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Forum Discussion
dualice
3 years agoNew member | Level 2
Why do shared files count against my space use???
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage? Is this data counted twice? If someone who is sharing files with me is paying for this space, why should I have to pay as well just to acc...
- 3 years ago
dualice wrote:
Why are files shared with me counted against my space usage?
Because the files exist in your account.
When you have access to a shared folder, you're not accessing someone else's folder. You're accessing your own COPY of the folder within your account, and you need to have enough space available to hold that folder.
If you just need to view or download files that someone else is sharing with you, ask them to send you a shared link instead. A shared link is a view-only method of sharing and you don't even need a Dropbox account to access it.
truenet-lhathcock
New member | Level 2
A paid dropbox account has shared their data with me by sending me a link. This is my first dropbox account at this email address. I cannot see the data without upgrading from my free account to a paid account?
I just need read-only access to their data.
What am I doing wrong?
Rich
2 years agoSuper User II
truenet-lhathcock wrote:
A paid dropbox account has shared their data with me by sending me a link. ... I cannot see the data without upgrading from my free account to a paid account?
It sounds like you were sent an invitation to a shared folder, which requires you to have enough available space because you'll have your own copy of the folder in your account. If you only need to view the files, ask them to sent you a view-only shared link instead. You'll be able to view and/or download the files whether you have an account or not.
- tiffany32 years agoNew member | Level 2
My client is trying to share files with me and my dropbox is telling me I need to pay to upgrade so I can accommodate their LARGE file system. (I've read through earlier threads here and double-charging for people to access the same information is, unbelievably, the DB business model) Nevertheless, I need to access these files so it appears I'll have to pay extra. My question is this: these are SHARED files...we both make changes and edits to the documents and spreadsheets throughout the project. If these are separate COPIES (as pointed out in earlier answers) how do they sync? Do the edits appear on both or our COPIES on each of our accounts? Or do we have to re-upload or reshare somehow after each edit? Thanks!
- Rich2 years agoSuper User II
tiffany3 wrote:
If these are separate COPIES (as pointed out in earlier answers) how do they sync? Do the edits appear on both or our COPIES on each of our accounts? Or do we have to re-upload or reshare somehow after each edit?
It's all automatic. If you make changes in a shared folder that you're a member of, every member of that share will receive the changed files.
Try not to think of a shared folder like a network drive in a corporate setting, where every person is pointing to the same set of files in the same location on a single server. With Dropbox, your files, including all shares you're a member of, exist in a local Dropbox folder on your device. The files in a shared folder are the same for everyone, but each member has their own local Dropbox folder with their own copy of those files. When you make a change to a file, the Dropbox app syncs that change to the Dropbox servers, the file is updated for each member of the share, and the the Dropbox app on their device syncs those changes down to their local Dropbox folder.
- tiffany32 years agoNew member | Level 2
Huh, so everyone who needs to access a folder needs to pay to store it on their own local system?? Will this take up space on my desktop hard drive? Or all in the cloud? I'm a google drive user and having to upgrade a dropbox account just so I can edit some of my clients' files is a bit mind-boggling. And thanks for your quick reply above.
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