Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive on a Mac: free up space

Dropbox taking up space on Mac, or OneDrive and Google Drive doing the same, almost always means files are downloaded. Each service keeps a full copy of every file you've opened or kept offline, and those copies use the disk like any other file. Files that show a cloud icon are only in the cloud and take almost nothing.

Each app has its own way to remove the downloaded copy and keep the file: Make online-only in Dropbox, Free up space in OneDrive and Box, and turning off Available offline in Google Drive. You'll find them in the menu you get when you Control-click a file or folder in Finder.

Don't delete files from these folders to make room. Deleting a synced file deletes it from the cloud and from your other devices, and dragging it out of the folder can take it out of the cloud too.

All four now build on Apple's File Provider, keep their folders in ~/Library/CloudStorage and list them under Locations in Finder's sidebar. iCloud Drive works the same way under Apple's names; see iCloud Drive's Remove Download and Optimize Mac Storage for that side.

How cloud storage apps keep files on a Mac now

A few years ago, each cloud app synced in its own way, from its own folder in your home folder. Today Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and Box are built on File Provider, a framework Apple provides for apps that sync documents with remote storage.

What is File Provider?

In Apple's description, a replicated File Provider extension leaves macOS to monitor and manage the local copies of your documents. The app's job is the sync itself: uploading your changes and downloading changes made elsewhere. That's why the four apps now behave so alike in Finder.

Each app has its own requirement. Dropbox on File Provider needs macOS 12.5 or later, Microsoft says File Provider is the only way OneDrive supports Files On-Demand from macOS 12.3, and Google Drive streams through it from macOS 12.1. A Mac on macOS 26 Tahoe or macOS 27 Golden Gate meets all of them.

Where are the cloud folders on a Mac?

Each app keeps a folder for each account in ~/Library/CloudStorage, inside the Library folder that Finder hides by default. You rarely need to open it there. Finder lists each service under Locations in its sidebar, and that's the place to manage the files.

Service	Folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage	Removes the download with
Dropbox	A folder starting with Dropbox	Make online-only
OneDrive	OneDrive-Personal, or your organization's name	Free up space
Google Drive	GoogleDrive- and the account	Turning off Available offline
Box Drive	Box-Box	Free up space
Other File Provider apps	One per account	The app's own command

Google adds that its streaming location is fixed: you can't change it. Dropbox says the same of its folder, with one exception for external drives covered below.

Online-only, downloaded and kept offline

Every file in these folders is in one of a few states, whatever the app calls them. The names change from app to app, but what each state costs on your disk doesn't.

State	What it means	Space on this Mac	Can macOS remove it by itself?
Online-only	A placeholder with a cloud icon	Almost none	Nothing to remove
Downloaded	You opened it, or it synced down	Its full size	It can, when space runs low
Kept offline	You chose to keep it on this Mac	Its full size, always	No
Waiting to upload	Changes not in the cloud yet	Its full size	No

Dropbox notes that an online-only file still leaves a small placeholder, which uses a little space for its name and link. Thousands of placeholders add up to very little, but not to nothing.

Does macOS free cloud space by itself?

Partly. Dropbox says files that aren't marked available offline may be made online-only automatically when your disk is low on space. Microsoft says that under disk pressure, macOS removes the downloaded copies of OneDrive files and leaves them online.

That only happens when space is short, so a large cloud folder on a Mac with plenty of room isn't a fault. If you need the space now, for an update or a big export, remove downloads yourself instead of waiting.

How much space do the cloud folders use?

Storage settings won't tell you. Apple's list of categories in System Settings › General › Storage has one for iCloud Drive and none for Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive or Box, and Apple's guide doesn't say where their downloaded files are counted.

Look in Finder instead. Select a service under Locations and choose File › Get Info, or switch to list view and sort by Size. For folders, turn on Calculate all sizes in View › Show View Options. The post on how Finder measures folder sizes explains its numbers in more detail.

Dropbox taking up space on Mac: online-only files

Dropbox gives you three ways to keep files in your account without keeping them on your Mac: one item at a time in Finder, many at once in its settings, and a default for new files.

How do you make Dropbox files online-only?

1. Open a Finder window and click Dropbox under Locations in the sidebar.
2. Find the files or folders you don't need on this Mac, such as finished projects.
3. Control-click them and choose Make online-only.

The opposite command is Make available offline. Use it for the folders you need without a connection, such as the one you work from while traveling. Those stay on your Mac whatever happens to your free space.

How do you free up space for many Dropbox files at once?

Dropbox has a tool for it in the menu bar app:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, then click the round account menu.
2. Click Sync & storage.
3. Under Available offline files, click Manage hard drive space.
4. Check the files you'd like off this Mac, and click Move to online-only.

