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Dropbox stopped syncing since update
Ever since Dropbox released their new update, my files have been stuck on the same few hundred files and haven't been able to sync or save anything new in over 4 months. All the while they keep charg...
Hey pdiseris, I hope you're well today!
The first thing I would suggest to check would be to correct the hardlinks and permissions within the Dropbox folder. You can do this with the below steps:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar/system tray.
- Click the profile pic/initials icon in the top right of the window.
- Choose "Preferences..."
- Go to the "Account" tab.
- While holding the Option/Alt key (Mac) or the
Space barAlt+H keys (Windows), click "Fix Hardlinks". - You might be prompted to enter your computer's username and password (not Dropbox's).
The app might need to sync for a while after doing this, so please just keep an eye out for any progress.
Let me know how it goes!
EDIT: Just updated the steps to reflect the new changes.
Daphne
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorThanks for getting back to me hardlink!
Is it possible that they're symlinks instead of hardlinks? Rather than a copy of the file that it's linked with, it would be like a shortcut to the file in another location.
Could you try the steps listed in point 7 here and let me know if you find symlinks within the Dropbox folder pointing to files outside the folder?
If you do, can you replacing these with the actual file and using the symlink in the original location? Otherwise, please try moving files with the red X outside of Dropbox and then move them back inside.
Keep me posted with your findings!
Hi Daphne,
I'm sorry, you are right!
When I checked terminolgies, I remembered: mine are indeed symbolic links, as they all point to folders (and they don't recommend hard links for folders). And there was some other issue I don't remember exactly, but I went for symlinks ("mklink" command) for a reason.
I want the target outside my dropbox, because my dropbox folder is on an encrypted partition, but I want my normal files backed up and syncronised in the cloud, too. It doesn't work the other way round, because if I start Dropbox and forget to mount my drive, it will think those files are gone and delete them. I don't want to type my encryption password every time I work on the computer either.
The solution I had worked perfectly fine.
But now apparently they broke the programme. :(
- Daphne
Thanks for the info hardlink!
In this case, there isn't much I can suggest in regards to the symlinks. The workaround for using them with Dropbox would be to reverse them, so the file is within the Dropbox folder instead.
I understand that this isn't ideal for your though due to your current set up.
I'd just like to note too that there was a recent change in how Dropbox handles symlinks, which you can check out more info on here.
If you haven't already, I'd suggest making sure that your desktop app is up to date as a new version was recently released (89.4).
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi Daphne,
I'm having the same issue (on several computers). After latest mandatory update (mid January- V90.4.307 - Win 10) Dropbox startet re-syncing all the files (+100.000) and never finalized.I've tried all the steps you mentioned above without any luck.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
- Daphne
Thanks for joining us here Sonnelein!
Can you just let me know if the files within your Dropbox folder are showing the blue syncing icon?
Also, if you click the Dropbox icon in your system tray can you send me a screenshot (excluding personal info) of the current sync status of your desktop app?
Are you seeing any progress in the sync status at all if you check it over a short time period?
Looking forward to your reply!
So,
Dropbox won't fix or address this, will they? -_-
I'm sorry this seems targeted at you directly, which it isn't as you're here to help users..
But I can't help getting annoyed that Dropbox team (and other developers) just randomly remove functions with a forced(!) update for apparently no good reason!
Plus, there's no way to avoid those updates, or go back to a previous version that works for me.
Same problem here. Tried all the methods but nothing worked. Syncing starts but after some minutes it stops and no files are synced showing +2 days . I also tried the beta version 93.3.258 but the same problem occurs. My system is Windows server 2012 r2 standard fully patched. If I restart the app, it starts syncing again but after 20 minutes it hangs again. I also tried to disabled firewall, tried the fix hard link solution, reinstalled the app, but nothing worked. I have a dropbox business account.
