[Macworld]

Post your comments for Delete Dropbox cache to recover drive space here

[NikoNikorocksComxfn3]

That's really odd. Mine says zero kb and I use DropBox regularly. Are you sure you're using it correctly?

[AndrewRodney]

 NikoNikorocksComxfn3, on 30 April 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

That's really odd. Mine says zero kb and I use DropBox regularly. Are you sure you're using it correctly?

I found a few such files in the cache from a few days ago as well. So I think there must be some timing issue when DB deletes them and maybe that is why your cache is empty.

[debby54]

I didn't find a .dropbox.cache folder??

[zzot]

You could also use Finder's “Go to Folder…" (⇧⌘G) command to open the hidden folder and avoid twiddling hidden Finder preferences. If your Dropbox is in your home folder, the cache folder's path would be “~/Dropbox/.dropbox.cache”.

[alanreinke]

The DropBox folder on my laptop doesn't even contain a cache file. Spotlight can't find any such folder on my hard drive. Where could it be hiding?

[phdtop]

 debby54, on 30 April 2012 - 07:05 AM, said:

I didn't find a .dropbox.cache folder??

I also cannot find such a cache folder on my Snow Leopard desktop machine.

[MathiasLindberg]

Mine says 404 kb. What uses cache in Dropbox? I have my website, all of my iWork files ( for ultimate syncing and almost all of my normal sized files.

[MathiasLindberg]

 alanreinke, on 30 April 2012 - 07:37 AM, said:

The DropBox folder on my laptop doesn't even contain a cache file. Spotlight can't find any such folder on my hard drive. Where could it be hiding?

Go into Terminal and write "defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES" press enter.
Hold down alt and right click the finder App in your Dock and then click relaunch. All hidden files on your Mac should now be shown.

[MikeOliveri]

If you're already going into the Terminal, just skip the Finder tweaks and go straight into the Dropbox folder and run commands from there.

cd ~/Dropbox/.dropbox.cache (alter path wherever yours is stored)
du -hc (this will tell you how much space is being taken; mine was only 17MB)

ls, rm, and rmdir should help from here as needed.

[kirkmc]

 AndrewRodney, on 30 April 2012 - 06:42 AM, said:

 NikoNikorocksComxfn3, on 30 April 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

That's really odd. Mine says zero kb and I use DropBox regularly. Are you sure you're using it correctly?

I found a few such files in the cache from a few days ago as well. So I think there must be some timing issue when DB deletes them and maybe that is why your cache is empty.

It's supposed to only keep files for three days. It's not an issue if it's your files; I find that the files it stores are from shared folders. If you work with people who change a lot of files in shared folders, then a lot of space can be used.

If I look now, there is only 12 K in that folder. But this can vary greatly, again, depending on how many people update files in shared folders.

[vinnie_A]

Somewhat geeky, but not terminal: Select the Dropbox folder in Finder, press cmd-F, and in the Spotlight menubar that appear with "Kind" as the first selection criterion, click on "Kind" and select "Other" in the popup menu. From there, a sheet will drop down and you will select "File Visibility" and click OK, and then in the second popup criterion, select "Invisible Items" and you will be looking at all the invisible files in your Dropbox folder. Just "Get Info" the .dropbox file there to get a size...

[chimerical77]

All roads lead to nowhere. I can't find a Dropbox cache.

[BrianMiller]

All very good info and comments on this story. I'm especially glad that folks with FAR MORE experience with Terminal than I are commenting and helping to distill this issue along the way, with varying workarounds that will help bridge the competencies among the MacUsers who frequent these forums! KUDOS to all!
Gotta love my fellow MacEnthusiasts!
~Bri