delete large files

You’ve already read about how to organize your files by size. But doing that will also help you see which files are taking up the most space and, in turn, help you decide what files to get rid of. If you’re using Dropbox in the browser, this is how you delete a file:

  1. Find the file you want to remove.
  2. Click the ellipses to the right.
  3. Then, choose Delete.

2. Delete duplicates

Duplicate files can take up a lot of space on your Dropbox. Fortunately, if you’re storing your files locally on your Mac, you can use the app Gemini 2 to scan and quickly remove them. Gemini 2 will scan your Mac’s entire hard drive or let you choose a specific folder. Once you have Gemini downloaded and installed, follow these instructions:

  1. Download and open Gemini 2.
  2. Click + > Choose Custom Folder.
  3. Then, select your Dropbox folder and click Open.
  4. Click Scan for Duplicates.

Dropbox Taking Up Storage On Mac Desktop

When the scan is finished, you can click Review Results to go through your files manually. Or if you click Smart Cleanup, Gemini 2’s algorithm will select the best file and delete the other copies.

Dropbox has an app called Smart Sync, which only stores placeholder files on your Mac. And then downloads files when you need them. It does this to save space on your computer. If you’re using this app, using Gemini 2 is not recommended because it will have to download all of your files to scan them. Which will, in turn, eat up a lot of space on your Mac.

3. Get rid of shared files

Dropbox Taking Up Storage On Machine

Any files that are shared with you also count against your storage quota. Thankfully, Dropbox makes it easy to see which of your files are shared ones. After you sign in to Dropbox.com, you can click on the Shared files tab in the sidebar.

4. Convert docs to Dropbox Paper

Dropbox has their own Word of Google Docs equivalent called Dropbox Paper. And any document you create with Dropbox Paper isn’t counted towards your storage. So, if you’re really struggling to find files to delete, you can try converting your documents to Dropbox paper. But, in some cases, that might mean manually copying and pasting your info from one doc to another.

Using Dropbox is an effortless way to save and share your files. Hopefully, this article answered some of your questions about checking how much Dropbox space you have. And given you some helpful tips for freeing up your storage.