It's the quickest way to see what Dropbox is keeping offline, which is easy to lose track of after years of marking folders one at a time.

Can Dropbox make new files online-only by default?

For some of them. Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, click the account menu, then Preferences. On the Sync tab, under Default sync preference, choose Online-only.

Dropbox says this applies to new files and folders added directly to the top level of your Dropbox folder. It doesn't change what's already there, and files you move into Dropbox from elsewhere on your Mac stay available offline until you change them. Team admins can set the default for team accounts.

What is the Dropbox cache, and can you clear it?

Dropbox keeps temporary files that help it sync, stage uploads and downloads, and keep copies of files you recently changed or deleted. On File Provider, the cache is outside your Dropbox folder: in ~/Library/Group Containers, in the folder whose name ends in .com.getdropbox.dropbox.sync, inside root-mount.

Dropbox clears it by itself every three days. The catalog rates the Dropbox cache as Usually safe: removing it while Dropbox is running can interrupt uploads and downloads in progress. Older setups keep the cache in a hidden .dropbox.cache folder inside the Dropbox folder itself.

Dropbox's help also describes clearing it by hand, for when sensitive files must go at once. It says to quit Dropbox fully first and, on File Provider, to wait for the DropboxFileProviderExtension process to stop. For space alone, the three-day clearing makes that unnecessary. Containers and Group Containers have their own post.

OneDrive: Files On-Demand and Free up space

OneDrive's version of online-only files is called Files On-Demand. Its folder is in the same CloudStorage location, under Locations in Finder, and it uses the same File Provider machinery as Dropbox.

How does Files On-Demand work on a Mac?

Microsoft says Files On-Demand is turned on by default from macOS 12.1 Monterey and has to stay on, and that File Provider is the only Files On-Demand solution it supports from macOS 12.3. On a current Mac, there's no switch to turn it off.

Files you haven't opened stay online-only and take no space. Files you open download and stay until you free them, and files you mark to keep always stay downloaded.

OneDrive's name	How a file gets there	Space on this Mac	Opens offline?
Online-only	Files from the cloud, or after Free up space	No	No
Locally available	You opened it	Yes, until you free it	Yes
Always available	Always keep on this device	Yes, always	Yes

How do you free up space in OneDrive?

1. Click OneDrive under Locations in Finder's sidebar.
2. Select the files or folders you don't need on this Mac.
3. Control-click them and choose Free up space.

They become online-only again, with a cloud icon. Microsoft says that if OneDrive's options are missing from Finder's menu, relaunching Finder brings them back: choose Apple menu › Force Quit, select Finder and click Relaunch.

What does Always keep on this device do?

It pins a file or folder to your Mac. Pinned items stay downloaded and open without a connection, and Microsoft notes that new files added to a pinned folder download as always available too.

That makes it easy to pin a shared folder once and forget it while it grows. If OneDrive is large on your Mac, look for folders with the check-circle icon first, and free the ones you no longer need offline.

Where else does OneDrive keep data?

Microsoft's own explanation of disk use mentions a cache path, derived from where you chose to put OneDrive. On your startup disk, a pinned file and its cached copy are APFS clones that share their space until one changes, so they don't take double the room.

Microsoft doesn't give the cache's folder on a Mac in that explanation, and the catalog has no separate entry for it. Leave it to OneDrive, and manage space with Free up space.

Google Drive: streaming or mirroring

Google Drive for desktop gives you a choice the others don't. You can stream My Drive, keeping files mainly in the cloud, or mirror it, keeping a full copy on your Mac. Which one you picked decides most of its space.

Should you stream or mirror Google Drive?

Streaming suits most people. Google says it uses very little space on your computer, and files you open or make available offline are the only ones stored locally. Mirroring keeps everything on your Mac and in the cloud, so it's always available offline, at the cost of a full copy on your disk.

	Stream files	Mirror files
Where files live	Mainly in the cloud	On your Mac and in the cloud
Space on this Mac	Very little, plus offline files	A full copy of My Drive
Offline	Only files made available offline	Always
Folder on the Mac	~/Library/CloudStorage, under Locations	A folder you choose
Best for	Most people	Apps that write a lot, such as video editing

Neither choice changes your Google storage. Shared drives can only be streamed, and folders from your computer that you back up to Drive can only be mirrored.

How do you switch from mirroring to streaming?

1. Click Drive for desktop in the menu bar, click Settings, then Preferences.
2. Click Folders from Drive on the left.
3. Under My Drive syncing options, choose Stream files.

