Dropbox keeps trying to download and sync files set to online only

Hm. As soon as I turned it on, a Windows notification said Smart Sync wasn't working and the popup in Dropbox says this:

"Smart Sync is experiencing an issue. To open online-only files and folders, right-click and choose Smart Sync and then Local." And there's a link: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/smart-sync-experiencing-issue

Not sure how to fix this...or if anything's even broken. Aren't I supposed to make files local if I want to open them, anyway? :/ All the Smart Sync icons on the folders/files look the same as always--green checkmarks (local), white-and-green checkmarks (mixed), gray clouds (online only).

Hey Rachel L. - thanks for keeping us in the loop and for all the troubleshooting you've done so far on this. 

At this point, I'd recommend having a more in-depth look into this issue with our team. 

Could you have a look at your Support options from this page? 

If you can submit a ticket, please do so and let us know its ID (eg. #1234567) so that we can pass all your comments from here along to the one who'll be reviewing this for you.

Lusil Sorry it took me so long (anxiety) but I submitted an e-mail ticket since chat is difficult for me. I wasn't sure which category to choose so I went with "The Dropbox app" and I wasn't sure how to summarize such a lengthy issue so I sent a link to this thread. The ticket number is #12049248.

The problem persists and has only gotten worse. Since last night now it seems to do it any time, any day I turn on Dropbox and navigate to my Windows Explorer folders. Last night it was just trying to download one e-book but today it's trying to download TENS OF THOUSANDS of files from numerous folders! I mark them as online only over and over and it just keeps trying to download them all! Clicking "cancel" on the occasions it brings a popup message works only temporarily, then it tries again; but now that it's doing all these files at once, there's no way to stop it. A few moments ago it wasn't trying to do this much, but now it is.

Previously I could at least predict the day and time it would do this and avoid turning on Dropbox then, but when it can just decide to do it every night when I'm manually backing up my files, how am I supposed to use this program properly?

I don't have room on my computer for all those files! How do I stop this from happening? I'm sorry to be so frustrated but this has been going on for months now and I really can't deal with all these files always trying to download. 😞 At least when it was just that one file it would always fail to download, but these ones look like they're going to download whether I try to stop them or not. I have no idea what's going to happen when I turn Dropbox on and try again but I have to, to back up my files!

Oh by the way, I very greatly changed up my file organization since I was last here, completely different folders, reorganized files, but that hasn't changed the problem any. All these folders are set NOT to index so that's not the issue. Virus scan wasn't running so that's not the issue. It happens literally when I open Windows Explorer so that's obviously related--but I need to use that program to view my files and modify them (I don't modify them through the app because I need to view the Windows properties).

I can't even figure out how to open the Dropbox app even if I wanted to, anymore. Since I have to go into Windows Explorer to make these folders online only, it's going to keep trying to download them! 😞

I've opened Dropbox in the desktop app version, Windows Explorer is closed, and am trying to tell it to make folders online only through the app but that's not working, either! So it's not just Windows Explorer causing it now, it's Dropbox! I keep clicking online only for this particular folder and it never selects it!

I'm really sorry for my hysteria but I don't know if I have the space for so many files, plus it won't back up the few files I WANT backed up until it's done doing all these. Tens of thousands of online-only files and I can't make them online only whether I use Windows Explorer or the Dropbox app. 😞

Restarting the computer & restarting Dropbox didn't help. 😞

Lusil I looked at the suggestions provided in the help ticket answer and none of them are useful. It's all advice I was already given about checking my antivirus software, any programs that may be trying to access the files (I wouldn't know what, I thought it was Windows Explorer but what's happening right now shows it isn't--all I did this time was restart the computer and Dropbox and it resumed downloading online-only files), backup services (I only use Dropbox), third-party apps that check files (I don't know of any). I was instructed to right click and make files online only...it's literally not letting me do that (I select online only over and over and over without luck), plus I have to open Windows Explorer or the Dropbox app to do so, and that makes files start downloading again. I don't have any other ideas to try. It's currently downloading tens of thousands of files and the Dropbox app itself won't let me smart sync them. I use Trend Micro antivirus but I don't know how that would affect it since I'm not running a virus scan when this happens.

