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ljh34481's avatar
ljh34481
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago
Solved

link and/or shared folder showing up empty to viewer

Suddenly, shared folders and/or links are showing up empty to the viewer but content is there when I click on the folder. What am I doing wrong? Thanks
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  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    8 years ago
    Hey, Larry, thanks for getting back to me on this and for the detailed description.
     
    Syncing your files can take time if you have many files/large files. Even though the files have been placed into the Dropbox folder, it doesn't mean the syncing has completed to the website and to other connected devices. 
     
    This would also explain why the other user isn’t able to see any files in the shared folder, since they haven’t synced. 
     
    ljh34481 wrote:

     Hovering over the icon =uploading 51,098 files, 24 days left. 

    This is an "instant" estimate based on the current upload speed. Normally, Dropbox doesn't use all of your bandwidth. However, you can change that by manually setting the upload/download speed. 
     
    ljh34481 wrote:

    How can I stop that and how do I sync to the website? 

    Please remember to stay logged into your computer, keep your computer turned on and connected to the Internet. The app syncs your files in the background. 
     
    You can pause the upload, but if the files you want to share are included in the upload, then you need to let it complete. 
     
    You can see the status of any file/folder in your Dropbox, by the syncing icons that appear on them. You can find more info about this here. 
     
    I hope this helped, let me know if there’s anything else I can help with. Cheers! :grinning:
Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
8 years ago
Hey, Larry, thanks for getting back to me on this and for the detailed description.
 
Syncing your files can take time if you have many files/large files. Even though the files have been placed into the Dropbox folder, it doesn't mean the syncing has completed to the website and to other connected devices. 
 
This would also explain why the other user isn’t able to see any files in the shared folder, since they haven’t synced. 
 
ljh34481 wrote:

 Hovering over the icon =uploading 51,098 files, 24 days left. 

This is an "instant" estimate based on the current upload speed. Normally, Dropbox doesn't use all of your bandwidth. However, you can change that by manually setting the upload/download speed. 
 
ljh34481 wrote:

How can I stop that and how do I sync to the website? 

Please remember to stay logged into your computer, keep your computer turned on and connected to the Internet. The app syncs your files in the background. 
 
You can pause the upload, but if the files you want to share are included in the upload, then you need to let it complete. 
 
You can see the status of any file/folder in your Dropbox, by the syncing icons that appear on them. You can find more info about this here. 
 
I hope this helped, let me know if there’s anything else I can help with. Cheers! :grinning:
ljh34481's avatar
ljh34481
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago

Thank you.

You helped me discover my naiveity - in the past, I moved files to Dropbox and they immediately synced so DUH, when I moved them to the desktop app I thought I was moving them to the "cloud" since they were small and synced quickly. 

I was trying to move some large photo files to DB and DUH, thought it was all done and synced when I saw them in the desktop folder.  So, the problem is the queue and my stupidity.  You helped on both counts.  :<)

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    8 years ago
    Glad to have helped, ljh34481!
     
    If there’s anything else I can assist with in the future or you have any questions, just give me a shout. 
     
    In the mean time, have a wonderful day ahead! :laughing:
    • AnointSkincare's avatar
      AnointSkincare
      New member | Level 2
      7 years ago

      Hi, when trying to attach files to an email some folders are empty (but files are there if I go to dropbox.com) and some folders are full. Folders that are full are shared with a different group of people to the folders that are blank. Can you help to resolve this urgently for us? Same problem if I try to attach something here on this post. Thanks, Erica

      '

      • Lusil's avatar
        Lusil
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        7 years ago

        Hi AnointSkincare, thanks for nudging us here! 

        It sounds like you may have trouble restoring some content, is that right?

        You should be able to do this by following the steps outlined here. 

        If you have any trouble doing this along the way or you have any other questions, don't hesitate to give us a nudge. 

        Let us know how it goes!

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