Before you switch, make sure your recent changes have finished syncing. Switching doesn't free the space by itself: the mirrored copy stays where it was, and Google's steps cover removing it afterwards. Google warns that removing the mirrored folder before every change has uploaded loses those changes.

How do you stop Google Drive keeping files offline?

While streaming, files you open download, and folders you make available offline stay on the Mac with everything in them. Google points out that marking a folder offline can use even more space than single files, because every file inside it downloads, and files added to it later download too.

To take a folder back off your Mac, Control-click it in Finder and turn off Available offline; some versions put it under Offline access. Drive for desktop's menu also has an Offline Files list that shows everything you've marked, which is the quickest way to find a forgotten folder.

What is Google Drive's DriveFS folder?

Google Drive for desktop keeps a folder for each signed-in account in ~/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS, with its file database, logs and cached content. The catalog rates Google Drive's DriveFS folder as Review first, because changes that haven't finished uploading wait in that cache.

Google notes those changes can be lost if the cache is cleared. Leave the folder to Google Drive, as you would the other folders in Application Support. Google also says that with File Provider, macOS manages where the temporary files for streamed files go.

Does disconnecting an account free space?

Yes, and it's the right step for an account you no longer use. Open Drive for desktop from the menu bar, click your profile picture and choose Disconnect account. Google says disconnecting a streaming account removes its offline files, so let its uploads finish first.

Box Drive and other File Provider apps

Box Drive and the smaller File Provider apps follow the same pattern: a folder in CloudStorage, a place under Locations, and a command to remove the local copy.

How do you free up space in Box Drive?

Box works with folders. Control-click a folder in Box under Locations and choose Always keep on device to download it with all its subfolders and files. Files always take the state of the folder they're in.

To undo it, Control-click the folder and choose Free up space. Box says this removes the downloaded copy from your Mac without deleting the item in Box. It also stops you marking more folders offline once your Mac has only 2 GB of free space left.

How big can Box Drive's cache get?

Separately, Box Drive keeps copies of online-only files you've opened in ~/Library/Application Support/Box/Box/cache. Box says the cache uses at least 1 GB and no more than 25 GB, and can remove a cached file once it hasn't changed for 30 days or when a newer version exists in Box.

• Smallest cache Box Drive uses1 GB · Usually safe
• Lowest limit Box recommends5 GB · Usually safe
• Largest cache Box Drive uses25 GB · Usually safe

From Box Drive's FAQ. On macOS the maximum can't be changed, and folders kept offline use space beyond it.

The catalog rates the Box Drive cache as Usually safe. Box manages its size, and logging out of Box Drive clears it, along with offline files, logs and pending uploads. Quitting Box Drive is different: it stops the app without removing anything.

What about other cloud apps in CloudStorage?

Any app built on File Provider keeps its folders in the same place. The catalog's other cloud storage folders entry covers them: files you've opened or kept offline take space, files with a cloud icon don't, and deleting a file there usually deletes it from the cloud too.

Their menus vary. Some show Finder's own Download Now and Remove Download, as Google Drive did when TidBITS tested the change in 2023, and others use their own words. Whatever it's called, the command you want removes the local copy and leaves a cloud icon behind.

Why won't a file's download go away?

Apple's File Provider documentation lists the reasons removing a local copy can fail. A file with changes that haven't uploaded stays, and so does one you've marked to keep on the device. A file that's open in an app can't be removed either, and in a folder, one such file stops the rest part-way.

So when Make online-only or Free up space seems to do nothing, quit the app that uses the file, check the sync status in the service's menu bar item, and try again once uploads have finished.

Never delete synced files to save space

The folder looks like any other folder, and the Delete key works in it like anywhere else. That's what makes it risky: the delete doesn't stay on your Mac.

What happens when you delete a file in Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive?

It's deleted in the cloud and on every device that syncs the account. Dropbox says deleting an online-only file deletes it everywhere you use Dropbox. Microsoft says an online-only file you delete goes from OneDrive on all devices and online. Google says files you put in the trash from Drive for desktop go to the trash everywhere.

Box is no different. Its catalog entry, like the others, describes deleting a file in the folder as deleting it from Box, which is why the way to free space is the offline copy, not the file.

Can you get a deleted file back?

Usually, for a while, from the service's website rather than from your Mac:

• Dropbox: Deleted files on dropbox.com, for 30 days on Basic, Plus and Family plans, 180 days on Professional, Essentials, Standard and Business, and 365 days on Advanced, Business Plus, Enterprise and Education.
• OneDrive: the recycle bin on the OneDrive website, for up to 30 days.
• Google Drive: the trash on the Drive website, where files are deleted forever after 30 days.

