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Forum Discussion

newtonprints's avatar
newtonprints
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

What happens when I delete files and folders?

Hi, I have a lot of files and folders on backed up on 2 computers. If I delete a folder on one computer, will it still be both in the cloud and on the other computer? I need to free up some hard driv...
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newtonprints's avatar
newtonprints
Explorer | Level 3

so how do people get to have complete backups done?

I have a 2TB dropbox, but my computer is only 1TB, I want everything backed up (phone #1 500GB, phone #2 250GB, computer  1TB, etc) but my computer can't handle all of that, obviously.

Are you able to tell / show / diagram the steps that once I have what I want to keep on the computer, the rest can be kept and accesible on the dropbox?

Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
2 years ago

Could you clarify what you mean by backing up your phone? Are you referring to camera uploads? 

 

Are you also looking to backup your entire computer, or just the files in the Dropbox folder?

  • newtonprints's avatar
    newtonprints
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    Yes, I have my phone's pics backed up to the dropbox, not just the camera uploads, but I also make many folders which separate the photos by category, event, dates or what have you.

    On the computer I have just certain folders backing up, but it's put a copy of everything on my actual computer in the dropbox folder.

    I'm relatively new to dropbox as I found out iCloud was a waste of time and money, because if I deleted off the phone, it deleted from the cloud as well. Now I can free up my phone space by backing up to dropbox and deleting from phone, but now that has moved the storage problem from the phones to my computer.

    So I want to know how to delete folders from the dropbox computer location and still have them in the cloud and accessible when I need them, whether it's via the phone or computer.

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      2 years ago

      Have you tried using this feature to mark files on your computer as available online-only, so they don't take up space on your machine?

      • newtonprints's avatar
        newtonprints
        Explorer | Level 3
        2 years ago

        I cannot see where to mark folders as online only or offline

         

        And if I switch to online only, will it automatically delete it from my hard drive?

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