Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox đ¨âđť? Find out how to check here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Selective Sync Conflict mess!
Hello, I just did a fresh OS install on my Mac, with my Dropbox folder on an external drive (my startup disk is too small to hold this data). I thought that I setup my Dropbox correctly, pointing t...
I have a ton of "selective sync conflict" duplicate folders that appeared out of nowhere. It seems that the duplicate folders have some files and subfolders within them, so it is not a matter of just deleting them. It seems from your post (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that it is impossible for Dropbox to simply merge all the files and subfolders into the correct folder. And instead I have to spend the next day cutting and pasting all the files and subfolders back into the original folders that they were moved from for some unknown reason. And the Dropbox page that addresses this error message insists that I "created" a new duplicate folder with the same name (which I did not do). So there is apparently no way to stop this from happening again after I fix the Dropbox problem.
After upgrading to latest version of Dropbox and enabling Smart-Sync I found that 5,334 Folders with 43,980 Files in them had been "designated" as conflicted. Then Dropbox started to "UPLOAD". I have no idea what it was uploading - I didn't ask for it to do anything different at this point, I just simply installed the new app. But the process took overnight on my laptop using an ethernet connection (it could not be done in less than a week using WiFi). Without a shadow of a doubt I know that your explanation of "Accidentally naming a folder/file with the same name" is inadequate and is missing another major systematic cause. I could NOT have "accidentally" named 5,334 folders with the same name. Nobody, with the possible exception of my wife, thinks I'm that stupid. After using and praising DropBox since its inception, I'm now afraid to touch it. Almost anything I do now (e.g. checking or unchecking Online Only) starts an interminable upload process. I have no less than 7 PC computers and 5 mobile devices that are all linked to the same Dropbox account. It worked beautifully (i.e. as I expected) prior to the "upgrade." I wish I had checked with the community before enabling Smart-Sync. By the way, since the late 90's I been using a wonderful backup program called "SmartSync Pro" from www.smartsync.com. How did DropBox avoid a lawsuit over the use of the name SmartSync?
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Last year, I started this original thread and realized that this issue is still a problem, so I am going to offer my solution, which is FAR from perfect!
1. I shut down all computers that use Dropbox except for one which has lots of extra disk space. This is used as my "master" dropbox storage
2. I used a folder synchronizer app (in this case, SoftoBe's FoldersSynchronizer but there are others out there) to synchronize my Dropbox folder with the Selective Sync Conflict folder. Both folders are now the same.
3. I delete the Selective Sync Conflict folder
4. If you have additional Sync Conflict folder, continue steps 2 and 3 until those folders are gone. Give Dropbox enough time to sync this to the cloud.
5. Open one computer at a time, giving it time enough to sync. If you see any new Selective Sync Conflict folders, use steps 2 and 3 to clear out those folders.
This is definitely a nerve-wracking process, especially the part when I delete the Sync Conflict Folder. Don't do this without plenty of backups on hand.
If this is a really bad process, please let me know. I hate giving out bad advice!
Unfortunately this is the ONLY way to deal with Dropbox now. I ESPECIALLY like the part about "Don't do this without plenty of backups on hand."!!! Isn't that what Dropbox is supposed to do?
It's so bad I don't even trust Dropbox any more. I have NEVER created "folders with duplicate names!!!" as the help page suggests. This is total BS. I just reformatted my main computer, hoping to be rid of these selective sync conflicts once and for all, but they are back with a vengeance and seem like they are never going away. I am simply syncing and unsyncing various folders in my Dropbox, and ALWAYS waiting until the process finishes before doing it again. Lo and behold, little presents from Dropbox in my sync folder with that familiar tag: SELECTIVE SYNC CONFLICT... I have complained before and always get a generic response with that useless link explaining about the conflicts. Either Dropbox doesn't care or they can't fix it and won't admit it. Believe me I have been VERY patient and tried to figure this out.
When you reformat your computer and get selective sync conflicts the FIRST TIME YOU RUN a selective sync in Dropbox, I don't know what else to do.
This is just absolute horse**bleep**. I buy a new drive to merge and store files and the space gets taken up by this **bleep**.
Absolutelu **bleep**ing atrocious. What the **bleep** am I paying for **bleep** for???the mess dropbox created. A new 1tb drive
Same here, updated the dropbox app, 50,000 files on conflict. What have you done dropbox is cause me a morning of wasting time. Instead i might invoice you for my time to try and sort it. What a **bleep** up
- I wish Dropbox would unmarked This Thread as solved because it's not! This morning I had to delete a conflicted folder full of my Android apps for which I only have backup on Dropbox! I sure hope my work is not gone! Dropbox if you are reading this please go into my account and fix things if possible. The folder name is 1 Android Apps.
- Jane