Whether a synced file passes through your Mac's Trash depends on the app, so don't count on Put Back for these. For the rest of your Mac, Trash first still holds: Finder's Move to Trash can be undone until you empty the Trash.

What about dragging files out of the folder?

That can take them out of the cloud too. Microsoft says files moved outside the OneDrive folder download to the new folder and are removed from OneDrive. Google says that on File Provider, dragging items out of the Drive folder moves them and trashes the cloud file. Box warns the same move can remove an item from Box.

What you do	On this Mac	In the cloud
Make online-only, Free up space	The copy goes; a cloud icon stays	Kept
Delete, or Move to Trash	Gone once the Trash empties	Deleted everywhere
Drag it to a folder outside	Kept, as an ordinary file	Removed from the service
Keep offline	Always kept	Kept
Disconnect or log out the account	Offline files removed	Kept, if uploads finished

When is deleting the right move?

When you want the file gone everywhere. A finished project you'll never need, a duplicate you've checked, or a large download that belongs nowhere: deleting those is a decision about your account, not a way to make room on one Mac. Make it on purpose, knowing every device follows.

Several cloud services on one Mac

Many Macs run two or three of these at once: Dropbox for one group, OneDrive for work, Google Drive for school, iCloud Drive for everything else. Each is fine alone. Together they can hold the same files twice and fight over the same folders.

Do two services double the space?

They can. The same folder kept in Dropbox and Google Drive has a downloaded copy in each, and each copy counts against that service's storage. It's easy to end up there after moving from one service to another and leaving both running.

Don't clear a duplicate by deleting it inside a sync folder without deciding first. Pick the service that keeps the file, then remove it from the other in that service, knowing it goes from that account everywhere. Finding duplicate files on a Mac safely has its own post.

Can two services sync your Desktop and Documents?

Apple warns against it. When you turn on Desktop & Documents in iCloud Drive, Apple says you may need to turn off any other app or cloud service that syncs those folders, because its syncing can interfere with or stop iCloud Drive's.

macOS 26 and 27 also let a third-party service hold those folders. Choose Finder › Settings, click General, and turn on Sync Desktop & Documents folders with followed by the service's name, if the app supports it. Apple says the folders then move into that service.

Turning it off removes the items from your Desktop and Documents folders, but they stay in the service, and new files are saved on your Mac again. Choose one service for these two folders, and only one.

What about Google Drive backing up folders from your Mac?

Google Drive can mirror folders from your computer, such as your desktop, to Drive. If those folders are already in iCloud Drive or another service, they're synced twice, with two services watching every change. Back up each folder with one service.

How do you decide what goes where?

Give each set of files one home. Work files usually belong in the account your employer manages, and shared folders in the service the people you share with use. After that, keep offline only what you open without a connection, in each service, and let the rest be online-only.

Moving a sync folder to another drive

Some people would rather keep the files downloaded and put them on a larger drive. File Provider makes that harder than it used to be, and each service has its own rules.

Service	Can its folder move?	What it needs
Dropbox	To an external drive, for eligible accounts	macOS 15.4 or later, under 500,000 files, an encrypted APFS drive
OneDrive	Yes, by unlinking and choosing a new location	An APFS drive that isn't classed as removable
Google Drive, streaming	No	The location is fixed in CloudStorage
Google Drive, mirroring	To a folder you choose	Set when you switch to mirroring
Box Drive	No	File Provider versions have no custom location

How do you move the Dropbox folder to an external drive?

Dropbox says moving the folder isn't supported on File Provider in general, but eligible users can put it on an external drive. The drive must be formatted as APFS and encrypted: select it in Finder, choose File › Get Info, and look for APFS (Encrypted) under Format.

To move it, sign out of Dropbox and sign back in. On the "You're almost finished" screen, open Advanced settings and choose a location on the external drive. Dropbox warns that encrypting a drive can take several days and can't be stopped once it has started.

How do you move OneDrive?

Microsoft documents it as unlinking and relinking. In OneDrive's settings, on the Account tab, choose Unlink this Mac. When you set it up again, click Change Location and pick the new place. Microsoft says unlinking doesn't delete your files; they stay in OneDrive online.

For an external drive, Microsoft says it must be formatted as APFS and must not be classed as removable, and removable USB drives aren't supported. With the location there, OneDrive keeps its cache on that drive, so files you keep on the device are stored there rather than on your startup disk.

What about Google Drive and Box?

Google says the streaming location can't be changed, and that the cache for streamed files can't be moved to an external drive. Mirroring stores My Drive in a folder you choose. Box says its File Provider versions don't support a custom location.

