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The Dropbox app on my Mac is stuck syncing some files. What can I do?
I can't get one of my devices (MacBookPro) to sync or upload any files. It appears to be hung on syncing some files. I've tried...:
- switching files from "available offline" to "online-only" and back-- often it refuses to change, and worse, it loses its sync icon-- neither cloud or green check is visible.
- changing my network back and forth, even though no other apps on any other devices are having network issues
- stopping the problem file ("Studio Cellos.caf") from syncing--- can't right-click to tell it to stop "Syncing next," as that option's greyed out, and has been for days, as seen in screenshot.
- Since I can't know for sure its location (a .caf is hidden within a .logic package, and it could be one of many .logic files I have on my dropbox), I try deleting the folder in dropbox I suspected contains that file; but all that did was increase the amount of files it's syncing from 20 to 2307 and the size to 4.6 GB.
- checking if it's an update issue, but my dropbox app auto-updates, and is at 224.4.4811
- looking into clearing the cache, but since I'm using Mac File Provider, the folder named .dropbox.cache doesn’t appear so I can't.
- repairing the hard links. This increased the amount of files to over 8000. A day later, nothing's changed, it's still at 4.6 GB, though, so it's still stuck.
It's seriously hampering my workflow not to have this functioning. Thank you for any assistance.
-Peter
Hey petermooreworld - just before we take this to email, can you please update to the latest version of the app from this page and let me know if the issue persists?
18 Replies
- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Thanks for checking anyway, Peter.
In that case, can we email you, to see what we can find internally?
Yes, please, the email is me@ (my dropbox user name) .com
- Walter
Hey petermooreworld - just before we take this to email, can you please update to the latest version of the app from this page and let me know if the issue persists?
Walter, okay, that appears to have cleared it up! Now it says "Your files are up to date" and no thousands of files in queue!
Not sure if it was the update itself or just db reinstalling that did it. All my devices were on the same version, and since DB says it auto-updates, I didn't see how a version update would be helpful. But basically the update wipes the DB from your device and re-installs. For anyone else doing this, if you already selectively sync folders so your computer isn't cluttered with old or decrepit folders, you might want to take screenshots of your folders, as this setting gets wiped and you'll have to spend some time hand-selecting which of the hundreds of folders you need your desktop to sync with. (I really wish DB developers would devise a script that could record to which folders your device syncs, to avoid this re-selecting process!)
But, hey, thanks Walter and everyone!- Walter
I'm happy to hear you're back up and running and thanks for the update too petermooreworld
Let us know if anything else comes up in the future!
I was also faces this issue, but reading this full discussion resolve all my issue. Thanks Walter.
- Theresa
Community Manager
Hi petermooreworld welcome back to the Dropbox Community - great to see your files have all successfully synced to your Dropbox account 🤗.
By the way, I'm Theresa and I am one of the Community managers here at Dropbox HQ 👩💻. I see from your thread posts that you are using Dropbox for music. I love hearing how our members use Dropbox to store and file music. If you're open to sharing, It would be great to hear your Dropbox story 🤓.
We also have a Musicians Group here on the Community if you would like to join. We share lots of tips and tricks there on how to make the most out of your Dropbox account 💪.
Looking forward to hearing from you,T 😸 (Dropbox Community Manager)
Sure, T_theresa_A, let me know what sort of feedback/user stories you're looking for.
