cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Want to learn some quick and useful tips to make your day easier? Check out how Calvin uses Replay to get feedback from other teams at Dropbox here.

Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Desktop app is stuck 'Starting' when it loads up and doesn't sync

Desktop app is stuck 'Starting' when it loads up and doesn't sync

Bert M.
New member | Level 1
Go to solution

I am a paying customer and very frustrated with Dropbox. I am ready to drop DropBox and look for other alternatives.

Since Friday of last week it has been trying to sync 100Gb in files and it is taking an eternity. Now is stuck in "Starting."
I have rebooted the Mac (10.6.8). I am using Dropbox 3.0.3. I have tried going to Preferences, holding the option key and "Fixing Permission." I also read in the Internet about deleting the hidden cache folder but I have not done it yet since I don't know what to expect.

Any assistance is appreciated.

96 Replies 96

davidboxer
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Well, I am "glad" someone else has these experiences, in non virtual life there'd be some consequences for all the time and data lost, we re not talking 5 mins, or 2hrs, more like weeks alltogether, if u add the worth of the lost data and the time i could have invested in other projects, it really adds up to thousands of dollars - isn't it strange u have to apologize for being frustrated but for them(!) making mistakes in their products and not being able to offer practical, i mean really practical solution,... i asked for a reimbiursing, nothing, they won't get it. Well, I 'll never ever recommend Dropbox again, ever, of course. I did it all the time in the past. They lose more (potential) clients that I'd recommend than they d lose giving me some extra months for free (should be like a year or 2  at least) , nor did they pay me back the fees for the 2 (!!) years i couldnt use Dropbox due to their problems -  - thanx for sharing. I ll make a copy of this, not on dropbox, in case they won't publish this,... 

kurosa
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

I am alright with minor troubleshooting, I think these days we should be expecting bugs with application especially on live. However I do agree I also cannot recommend Dropbox, simply because it did not upload the files that are already set in dropbox folder while the notification is set to up to date - fooling us that it's there and safe. It's like that meme 'You only have one job and one job alone...' Do you know that files in the cloud / .com are not there while it's just sitting here in the local drives? Notification are up to date, no syncing info whatsoever, it's disappointing to say the least. Connections are fine Pcloud, googledrive are up syncing, high speed internet. I would like to advise users to check from time to time if what they're uploading is in the cloud. 

 

 

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hey @kurosa, I’ve just left this discussion open as a direct point of contact. Have you managed to resolve your concern by any chance?

Should you need any additional assistance, please feel free to get back in touch with me on our ongoing email discussion. Thanks again!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

spike1968
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Hi @Jane,

Would be nice if you actually posted the solution as this is a long term issue, not yet resolved and as far as I am concerned this issue exists because dropbox struggles to synce any files/folders that exceed a combined size of 500gb.

The reason Istopped paying for Dropbox 2tb service was because I was being sold a 2tb service that was not fit for purpose. Yet Google Drive doesn't have any issue.

You would/could not fix the issue or refund for taking payments under false pretences and I still do not see a fix anywhere where the user does need to make custom changes to their system.

So it would be nice if you could stop hiding behind private emails and actually post a fix.

 

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Thanks for pinging me back here @spike1968; I’d happily clarify matters in a bit more detail below! 
 
Generally speaking, Walter & Jay have posted some great tips on this very thread on how you’d best go about on this matter & at this point I can merely rephrase that this isn’t attributed to a single factor. That said, I can’t comment on any third-party features &/or functionality, however you should have a consistent performance with the Dropbox desktop app if you have less than 300,000 files synced to your computer. 
 
From there, kindly note that I’m merely emailing users back in case that I feel that they’re facing an urgent issue- where immediate assistance is needed- or regular troubleshooting doesn’t have the planned effect, so it’s best to check on account specifics. Nonetheless, we endeavor to gather all the feedback you’re sending us, as it helps us understand your needs better & for that reason I’ve also included your comments on my report internally. 
 
I hope that this sheds a bit of light regarding yoru inquiries & please let me know if you have more questions about any of the above or you need further assistance in any way & I’ll do my best to check back with you. Thanks again!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

kurosa
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

Hello @Jane 

Although it's great that you're messaging us here, but it's really not good when this is actually a 2 year problem (as some mentioned)

I encountered the issue of STARTING once again, and, again, smart sync seems to be the culprit of this problem when I ask to move major files as local. Restarted and now stuck in STARTING  

AGAIN.

