High memory usage is unsolvable

[hikkuto]

I really like Dropbox, more than Google Drive. But it is in the past. I prefer Google Drive now. What I really hate about Dropbox is the high memory usage. I already tried to uninstall and reinstall, but it is gotten worse. Even doing nothing, the used memory is around 290-300MB, and now after reinstalling, it can even exceed 400MB. The "Dropbox preferences (32-bit)" process eats the most memory.  My files are around 65.000 and saved inside "D:\Documents.Cloud\Dropbox\". In my Windows 11, Dropbox is the second-highest memory usage after the browser (with many opened tabs). Why is it still not yet solved, even after years and many users are complaining about it?

[hikkuto]

I also already tried to check whether there are symlinks in the Dropbox folder, but there is nothing with the following codes.

Get-ChildItem -Path "D:\Documents.Cloud\Dropbox\" -Force |
    Where-Object { $_.LinkType -ne $null -or $_.Attributes -match "ReparsePoint" } |
    ft FullName,Length,Attributes,Linktype,Target

and

dir /AL /S D:\Documents.Cloud\Dropbox\

I used to have one that points to a folder inside Dropbox, but I did not create any symlinks after a clean installation of Windows. My Windows installation is also due to another problem with Dropbox that won't show thumbnails.

[Megan]

Hi @hikkuto, I hope you're doing well!

As a first troubleshooting step, it'd be nice if you had a look at this Help Center article. 

Also, feel free to let me know the version and syncing status of your app. 

Can you check, and keep me posted? 

Thanks!

[hikkuto]

My Dropbox version is v133.4.4089. There is no conflict, not uploading/downloading, or whatsoever, and the files are all synced.

I also deleted any desktop.ini, thumbs.db, temp files started with ~$.

Quit and rerun the Dropbox, but it still takes 324MB.

[Megan]

Thanks for the info, @hikkuto! 

Can you maybe try these steps?

If you're still having trouble with it though, don't hesitate to give us another nudge, and we'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Cheers!

[hikkuto]

Yes, I already read and tried that a few times, even before posting here. It still didn't fix the memory usage.

[Megan]

No worries, @hikkuto.

Would it be OK if I reached out via the email that's connected to your profile here to have a further look internally?

Let me know and we'll take it from there.

[hikkuto]

Finally, as a workaround, the problem is "solved" by switching to OneDrive that only takes 5-30MB and uninstalled Dropbox since Dropbox takes 200-300MB. I don't need sophisticated features, only need to sync/backup files including selective folders and automatic save screenshots. Besides, I already have Google Drive running on my laptop that also takes a lot of RAM. The RAM is much needed for me for something else since 16GB is not enough for me and I cannot upgrade the RAM. Dropbox will be used on my PC with 64GB of RAM. If I need Dropbox on my laptop, I will use the web version instead of the desktop until someday Dropbox "fix" and reduce the memory usage. 

[McSpeedmouse]

Dear Dropboxxers,

I notice this scheme in several posts and requests for help: first try to trick people into CPU usage and nr of files being synced - asking for app version (while it auto-updates in fact) and finally asking to contact helpdesk by mail.

Unfortunately nowhere a real solution.

Should we massively jumpt o OneDrive and GoogleDrive or is Dropbox actually stepping up to the task?

i'd gladly accept and implement the solution, being a 10years loyal user.