Forum Discussion

Imbi's avatar
Imbi
Explorer | Level 4
4 years ago
Solved

Why are my files all syncing again?

Hi Community

 

I switched on my Windows 11 PC this morning and for some reason it asked me in the Dropbox Client to login again. So I did and now it is syncing again all my over 460'000 files which will tage days to finish.

 

Why is it, that after I had to login again, that it will sync, with other words, download all the files to my hard drive again? I have set dropbox so that the files should me stored localy on my hard drive.

 

Why does it not know, that all the files are already on my hard drive? This is so frustrating that it will download all the over 460'000 files again.

 

Does anyone have an idea.

 

Thanks for your help.

Imbi

 

 

  • Hi Imbi, thanks for contacting us.

     

    Are you using Smart Sync on your device? Were these files previously online-only, or local files?

     

    Do you know if there were any recent updates made to your OS?

     

    This will help me to assist further!

7 Replies

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  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Hi Imbi, thanks for contacting us.

     

    Are you using Smart Sync on your device? Were these files previously online-only, or local files?

     

    Do you know if there were any recent updates made to your OS?

     

    This will help me to assist further!

  • Imbi's avatar
    Imbi
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    Hi Jay

     

    Thank you ever so much for your message.

     

    Right up front. For some reason, after a couple of hours, the sync was finished and all the over 650'000 files where in sync again. 🙂

     

    I just don't understand why I hat to sign up again and why it started to sync again.

     

    The Smart Sync I have set to "Local" in the Dropbox Client and it seems to be all ok now. There was no OS update recently.

     

    My Dropbox folder is on an external hard drive. All I can guess, is that the USB hard drive was not hooked up properly to the system and that is why it did ask me to sign in again.

     

    Again Jay, thank you for your help. I'm using Dropbox for many years now and had no problem what so ever.

     

    Take care

    Imbi

     

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    4 years ago

    Imbi wrote:

    My Dropbox folder is on an external hard drive. All I can guess, is that the USB hard drive was not hooked up properly to the system and that is why it did ask me to sign in again.


    Be VERY careful using Dropbox like this. If the USB drive isn't connected when Dropbox launches or becomes disconnected while Dropbox is running, Dropbox could see that sudden loss of files as a mass deletion and start to delete the files in your account.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Glad to hear your files are working now. However, as Rich stated, there are possible issues with the Dropbox folder being on the external drive, so I would urge caution when using the app while the drive isn't connected.

  • Imbi's avatar
    Imbi
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    Hi Rich and Jay

    You are absolutely correct, this is not the best way to conect my dropbox folder using an USB-Drive. As I have about 3.5 TB of data, I don't have an internal drive.

     

    Do you have an idea, how I could manage my setup any better?

     

    And, what would be the best way to suceed, when this happens again. I mean, when I accidentely unplug the dropbox folder on the external USB-Drive again? I'm a bit nervous now that Dropbox could see that sudden loss of files as a mass deletion and start to delete the files.

     

    Thank you very much für your help and pointing this out to me.

     

     

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Currently, there isn't any specific method to improve the set up you have. 

     

    We only urge caution when using an external drive, and to try not to unplug it while the Dropbox desktop application is open and running.

  • Imbi's avatar
    Imbi
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    Hi @Jay and also @Rich

     

    Thank you Jay for your message. I will have tp leave it at this setup. I just have to make sure, that the dropbox drive is always connected to the System.

     

    Take care and have a great day.

    Imbi

     

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