I pay for this service so I wish that it would work the way it's supposed to. 😞

*deepbreath*

So all right, when Dropbox finally finished downloading/syncing those thousands of files, I realized it had NOT actually downloaded them, it just said it was. So I'm more confused than ever. When it finished, those folders were again marked as "Online only" in the Dropbox app (which it had not allowed me to change while they were "downloading"). I turned Dropbox off and viewed the problem folders in File Explorer (that's what I meant by Windows Explorer, sorry) and indeed, the files are all X'ed out in both the folders that acted up.

(Additionally, Dropbox made two folders I HAD set to be stored locally online only, so I changed the setting on those once I started the app up again. I haven't checked to see if they're actually stored locally...I'm scared to open File Explorer again.)

On a whim, I went into the Windows indexing settings to make sure all the folders I want online only are set to be ignored by indexing. And the two problem folders were NOT unselected to be indexed. I don't understand that, they WERE unselected before. I unselected them again. I don't know if this is related or not, since that single e-book file that started giving me problems yesterday is in a folder that's still unselected. (That file keeps trying to download and failing; I get a Windows notification for this one, but not for the others. That problem file DOES seem to be directly related to opening File Explorer.)

So...I don't know what's going on. Dropbox saying it's downloading and indexing thousands of online-only files...but not actually doing so? Possibly related to File Explorer and/or the Dropbox app, and/or Windows indexing...I don't know.

Unfortunately I sent off a hysterical help ticket already. In it I redirected them to this thread and my previous help ticket, so I'm not sure if they'll see this update.

I currently have the app open but am too scared to open File Explorer lest I start something happening again. I feel I'm going to have to just keep Dropbox turned off all the time except right when I back up my few files nightly, then turn it back off. Which is disappointing but I don't want to freak out the app like that again. 😕

"As of January 17, 2022, the Dropbox desktop app will only support File Explorer and the taskbar on Windows and Finder and the menu bar on Macs."

Given this news, I sure hope my issue with Dropbox weirdly attempting (but failing) to download all my online-only files every time I open up Windows File Explorer while Dropbox is running has been resolved. Never opening File Explorer while Dropbox is running is the only way I've found to avoid this problem, and I seem to be the only user who has it. 😕

I just remembered the reason that getting rid of the desktop app will be so troublesome for me. It was the only way I could safely mark folders to save to online only without everything trying to start downloading to my hard drive. If Dropbox is running while I open Windows File Explorer--the only location left where I'll be able to sync folders like this--the problem is going to recur. The only way I've found to avoid it is to turn off Dropbox while using File Explorer, and close File Explorer while using Dropbox.

Now if I want to sync certain folders online only, I have no other options. 😞

Well...after a while of working okay, it's starting this crap again, trying over and over and over and over to download files that I keep marking as ONLINE ONLY over and over and over and over! Except this time, I need to use Windows File Explorer to deal with my Dropbox files, so there's no way for me to avoid triggering this issue.

Why can't this be fixed after such a long period of time? Or at least pinpoint what's causing the conflict? I find it difficult to believe I'm the only user dealing with this. 😞

Experiencing this yet again after downloading some more files and then setting them to online only, I think I might...MIGHT...have figured out what's causing it: File Explorer's "recent files" list.

Every time I opened a new instance of File Explorer and went to the Quick Access, where recently used/opened files show up--in this case, the recently downloaded files--they started trying to download and open. When I navigated away from here and turned them online only again, the behavior stopped. Did it again when I again navigated to the recently used items, stopped again when I navigated away. Quick Access and recent files are what show up by default when I open File Manager, so that would explain why opening up File Manager seemed to cause the problem.

