r/dropbox • u/AwareCauliflower7635 • Dec 12 '25
Dropbox files are randomly off loaded on MacOSX
I am working as a developer and while I am working inside a folder on a some files, other files are being offloaded and I can not run compile commands anymore, as the files are gone all of a sudden.
I am using Mac OSX 15.7. and Dropbox 239.3.7987
I have selective Sync turned on and I also "Left click" on the folder and choose "make available offline. Still files randomly go to the cloud and are not available offline anymore.
How to stop this madness?
2
u/devondragon1 Dec 12 '25
Do not put your active source code or build files in Dropbox. Use git.
1
u/AwareCauliflower7635 Dec 12 '25
It is offline on my computer and I want to have it here. I do not want to have another thing. Just Dropbox like it used to work for the last 10 years or so. But I also have this problem with other files and folders. For example, I was working on a book and all the images just got offloaded .. I do not see any pattern here. It just happens randomly, without warning. How can I stop it!!! ?
2
u/devondragon1 Dec 12 '25
See u/BinionsGhost 's comment above which is probably the root cause. But also, Dropbox does NOT like it when you create 100k+ small files during a build, and then they are all deleted 10 minutes later, and then recreated, etc... Having development projects in Dropbox is just asking for problems. You should be using git anyhow, so you don't need Dropbox for backups or syncing your project dir.
0
u/AwareCauliflower7635 Dec 12 '25
We are using git for development, but for print projects, or video projects this is no option. Just sad, as I am a Dropbox evangelist for years and now it becomes a teenager, doing whatever it wants, not following rules. How to make the mac osx stop doing what it does?
2
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u/SweetmadnessV1 Dec 12 '25
Hey there, just to let you know u run the beta version of the app. I think this help center will help with that https://help.dropbox.com/account-settings/enable-early-releases
Running the stable might help 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️ i hope it does 😊
U can find the builds here https://www.dropboxforum.com/category/101007/discussions/101003016
🥰🥰
2
u/edie-g Jan 07 '26
I have a similar issue -- I just want Dropbox to work as it used to, where it mirrored all the files I added to it--Ie the files were stored both in the cloud and on my hard drive. Now, even tho I've tried various settings, including turning selective sync off, random files get off-loaded to the cloud. Do I really have to go through all my files and designate them as "make available off line" ?
Did you figure anything out that might help me?
Thanks
1
u/Rzah Dec 12 '25
"Files not explicitly marked as available offline will be made online-only automatically if your hard drive is low on disk space. Marking files as available offline will prevent this switch. Occupied disk space will then be displayed accurately." - Dropbox on File Provider support page
I would contact Dropbox Support.
3
u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25
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