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fransvandervleuten's avatar
fransvandervleuten
Helpful | Level 6
11 months ago

One of my folders just disappeared on my Mac, how can I get it back?

Hello,

 

One of my main folders on my Dropbox just disappeared in my finder. It is there, because I checked it in my browser.  But I work from my finder, bcuae I use Photoshop/Illustrator/After Effects etc.

For some crazy reason, my Dropbox says it is syncing 46,254 files: 


I can not call anybody or start a chat. I can not work any further now, because I cannot acces my files via my finder.  I need to work this weekend, but you are making it very hard for me to continu. THis costs me a lot of time and there for money.

How can I proceed? 


8 Replies

  • Здравко's avatar
    Здравко
    Legendary | Level 20
    11 months ago

    fransvandervleuten wrote:

    ...

    One of my main folders on my Dropbox just disappeared in my finder. It is there, because I checked it in my browser.  ...


    If it's not deleted, the only thing, I can think of, is removed by mistake using Selective Sync. If so, just fix the selection and all will be back to normal.

    Good luck.

  • fransvandervleuten's avatar
    fransvandervleuten
    Helpful | Level 6
    11 months ago

    Hello Zdravko,

     

    Unfortunatelly the folder I am not seeing is synced, like all other folder, as you can see below:

    It is about the folder Atlasova /content. It is there, but for some reason it is not showing in my finder:

     

    Also, the file '00860_Explosion.ai' (which was suppose to go into the Content folder) seems to not appear in the Dropbox folder in my browser. 

    Anyone any idea what is going on?

  • Здравко's avatar
    Здравко
    Legendary | Level 20
    11 months ago

    About missing folder,...🤔 I prefer not to speculate. The only certain thing is that Selective Sync is not "guilty". It may be related to (or the same root issue with) your next question though.

     


    fransvandervleuten wrote:

    ...

    Also, the file '00860_Explosion.ai' (which was suppose to go into the Content folder) seems to not appear in the Dropbox folder in my browser.

    ...


    If that's the first appearance of this file in that folder, it's normal the file to not appear in your web browser till its sync complete (the opposite is also true). Otherwise (if the file was only changed) in the web browser will keep exist the old version till new file sync complete (again opposite is also true). As may be seen on your screenshot - the file is in process of sync. 😉 That's it.

    Hope this clarifies some of the things.

  • fransvandervleuten's avatar
    fransvandervleuten
    Helpful | Level 6
    11 months ago

    Thanks for the explanation.  🙂

    I understand that the file is not appearing, because I need to sync 46,255 files first. FYI: they are not syncing. But this morning I just could brows in a normal way through all my files in that /content folder.

    How can it happen that I now have to sync 46k files? Which are not even syncing? (the number is not going down)

     

    Thanks!

  • Здравко's avatar
    Здравко
    Legendary | Level 20
    11 months ago

    fransvandervleuten wrote:

    ...
    I understand that the file is not appearing, because I need to sync 46,255 files first. ...


    Not mandatory. In general the coming up of file depends on sync complete of the same file, not on all files. Of course... if the file is at the queue end..., but who knows.

     


    fransvandervleuten wrote:

    ...

    How can it happen that I now have to sync 46k files? Which are not even syncing? (the number is not going down)

    ...


    This is the main question and broken sync may results in your both issues you described. Try troubleshooting - like rebooting your computer, sign out/in, etc.

    Good luck.

  • fransvandervleuten's avatar
    fransvandervleuten
    Helpful | Level 6
    11 months ago

    Thank you for replying.

    I already restarted my computer several times. 

    I deleted the Dropbox app from my computer and I reinstalled it. I also deleted the Dropbox-folders from my finder, to start over. But, nothing happens: My Dropbox is still wants to sync 46,000 files. Which is insane.

    Yesterday morning nothing was wrong with my Dropbox, but now I can not work anymore. I deleted my folders from my finder, but I can't seem to fix how to get them back. So at this moment I cannot acces any of my files via finder.

     

    Can someone please tell me what is going on?

  • fransvandervleuten's avatar
    fransvandervleuten
    Helpful | Level 6
    11 months ago

    I did a test trying to figure out what is happening.

    I made a Word file on my Mac Studio:

     

    I also have an old MacBook on which everything seems to work fine, but let me show you what is happening there:

    No syncing is going on, but the testfile is no where to be found. Also in my browser the file looks like it it no where to be found:

     

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    11 months ago

    Hi @fransvandervleuten, from the screenshots provided, it looks like there aren't any sync icons visible in both your Finder screenshots. 

     

    Are you certain the Dropbox desktop application is running and fully synced on both devices? Have you marked files as available offline or online-only?

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