I opened up a bunch of local files and closed them again to "wipe off" the online-only files from the recent files list, and navigated back to it. Nothing tried downloading.

Granted...this doesn't explain my earlier experiences where Dropbox would just of its own volition start randomly trying to download stuff at particular times of particular days. So, I don't know that this is the ONLY answer, just that it might be the answer for the most RECENT behavior. But I'm not entirely positive. Rather scared to keep poking around to find out. (I just want my files to behave.)

Googling old threads with similar subjects suggests recent file lists can cause problems with Dropbox wanting to download online-only stuff, even when you have your preview screen turned off and are not opening, indexing, or virus-scanning the files (I tried all of that long ago). I don't remember recent file lists being suggested as a solution to my problem, though. 😕 Maybe I missed it.

Well...so much for that theory. Held up for about a day. Now today while downloading some new e-book files and one music album, Dropbox started trying to download and open a random music file which is nowhere in the recent files list. (I had to search my online-only files to see what it was even trying to download. Can't even be sure whether it succeeded or not.)

EDIT, and now that I've resumed trying to upload the e-books in question, the Dropbox status says it's still downloading random music files as well. None of them in the recent files.

Really, really wish this would be fixed, whatever it is. Sigh.

Dropbox was successfully downloading online-only MP3 files that I had not recently accessed, so I have no idea why it was targeting them. It was downloading so many of these, it was holding up my upload of e-books.

I found the folder these files were located in and first tried setting the individual album folders to online only, but they kept redownloading. Then just did the whole folder even though I hadn't planned to do that yet, since I'd added ONE new album folder today. This is all I can think of, this one new folder added to the online only folder. But this folder was still marked as local (so it didn't need to redownload), and everything else as online only, so why would it affect the other files? (For comparison, the local e-books I'm uploading today aren't trying to make the rest of the online-only files in that folder redownload!)

I opened a bunch of unrelated files like I did the other day to clear anything new off the recent files list anyway, including the one local music folder. That seemed to solve the issue--the main folder went online only, stopped trying to sync, got back to my e-book uploads.

But just as I was typing this, something from that folder started trying to download again and I had to cancel it. NO FILES FROM THIS FOLDER ARE IN THE RECENT FILES LIST! I JUST cleared it to make sure of that!

This is driving me crazy, what is left that could be triggering these downloads?

(EDIT, happened yet AGAIN when I opened up an unrelated folder in File Explorer. There is NO link to this problem folder in the lefthand side where it shows recent folders, and yesterday, that part of the screen didn't trigger anything anyway, it was only the Recent Files page. I'm not going anywhere near the Recent Files page. So I think it's still File Explorer triggering this but I just can't for the life of me figure out how or why.)

If simply opening a folder in File Explorer now triggers stuff to start downloading--how are we supposed to mark things as online only??

God I wish Dropbox hadn't gotten rid of the desktop app, that was my ONLY way to avoid this issue. 😢

Nope...it's not File Explorer. I closed it. And it started trying to download something again. EDIT: And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. (Each of these "agains" is a time it tried doing it over and I had to again stop it. I was NOT interacting with the folder when these happened, was just trying to watch the upload/sync progress in the Dropbox taskbar popup.)

By now I have to keep File Explorer open just so I can keep telling it to make this folder online only and try to stop the downloads, when keeping it open might be exacerbating the problem (though it's obviously not THE cause, since THIS HAPPENS WHEN FILE EXPLORER ISN'T OPEN, TOO). My upload is significantly slowed down because of all this.

So this theory, the Recent Files list being the culprit, is completely busted. I don't know what's causing this and it's extremely frustrating. This app is broken.

