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Forum Discussion
How can I keep my files local and not online only?
I have a new computer & I've been trying to download my DB files to my new computer. I've just discovered that YOU decided I need to save space on my hardrive & half my files are on some cloud rathe...
Hi!
Do you have a Dropbox Plus/Professional/Business subscription? If yes, it sounds like the new installation might have been completed with Smart Sync "make folders online-only" selected.
I found this help article on Smart Sync. More specifically you could try the following steps:
How to save hard drive space automatically
If you haven’t opened files and folders in a few months, they’ll become online-only. To change this setting:
- Click the Dropbox icon from the system tray or menu bar.
- Click your profile picture or initials.
- Click Preferences... from the menu.
- Click Sync.
- Choose your work Dropbox account.
- Toggle the On/Off setting under Save hard drive space automatically.
(In your case, you would want this setting to be Off)
How do I sync online-only content to my computer?
You can open a file as usual through your application or Finder. Dropbox downloads the entire file to your computer.
To sync a file or folder without opening it immediately, you can make it local:
- Open the Dropbox folder on your computer.
- Click the Dropbox icon from the menu bar.
- Click the folder icon.
- Choose Open folder.
- Locate the content that you want to sync to your computer.
- Control-click or right-click the file or folder.
- Choose Smart sync.
- Choose Local.
(In your case, you would want all Dropbox content set to Local)
How can I choose a default setting for new content?
- Click the Dropbox icon from the menu bar.
- Click your profile picture or initials and select Preferences... from the menu.
- Click Sync.
- Choose your work Dropbox account.
- Change the selection for Smart Sync Default:
- Admin default: the default setting chosen by your team admin.
- Local: all new content downloads to your computer.
- Online-only: manually download files to your computer when you need them.
(In your case, you would want all new Dropbox content to be set to Local)
Finally, you might want to consider disabling Smart Sync altogether, if you wish, by disabling system extensions on Dropbox website settings.
Hope this helps!
Joonas
I agree with all the above!! Surprise! some of your files are online only and now you get to figure out how to fix that. Nice!
I know how my files are set up. I know how big my disk is. I like both exactly how they are. Please stay out of it.
BTW: this worked for me "disabling system extensions on Dropbox website settings."
Having the same problem. Never asked for the files to be removed from the hard drive. Save hard drive space automatically was set to OFF. Make new files LOCAL. Still dropbox decided to remove them from the local drive. Why?
- Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Hi randols, thanks for joining us here!
I'd be happy to assist you with this, can you just let me know if the files were already Smart Synced before you applied these settings? Or did the files become "online only" after you have set them to be "local"?
If they were already smart synced before applying this setting, you'll need to set these to local manually. You can do this easily by right clicking the Dropbox folder itself and choosing "Smart Sync - local".
Let me know - thanks!
These were always local on this computer (I have set this folder differently on my laptop). The folder is enormous. But I want a copy locally on my main computer. Dropbox must have defaulted to
I use a Mac. Not sure what you mean by "right clicking the Dropbox folder itself" since that doesn't seem to do anything.Edited by moderator
