Why does dropbox download online only files?

Make sure the file isn’t read-only (Windows) or locked (Mac) Dropbox can’t sync files that are read-only or locked by a non-Dropbox application. If you’re using Windows, see if your document is read-only in your file properties and uncheck that option. If you’re using Mac, check if your document is locked in your file info and unlock it. With Smart Sync, you can make files and folders online-only. Online-only files use just a small amount of hard drive space to store information like the file name, size, and thumbnail, but the full contents of the files are stored securely in the Dropbox cloud.  · Additionally, are you trying to download the files in question directly from your account or from a shared link? If you need to download a folder that’s larger than 20 GB, then the best way to do so is by adding the files to your Dropbox account syncing / them to your computer using the Dropbox desktop application.

To set a file or folder to online-only manually, using Smart Sync: Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). Open the Dropbox folder. Right-click the file or folder you'd like to set to online-only. Hover over Smart Sync. Click Online Only. If you'd like to save your file back to your computer's hard drive again, click Local. Part 1: How to Download Dropbox Files to Computer. We begin with downloading your files to a computer from Dropbox because it is about the most common need. There are several reasons why people need to download Dropbox files to their computers. For example we are in an era where remote work has become the order of the day. Make sure the file isn't read-only (Windows) or locked (Mac) Dropbox can't sync files that are read-only or locked by a non-Dropbox application. If you're using Windows, see if your document is read-only in your file properties and uncheck that option. If you're using Mac, check if your document is locked in your file info and unlock it.

Make a file available offline on a computer. Download the Dropbox desktop app, if you haven’t already. Make sure there’s an application on your computer that can open your files offline. For example, to view a PDF, you need a PDF viewer installed on your computer. Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and navigate to the file or folder. This means that the files are ‘online-only’. You can see and interact with these files as normal, but they take up practically no space on your computer. Through our Smart Sync feature you now have greater control and can sync only the folders or files you need by right clicking, choosing Smart Sync and then selecting 'Local'. This helps optimize your hard disk usage. However Dropbox keeps randomly re-downloading the files to my system even after telling it that I want the files to be online only. This feature is supposed to "save hard disk space", which it does seem to do temporarily before it just starts downoading things again.