EDIT: Every time I have to make this unrelated folder online only, it RESETS MY CURRENT UPLOAD to start all over again! It is LITERALLY slowing down my uploads! 😡

EDIT: Finally finished my upload. Navigated to the folder the problem subfolder is in. Again, NONE of this stuff is in the recent file list, but as soon as I went into the folder in question, everything started trying to download again. I had to set it to online only over and over and over before it finally took somehow.

OPENING THE FOLDER THE PROBLEM SUBFOLDER IS IN TRIGGERS IT TO START DOWNLOADING. YET THIS IS THE *ONLY* WAY I CAN SET FOLDERS TO ONLINE ONLY. What is the solution to this?

An unrelated issue where a user is also suggesting some fundamental disconnect/incompatibility between Windows 10 File Explorer and Dropbox:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Thumbnail-photos-not-showing-in-Dropbox/m-p/597118/highlight/true#M231845

The only, ONLY, conclusion I've been able to reach about my current issue is that it started when I began using this computer...my first Windows 10 computer. Everything else is iffy/sporadic and can't be replicated right, but I do still believe it's connected to File Explorer...I just don't understand why it would still act up when File Explorer isn't open/active. It's like every time I find a way to avoid the issue, the issue adapts and finds another way to act up. Previously I'd avoid opening File Explorer while using Dropbox (even though that's not always possible)...now it acts up even when File Explorer isn't open!

I've made sure the folders in question aren't being indexed. Cleared the items in question from the Recent Files list. (Even the folder they're in isn't showing up there.) Turned off previews. Tried staying out of the folders in question while backing up other files (though I shouldn't have to do this, how else do I mark things local or online only??). Even tried avoiding File Explorer entirely, though much of the time, this isn't possible, for obvious reasons, especially since the desktop app was discontinued. Don't have any other third-party programs accessing the files, that I'm aware of. The files trying to download most recently are music files which I haven't accessed in weeks/months; previously, it was e-books. Only thing I haven't tried is turning off my antivirus software, which is NOT scanning at the time I do these things. I shouldn't have to disable my computer's protection to get Dropbox to sync properly, especially since this wasn't an issue before Windows 10. (The other threads I've read hint that this solution doesn't work, anyway.) I'm actually getting anxiety issues regarding when I'll next need to start up the program to back up my files because will it try downloading everything again?

I think I may need to restart this thread since I've been talking to myself in it for quite a while now with no further solutions; browsing all the similar threads I can find, I see nothing new that I can try (though I do see that those threads were posted around late summer/early autumn 2020, just like mine). I can't exactly disable File Explorer. 😕 I'm paying to use the service, so it could at least work properly.

Hey Rachel L., sorry to hear you're still having issues with this. 

Since you've done some troubleshooting on this already, I'd suggest getting in touch with our support team at this point.

They'll be able to assist further with account and device specific information.

You can also let  us know the ticket ID in order to look it up in our system. 

I read your whole thread with complete empathy. I have been facing this issue for years. I've even tried TWICE in the past years to contact Dropbox for help (I got tickets too!). Basically I've now given up. I've been told so many times the explanation that it's because something I do on my laptop activates some folder in Dropbox, though sometimes it really can't be possible, because I'm doing something totally unconnected to the folder that starts to sync. And mine happens any time, not just on Fridays. 

I've followed online threads on this issue (not many - this is the clearest) but no help. Or so technical the discussion that it loses me. 

Precisely!

In case you didn't see my earlier message:

I read your whole thread with complete empathy. I have been facing this issue for years. I've even tried TWICE in the past years to contact Dropbox for help (I got tickets too!). Basically I've now given up. I've been told so many times the explanation that it's because something I do on my laptop activates some folder in Dropbox, though sometimes it really can't be possible, because I'm doing something totally unconnected to the folder that starts to sync. And mine happens any time, not just on Fridays. 

I've followed online threads on this issue (not many - this is the clearest) but no help. Or so technical the discussion that it loses me. 

I've resigned myself to conclude that the Dropbox people don't know how to deal with this, or it's such an obscure issue they're not looking into it - they just repeat the same message to me about .... what you said. 