If the aim is room on your Mac rather than a different setup, online-only files usually do the job with nothing to move. For everything else that can live on a drive, see the post on freeing up space with an external drive.

Before you change anything: backups and uploads

Removing downloads is reversible: the files come back when you open them. Two things aren't: a file that hadn't uploaded, and a file that existed only on the Mac you changed.

Are cloud files in your Time Machine backup?

Only the downloaded ones. A backup of your Mac can only copy what's on its disk, and online-only files are placeholders until you open them. TidBITS noted this when the services moved to File Provider: Time Machine and other backup tools back up only offline files.

That's usually fine, since the cloud holds the files. But a sync service isn't a backup: a delete or a damaged file reaches every device, and deleted files are kept only for a while. Before a big change, it's worth knowing how to back up your Mac before a cleanup.

Have your uploads finished?

Changes waiting to upload exist only on this Mac. Each app shows its sync status in its menu bar item, and Finder shows status icons on the files themselves. Wait until everything is up to date before you log out, disconnect an account, switch modes or move a folder.

Google says changes still waiting in Drive for desktop's cache can be lost if the cache is cleared. Box says logging out removes pending uploads. Neither has an undo for that.

A worked example

Say a Mac has 20 GB free and needs 40 GB for a macOS update. Dropbox's folder holds 90 GB of downloaded files, and Google Drive mirrors a 60 GB My Drive. Deleting anything in either folder would free space only by removing files from the cloud.

Instead, in Dropbox's Manage hard drive space, move two finished project folders, 35 GB in all, to online-only. Then, with Google Drive's changes fully synced, switch it to streaming and follow Google's steps for the old mirrored copy. The files are still in both accounts, a click away, and the update has room.

Where iCloud Drive fits

iCloud Drive is Apple's version of the same idea. Its files live in ~/Library/Mobile Documents rather than CloudStorage, it shows under iCloud in Finder's sidebar rather than Locations, and its commands are Finder's own: Remove Download, Download Now and Keep Downloaded.

Its Optimize Mac Storage setting plays the part of the automatic online-only features above: macOS removes downloads of older files when space is needed. Behind it is a background process called bird, which syncs iCloud Drive; the post on the bird process and iCloud's local cache explains it and its folders.

How the app does it

Wombit shows what's using your storage and explains every item in plain language. Each cloud service's folder appears on the map with the space its downloaded files take, explained from the catalog: what it holds, why deleting there deletes everywhere, and the service's own command to remove the download.

The Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive and Box folders, and other CloudStorage folders, are Usually safe: the files come back, but only by downloading them again. The app never removes them; cloud sync folders and everything in them are on the list of places it doesn't touch.

The Dropbox and Box caches are Usually safe too, explained with the clearing each app does by itself, and Google Drive's DriveFS folder is Review first.

• ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox*

  Dropbox folder

  Your Dropbox folder, with the Dropbox files that are downloaded to this Mac.

  Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how

• ~/Library/Group Containers/*.com.getdropbox.dropbox.sync/root-mount

  Dropbox cache

  Temporary copies of files that Dropbox keeps for performance and as a staging area for uploads and downloads.

  Usually safe · Explained only: never removed

• ~/Library/CloudStorage/OneDrive*

  OneDrive folder

  Your OneDrive folders, with the OneDrive files that are downloaded to this Mac.

  Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how

• ~/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive*

  Google Drive folder

  Your streamed Google Drive, with the Drive files that are downloaded to this Mac.

  Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how

• ~/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS

  Google Drive app data (DriveFS)

  Google Drive for desktop's account databases, logs and local cache, including changes that haven't finished uploading.

  Review first · Explained only: never removed

• ~/Library/CloudStorage/Box-*

  Box Drive folder

  Your Box folder, with the Box files that are downloaded to this Mac.

  Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how

• ~/Library/Application Support/Box/Box/cache

  Box Drive cache

  Copies of Box files you've opened recently, which Box Drive keeps so they open quickly.

  Usually safe · Explained only: never removed

• ~/Library/CloudStorage/*

  Other cloud storage folders

  A folder that a cloud storage app keeps in CloudStorage, with the files it has downloaded to this Mac.

  Usually safe · Explained only: the app shows you how

macOS keeps cloud storage folders private until you allow an app to read them. With Full Disk Access, the scan measures them; without it, the app lists them as folders it skipped. File names and paths never leave your Mac.

The scan, the map and the explanations are free. Cleanup, the Apple Data actions and the uninstaller are PRO: one payment of $4.99 with lifetime access. Every Pro tool's review is free to open, so you can see what would go and why before you buy.