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John W.87's avatar
John W.87
New member | Level 2
7 years ago

How to free up space in your Dropbox account

I've unshared many folders, permanently deleted lots of files but dropbox still reports that it is full.  How can I free up space?  I've already followed dropbox instructions with no results

  • Permanently deleting files isn't needed to clear space. Simply deleting them is enough. Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota.

     

    If Dropbox is saying your account is full, then it's still full. You need to remove enough files to bring your account back below your quota before that message will go away. It could be that you're still a member of a large share that just keeps filling your account as you make more room.

     

    You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.), which hat may help you identify files that you can remove to free up some more space.

  • Norah's avatar
    Norah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
     
    Hey John W.87, welcome to Dropbox Community!
     
    I ran a small search on my end and I was able to locate your open request on our system which is being handled by a higher level of Support. 
     
    Feel free to let me know if you have any further inquiries!
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Permanently deleting files isn't needed to clear space. Simply deleting them is enough. Files in the Deleted Files section do not count against your storage quota.

     

    If Dropbox is saying your account is full, then it's still full. You need to remove enough files to bring your account back below your quota before that message will go away. It could be that you're still a member of a large share that just keeps filling your account as you make more room.

     

    You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.), which hat may help you identify files that you can remove to free up some more space.

    • Peter108's avatar
      Peter108
      New member | Level 2

      The storage used is shown in the bottom left corner of the home page.  When you delete files that value appears not to be updated unless you reload the page after deleting the files, you will then get the new storage used after the files have been deleted.  

    • Steven Cee's avatar
      Steven Cee
      Helpful | Level 7

      No, going to my account page and seeing the list of files does not tell me what's taking up so much space, because those same files on my computer show only 1/3 the size that Dropbox is telling me! Plus, the list doesn't even include some things in my folder on my computer!  And under "Recents" it shows the most recent being from 2019!  Which is absurd, as there are photos in the list that were included up to this year, so it looks to me like there's something wrong with how it's functioning. And if the most recent addition was two years ago, why would I only now be getting a notice that I'm almost full? None of this makes a bit of sense, and the fact that nothing, not folders, nor items are given their sizes, certainly doesn't help matters at all.

      • Steven Cee's avatar
        Steven Cee
        Helpful | Level 7

        I finally found directions as to how to make the sizes show up, and see that Dropbox is showing nearly TWO GIGS of files that I months ago removed from my Dropbox folder on my computer. So what do I do to get them off my account online? Do I have to go through and delete each one?  Why wouldn't removing them from my Dropbox folder also remove them from my account, isn't that how this works?

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    As well as unsharing you also need to delete the files. Basically if you can see things at www.dropbox.com/home they use your quota.

    Deleted files use no space so permanently deleting makes no difference.
    • Stephen Allen's avatar
      Stephen Allen
      Explorer | Level 4

      I'm new to this. I set up a Dropbox account, and the first message I see tells me that my Dropbox is full. How? I didn't do anything to put files into a folder. So, where are these files, and how do I get rid of them to start again?

       

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey Stephen Allen, I hope you're having a great Friday!

        You can verify your storage usage on your Account page. It will show you a breakdown of what's using your storage (regular files, shared files, etc.).

        Could it be that you're a member of a large shared folder that just keeps filling your account?

        Let me know more on this!
         
         

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