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My macOS desktop app has been stuck syncing 10MB for 3 days.
Application Affected
Dropbox
Device
MacBook Air
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
OS 15.7.3
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
238.4.6305
Question or Issue
Three days ago I noticed an error message at the top of the finder window which was open to my Dropbox folder (stored in "locations"). The message said something to the effect that my Dropbox app couldn't be found. I thought that was strange, because Dropbox was open. So I quit the app and then reopened it, and that's when things really started getting strange. Now, day three, Dropbox is constantly in sync mode. The icon up in the task bar shows the circle of arrows, and when I click on it says syncing down at the bottom. But for most of the last two days there was no progress bar and no information about what was syncing. Now I'm getting "syncing [x number of files]." When I first looked this morning it was at 500+ 10 MB. Now it's down to 444 files, 9 MB. Progress! The thing is, I only use Dropbox for syncing one particular application, Scrivener. My entire storage on Dropbox is only 275 MB. It usually takes seconds to sync the updated files.
The other strange thing is that on the activity monitor Dropbox never rises above 4% CPU. It's been going for more than 48 hours at a snail's pace to sync relatively tiny files.
Possibly relevant, or just coincidental: about two weeks ago I cleared the data from the MacBook and reinstalled everything. After that, everything appeared to be in place and working just fine. This problem appeared after I returned from about 10 days travel over the holidays in which I was rarely on the computer.
I've quit and reopened Dropbox multiples times. I've restarted the computer. None of it has helped.
17 Replies
- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Thanks for the error log, sniffly, I hope it's okay if I jump in here as well.
Now, the error you’re getting is temporary and should be fixed by restarting the desktop app.
If the issue persists, check whether you have a copy of the Dropbox.app file on your computer in these locations:
- /Applications
- ~/Library/Application Support/Dropbox
- If you see this file in both locations, delete the file in the second location(~/Library/Application Support/Dropbox).
- If you see the file in the second location but not in the first, move the file to the first location(/Applications).
Let me know how it goes!
It took four or five times, but Dropbox has now restarted. Unfortunately upon restarting it resumed the same behavior as before, the endless syncing going nowhere. It's using up so much CPU I can barely attach a file here.
I don't see Dropbox.app in the application support Dropbox file, but I took a screenshot in case I'm missing it.
Now that it finally restarted, here's a screenshot of the status as shown in the menu bar.
The latest development: finding it impossible to open the file I need, I decided to try to work from my backup. The backup file, opened from within the backup folder, was fine. Needing to relocate it out of the backup folder, I decided to save it to the Dropbox folder, thinking it could replace the file I could no longer get to work. However, once copied to the Dropbox folder, the backup file could no longer be opened, and my Finder crashed.
So I tried moving the file from the Dropbox folder to a non-Dropbox folder. That didn't work either. It's as if, having touched the Dropbox folder, the file was destroyed.
Then I went back to the backup folder, recopied the backup, moved it directly into a non-Dropbox folder, and everything is fine.
From all this my takeaway is that something is profoundly broken in the Dropbox folder.
- Nancy
Hi again, sniffly. If you haven’t already and you’re not on a free Basic plan with more than 3 devices currently linked, I’d like you to relink your Dropbox app next (basically sign out and back in again).
If that doesn’t help either, please perform an advanced reinstall after that.
I've done this. I also scrapped the file that was in the folder and replaced it with the updated file based on the backup. So far Dropbox has managed to sync it.
No clue why this is happening in the first place? For almost ten years I've been syncing files from this one program through Dropbox, and there's never been a problem till recently.
- Megan
Hey sniffly!
Can you confirm that the app shows as up-to-date now, and that the file has successfully synced?
Please keep in mind that since we're not able to see any logs, we can't be certain as to what happened there. In any case, if you notice a similar behavior again don't hesitate to let us know.
