We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.

Forum Discussion

Tom M 's avatar
Tom M
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Recover Files From Local Cache

I am working with some large files (over 1tb) synced to a local drive. I accidentally made a folder Online Only and now those files are sitting in the cache folder where I cannot access them. 

 

When I select Make Available Offline Dropbox starts downloading them, but it will take a long time and I don't have enough local space to allow it to redownload. 

 

Is it possible to recover these files from the cache without redownloading?

Desktop
Storage space
Sync
  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    2 years ago

    Hey Tom M  , sorry to jump in here.

     

    This is actually something that's not really supported, nor do we have a process for it. 

     

    It might also affect permissions etc., so we wouldn't recommend it.

     

    The best way would be to just switch them to available offline and let them sync.

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

    Hi Tom M , and welcome to our Community. 

     

    The cache folder that you mention should only be visible if you’ve enabled the option to view hidden folders on your OS. 

     

    The files that you made online-only though, were they all synced to your Dropbox account previously or just a bunch of them were available offline due to the lack of space?

     

    Let me know, and we’ll take it from there.

    • Tom M 's avatar
      Tom M
      Explorer | Level 3
      2 years ago

      All of the content is synced, so the material is safe on Dropbox.com. However, because it was marked to Online Only, the content is simultaneously unavailable to be used locally and taking up a huge amount of space in the cache folder. Is it possible to restore the folders from the cache folder rather than re-downloading? I have large video files so it would be preferable to restore them if they're still technically there on the hard drive. 

       

      To reveal the contents of the cache folder I followed the instructions here: https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/cache-folder

       

       

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

        Hey Tom M  , sorry to jump in here.

         

        This is actually something that's not really supported, nor do we have a process for it. 

         

        It might also affect permissions etc., so we wouldn't recommend it.

         

        The best way would be to just switch them to available offline and let them sync.

About Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!