Killer Tech Tips

Dropbox has become an indispensable application for millions of people around the world. It keeps our data synced across multiple computers, quite magically. Here are some lesser known tips that Dropbox users should know about:

1. Clear the hidden Dropbox cache folder to free up disk space

When you delete files in Dropbox remotely from the web, Dropbox caches those files in the .dropbox.cache folder that’s present inside your Dropbox directory. The deleted files, if needed again, are restored from here in order to save bandwidth.

You can safely delete the contents of this folder using the procedure mentioned here and gain some valuable disk space in the process. Just make sure you’ve set hidden and protected files to be visible in Windows Explorer.

2. Ditch the Dropbox Android app for Dropspace

The official Dropbox app for Android doesn’t sync your files – it lets you selectively download and upload stuff to your Dropbox from your phone and that’s it. Changes you make to files locally aren’t synced back unless you upload them explicitly again. Enter Dropspace.

Once you install the application, you need to provide your Dropbox credentials and then choose the directories or files that you want to be synced to Dropbox. You then choose the location on your remote Dropbox folder where this directory you’re adding has to be placed. You can set Dropspace to sync to Dropbox at regular time intervals, and it will sync any modified documents to your Dropbox account.

3. Bandwidth limits for public folders and files

If you thought you can put files in Dropbox’s public folder and share it online, think again. In case your links go viral, you could be in trouble.  Dropbox puts a bandwidth limit of 10GB/day and 250GB/day for free and pro accounts, respectively.

If your hotlinks exceed that bandwidth limit, your account gets flagged and an email notification is sent to you.

4. Relocate Dropbox folder if you have space constraints

One big drawback of Dropbox is that it cannot sync files and folders outside the Dropbox folder. This means the disk partition that holds the Dropbox folder can become filled up pretty quickly, since you need to put all your files inside it.

Thankfully, you can move the folder elsewhere using the Dropbox application. Just right click on the Dropbox icon in the system tray, choose Preferences, hit the Advanced tab and use the Move button to change the location of the Dropbox folder. Often overlooked, so we thought we’ll mention it here.

If your Dropbox folder is inside the primary partition in your hard disk, this could help you save some space in the same C:\ drive.

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If you’re a Dropbox user and if you have something to share, tell us in the comments below.

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