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I've been having issues with Dropbox for months. Getting stuck indexing anywhere from 1-80 files
Hi everyone,
I'm a Win10 user running Dropbox v159.4.5870 on a business account with about 10 other users, all of which do not share the issues I have. I also share a Dropbox account with one p...
Finally got all the issues resolved!
The issue was being caused by a previous user profile that used this machine before me. I verified all the files having issues were from projects the previous user had worked on. Something with how the local permissions were set up or how Dropbox handles syncing files at the same destination on a different user profile.
All I had to do was uninstall Dropbox, delete my Dropbox folder completely, and reinstall. It did take a while to do but now Dropbox no longer has any sync issues nor does it get stuck uploading and downloading.
Thanks for your replies and trying to help make sense of this Megan & Walter!
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey JTizzle!
I am glad that your workaround did the trick, and your app is now up to date, and working as it should.
Now, as to why this behavior happened, a lot of different reasons could be the culprit, and it'd definitely be easier to tackle it down as it happens. I am always here in case this happens again, in order for us to look closely into this, and identify the cause.
You also mentioned about an issue that none of your co-workers have, however after a second look at your initial message, it seems this was a syncing issue with the app's syncing status being stuck, right? Looking at your screenshot now, this seems to have gone away. If you're referring to something different, let me know more.
Thanks a bunch!
Here's a little more info about the sync issues.
I'll click "Go to file" for one of the "incompatible characters" issues.
The file path is as follows: C:\CARBO Dropbox\Project Files\Residential\D\Davis\Graphics\Other_logos, sketchup etc\1_Davis Residence_SD Plan\Lumion\Exports\ALLEE 3.jpg
134 characters total (not including the file extension). I don't see any incompatible characters in the file name nor any spaces at the beginning or end of file names. (I realize I said comma in the previous post but I'm now realizing it's just a comma after emojis and not an included character) So I'm puzzled why Dropbox is spitting out the "Remove incompatible characters from file name" issue.
When I try opening the file on Windows, I get this error:
However, if I view the file on Dropbox.com I can open the file just fine.
It almost seems like it's having the same issue as the Excel file mentioned previously. So I download a backup and delete the file from both Dropbox.com and in Windows file explorer. (There's some communication or permission error between Dropbox and these files in Windows: if I delete the file in one first, the other doesn't update. But any other "normal" file deleted in Dropbox.com or Windows will immediate update in the other.) After I delete the file in both I then move the backup file into Dropbox.com or Windows file explorer (it's worked both ways for me) and the file immediately updates and either shows the green check or gray cloud next to it, depending if I dropped the backup it into Dropbox.com or Windows file explorer
One final detail that I think is important (that also happened with the excel file causing sync issues, but I didn't catch it) is I had to provide administrative permission to delete any of these files in Windows. No idea why these files have this issue.
So between Dropbox telling me I have incompatible characters in the file name then to find that my previous workaround resolves the issue then this issue of Windows asking for administrator permission to delete a file Dropbox file has got me very confused to say the least. Not to mention the other sync issues Dropbox is spitting out with a "Give Dropbox permission to access this file" error are having the exact same issue.
Sorry this is a lot. Just trying to share as many important breadcrumbs as possible.
Thanks
- Megan
Hey JTizzle, have you tried locating these specific files on the web, and then rename them? If so, does that remove them from the list?
In general, the Dropbox desktop application does require admin privileges to be installed on a machine, in order for the app to function properly. Is that how you're using it?
On Windows, this means not choosing the option to 'run as an administrator' since this is a different function.
Megan, when I rename a conflicted file on the web it does update in file explorer. However, it appears as a new file and the conflicted version remains in file explorer. The Dropbox.com only shows the file with the new name.
I run the Dropbox installer normally every time I need to reinstall. I have never used "Run as administrator". The user profile I use on this desktop is set up as an administrator.