And yes, many times my laptop says that I'm running out of space. At that point, I know that Dropbox files have started downloading / syncing AGAIN, and I just have to go set them to "Online only" AGAIN, and AGAIN and AGAIN. Sometimes I just forcibly PAUSE syncing to give myself peace of mind

No, you're not the only one with this issue. In case you didn't see my earlier replies:

Precisely!

In case you didn't see my earlier message:

I read your whole thread with complete empathy. I have been facing this issue for years. I've even tried TWICE in the past years to contact Dropbox for help (I got tickets too!). Basically I've now given up. I've been told so many times the explanation that it's because something I do on my laptop activates some folder in Dropbox, though sometimes it really can't be possible, because I'm doing something totally unconnected to the folder that starts to sync. And mine happens any time, not just on Fridays. 

I've followed online threads on this issue (not many - this is the clearest) but no help. Or so technical the discussion that it loses me. 

I've resigned myself to conclude that the Dropbox people don't know how to deal with this, or it's such an obscure issue they're not looking into it - they just repeat the same message to me about .... what you said. 

And yes, many times my laptop says that I'm running out of space. At that point, I know that Dropbox files have started downloading / syncing AGAIN, and I just have to go set them to "Online only" AGAIN, and AGAIN and AGAIN. Sometimes I just forcibly PAUSE syncing to give myself peace of mind

Oh ok I just saw your comment about "don't open File Explorer" while Dropbox is being used. Wow. Maybe I shall try that. But File Explorer is like so essential to my work! But you're the first one with a different concrete doable suggestion, so I'll try that anyway. 

Yes, I was wondering how you do that - don't use File Explorer - when you have to right click and keep choosing "Online only" etc. And, oh, so now you use Dropbox only using its app. I still have been accessing Dropbox via File Explorer. So now I'm almost excited to try what you said - don't use File Explorer, which means I'll have to open the Dropbox app to navigate from there. So now have taken note of the tedious issue you just raised.

(Again, in case you didn't see my earlier replies, you're not the only one facing this! I'm so glad I finally see company. For years I've thought I'm the only one! These were my earlier replies:

Precisely!

In case you didn't see my earlier message:

I read your whole thread with complete empathy. I have been facing this issue for years. I've even tried TWICE in the past years to contact Dropbox for help (I got tickets too!). Basically I've now given up. I've been told so many times the explanation that it's because something I do on my laptop activates some folder in Dropbox, though sometimes it really can't be possible, because I'm doing something totally unconnected to the folder that starts to sync. And mine happens any time, not just on Fridays. 

I've followed online threads on this issue (not many - this is the clearest) but no help. Or so technical the discussion that it loses me. 

I've resigned myself to conclude that the Dropbox people don't know how to deal with this, or it's such an obscure issue they're not looking into it - they just repeat the same message to me about .... what you said. 

And yes, many times my laptop says that I'm running out of space. At that point, I know that Dropbox files have started downloading / syncing AGAIN, and I just have to go set them to "Online only" AGAIN, and AGAIN and AGAIN. Sometimes I just forcibly PAUSE syncing to give myself peace of mind)

oh wow... I commend you! Have you actually found an answer (at least one) to our problem?!!! Whoopee! I fully understand what you're saying about Quick Access bar and it showing recently accessed folders / docs. 

But I don't understand your method of "wiping off" your recently used files from the Quick Access toolbar. How do you do that? I hope you see this question. 

But I also hope someone official from Dropbox is reading all this and they can work on something to prevent this from happening. The Quick Access / recent files bar is actually useful.

oh shucks. I had just got excited reading your previous thread / (discovery) about the Quick Access / Recent files bar. So it doesn't work huh. Yeah, that's been my experience with this problem over the years. It seems to be totally random files. eg, as you said, a music or video file from some random personal Dropbox folder starting to download, when I'm in a totally different work folder