Mac backup 0% complete, 'Backup now' is grey, says will complete in 1 sec but no movement.

Hi Hannah,

admittedly, I had given up on this in the meantime and concluded to just cancel my Dropbox subscription and to another service. However, I'd decided to give this a last chance.
So here is the information you requested:

The Dropbox version is: v200.4.7134
The status is: "Updated" ("Aktualisiert/Alles auf dem Neusten Stand")
The progress bar for the external drive I want to backup is stuck at 0%.

As mentioned, my problem here appears to be exactly the same as that of many other users (including Mac users) in this thread.

Hey EdVanSchleck! Hope you don’t mind me jumping in. 

I wanted to ask for a screenshot of what you see on this page. Are you able to delete your backup from there and start over?

Also, was the external drive unplugged from your computer at any given point, while Dropbox was running/backing up your files?

Hi Nancy, you see a screenshot above. As also reported by other users in this thread, the Status says "Finished", but the size of the backup remains at 0 Bytes and there are no subfolders or files. I have dis- and reconnected the device, but only after nothing happened for hours. I have now repeated my backup attempt by only selecting one folder on the 1000 GB external SSD. However, this backup does not happen either.

One more question: I did not yet try to delete my backup, since the wording of the menu entry is somewhat ambiguous and my trust in the DB software is now limited. Is it 100% ensured that the content of my external harddrive (the to-be-backuped data) is not affected or deleted by deleting the backup?

EdVanSchleck

Hi EdVanSchleck, have you already tried contacting the support team for further assistance regarding this matter?

I have the same problem about a year after the others in this thread have posted. Opened a support ticket.

Is anything being done to fix this?

I just started a trial mostly for the backup feature and it is disconcerting that it is not working right out of the gate.

Will await for a response but if this isn't solved in the next week I will cancel my trial and move to Google Drive.

Hey MrMoo, I found your ticket in our system and I can see our support team has reached you already. Can you please reply to their email, when you get the chance?

Hi, i find myself having the same problem, left it synching overnight and is still stuck on 0% saying that is uploading 2 files and it's gonna take a second. Checked firewall, restarted but still nothing happening. Please help.

Hey Barbadori - sorry to hear about this.

Could you clarify your computer's exact OS version and the version and status of the Dropbox desktop app as shown in your menu bar?

Did you try logging out of your account and then back in through the app's preferences?

I have the same issue now in April 2025... 0% backed up, updating X files / sometimes "complete" and still 0 bytes updated... It seems this has not been solved in over two years, then why even keep offering the Backup as a service if it doesn't work? Like others, this is why I'm trialing Dropbox, but no way am I going to keep paying. And before you ask, it's the latest update of everything... MacOS 15.4.1, Dropbox 222.4.5042, firewalls checked, multiple reboots, etc. Any recommendations?

Sorry to hear about this, germanus. Can you send me a screenshot of your current Dropbox app syncing status? 

I’d also like a screenshot of what you see on this page.