What is actually the purpose of a Smart Sync? I'm really not sure this is the best update you could give us as I think this really stresses the Dropbox application to almost always upload/download files and pushes the pc and hdd as well to get files. And when I'm hearing the issue the difficulty of DB with more than 300k files, why are you putting this option? Here are some of my thoughts about this ridiculous add on:

1) It saves up space yes but it confuses customers that it's actually there, there is an incident where I swore they already downloaded only to find it empty and difficult to upload as if it's downloading from dropbox first before it actually does the job that I asked for which is just moving the files out of dropbox. In order to fix this we have to slowly put it to local every folder that doesn't go beyond 100 files or else it will stuck to starting whenever it restarted. Smart Sync is OFF, ONLINE ONLY SINCE WE'RE MOVING MOREF FILES THAN WE SHOULD AND GOD KNOWS I WISH I PUT THIS TO LOCAL ON MY 5TH ATTEMPT TO DO THIS REISNTALL REDOWNLOAD EVERYTHING. WE ALSO HAVE TO CHECK THAT LOCAL IS CHECK AND NOT ONLINE ON EVERY FOLDER BECAUSE WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT SMART SYNC IS DOING TO OUR FILES

 

2) Does Selective Sync also does this? To be honest this is the better alternative than smart sync, if you don't have the files then it's not going to show and you can manually update it using selective sync, very simple and secured if the computer was compromised. I have been using this for years now and stuck to DB because of the control I have for my files, I need these files I click it to selective sync, if I don't I remove it. Does it also save space? Yes because it's not in my HDD and it in the account file which I can check via browser easily. 

 

I don't need refund I like to stick DB but I want a fix on this issue especially this smart sync. 

spike1968
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

"however you should have a consistent performance with the Dropbox desktop app if you have less than 300,000 files synced to your computer. "

That is my point exactly, you sell packages of 2tb that would easily be 2million photos with a sync service that cannot handle that. Hence dropbox is not fit for the modern internet cloud storage requirements.

That's why I moved to Google Drive and I have 1.5tb of synced files with no issue.

Matt A.12
New member | Level 2
Go to solution

Do you have any idea how many times people like us have contacted Dropbox support, and received NO acknowledgement of our contact, let alone a reply? 

Bissquitt
New member | Level 2
Go to solution
I just migrated over to my own nextcloud server. You can set one up on as little as a raspberry pi 3. It's telling that I have gotten almost imediate responses from the community when theres no financial stake, yet Dropbox just doesn't seem to care. The recent limit on number of devices was the nail in the coffin. It's not like I have 10 devices syncing, but I'm not gonna sign out and in every time I pick up my old tablet.

Lookup nextcloudPi.

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey again @kurosa, apologies for the tardy reply on my end. In continuation to our ongoing discussion via email (i.e. that has now been closed on our system due to inactivity), it would be worth noting that Selective Sync should help you reduce the overall load of the client, as it seems that you’ve stored a lot of files & your desktop Dropbox application is currently facing an issue handling those. 
 
Please let me know here if you need further assistance with Selective Sync or feel free to reply back to the email I had sent you’re still facing an issue launching our application. 

From there @spike1968, it would be worth noting that storage space refers to the amount of data stored in our servers. Nonetheless, you should be able to upload files to the servers and access them in the cloud via the website, the desktop &/or mobile app, however the 300,000 files limit pertains specifically to those synced on your computer. 


@Matt A.12 wrote:

Do you have any idea how many times people like us have contacted Dropbox support, and received NO acknowledgement of our contact, let alone a reply? 

Have you contacted us using the email connected to your Community profile by any chance @Matt A.12? I’m merely asking, as I haven’t been able to locate an open support request on our system. If you’ve been in touch with our Support team, please include a ticket# in your next reply here. 
 
(Note: Your ticket number should be a 7-digit number, which allows us to look for your ticket on our system. You should be able to see it in the email heading that you receive as soon as you submit your request.)
 
Thanks! 

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

Need more support?
Who's talking

Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    George N.6 New member | Level 1
  • User avatar
    David P.137 New member | Level 2
  • User avatar
    Dan T. New member | Level 1
  • User avatar
    Jason P.22 New member | Level 1
  • User avatar
    jasper r. Explorer | Level 4
What do Dropbox user levels mean?