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Forum Discussion

peter ashworth's avatar
peter ashworth
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

why is Dropbox showing me using 5.3Gb when i am actually only using 736Mb?

i have n to used Dropbox in about  DECADE before recently starting to use it again

 

i have the basic 2Gb + extra storage offered to me in the past for actions, raising it to 7.8Gb

 

imagine my surprise when i see that i keep getting alerts saying i am near the limit

 

i am actually only using 736Mb

 

is this purely a tactic from Dropbox to encourage me to buy more storage?

 

why will the Dropbox not show the real value?

 

and btw it gets even worse on the Dropbox website, where it says i only have that original 2Gb

 

?????

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    2 years ago

    We appreciate the feedback on this matter. We take all comments into consideration when improving the Dropbox site and services.

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    peter ashworth wrote:

    imagine my surprise when i see that i keep getting alerts saying i am near the limit


    Do you have the backup feature enabled? Check your Backup page. Also, take a look at your Account page and it will show you a breakdown of your actual usage. Where does it say the space is being used; regular files, shared files, backup, etc.?

    • peter ashworth's avatar
      peter ashworth
      Explorer | Level 3

      having done as you suggested i see BACKUP was last used on 2/7/23 and is 4.62Gb in size

       

      but i still have absolutely no idea what BACKUP is, not what it is meant to do, or why it is storing fake data

       

      your second link to my ACCOUNT shows me that there is 180Mb of "REGULAR FILES", 4.6Gb of this non-accessible BACKUP, SHARED FILES 453Mb, and UNUSED SPACE 1.5Gb

       

      but it doesn’t tell me where these alternative versions of Dropbox felicity actually are, nor what i can do with them

       

      so, thank you for pointing out these bits of Dropbox i have never seen before ... b ut all this has done is make me feel like i now know less than i did before about the arcane workings of Dropbox

       

      for ex/ how do i delete whatever might be inside this BACKUP?

      • Rich's avatar
        Rich
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

        peter ashworth wrote:

        but i still have absolutely no idea what BACKUP is, not what it is meant to do, or why it is storing fake data


        Backup is not storing fake data. At one, obviously on or around 2/7/23, you enabled the Backup feature to either back up your key folders (Desktop, Documents, etc.) or you backed up an external drive.

         


        for ex/ how do i delete whatever might be inside this BACKUP?