Downloading large files

[KimberleyLeahy]

I'm having trouble downloading anything over 2GB. It seems like its downloading but when it comes to decompression stage it errors saying the network connection was lost.

So then I have to go into the folder and download 6 images at a time which is very annoying and time consuming.

How do I fix this (I am in Australia).

Thanks!

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Hi @KimberleyLeahy; welcome to the Dropbox Community!

Can you please let me know if you get the same results on another browser and/or after clearing your browser's cache?

Thanks a bunch Kimberley!

[EWFNO1]

I have the same problem on zip files but only two of them that are 4.58 GB and one that is 4.41 GB log session files that I have to have. I share with another producer so I really need to be able to download these. Stops everytime , so annoying. I’ve never had this problem before.

[KimberleyLeahy]

It's very annoying. I never had this problem either, not sure why it started happening. 

[KimberleyLeahy]

I just tried to download using Chrome and it worked!! Thank you.

I was previously using Safari.

[Steve B.89]

I'm having the same problem trying to download a 24 GB zip archive from Dropbox via Direct Download. The download appears to complete but then I get a message saying there was a network error. This is happening with both Safari and Chrome. We've gone back to scratch and created a fresh zip archive and uploaded it, but still I get the same error trying to download it. I'm stuck.

Thanks in advance,

Steve = : ^ )

[Lusil]

Hi everyone, thanks for nudging us on this thread and sorry to hear that you're still having trouble with this. 

For those that haven't already, could you try a different browser to see if the issue persists?

@Steve B.89, since you've already done this, could you also try:

• Downloading the items from an incognito window? 
• After clearing the browser's cache?
• Once you make sure that you're not running any third party browser extensions or plugins? 

Let me know what you find, cheers!

[Steve B.89]

Lusil,

Chrome is just my emergency browser, used when Safari has a problem with something, which is very rarely. There are no extensions or similar installed, so we can rule out brower extensions and also the browser.

Something I didn't put in my original post is that, in the Finder, the downloaded file has the icon of an incomplete Safari download. This is significant. The entire file downloads—the downloaded file is the same size as the file on the server—but the browser doesn't think it's complete. I'm not a programmer, but I imagine that when it's fininshed sending a file, the server should send an end-of-file message or something so that the browser knows the download is complete. This isn't happening, and what the browser sees is that the data stream has stopped and there has been no end-of-file message, and it interprets this as the connection having been dropped. This is why both Safari and Chrome report a network error.

I'd be willing to wager that the problem is at the server.

Steve = : ^ )

[Walter]

Thanks for the follow up @Steve B.89. 

If this is still happening, can you please send us a screenshot of the exact error you get so we can have a visual too?

[kentcecilia]

hello,

i am reporting this same issue. a 19.4gb zip file download stalled after appearing to download completely.

my first three times were on safari on my macbook pro, and recieved a network error in all cases. as mentioned above, the icon would remain a document with a "safari" logo, instead of switching to appear the zipped file icon.

then, i switched over to chrome, same result, though the icon was the zip file icon.

then i switched over to safari on my imac pro, then to chrome, then to chrome from an incognito window, then a normal window again after clearing the cache. in all instances (except for the last two), the file will appear to be downloading until 100% and then will display "network error". when i tried to uncompress the zip file, it will act like it is loading, and then tell me the zip file format is unrecognized.

in the instance of the chrome incognito window, i recieved the error message after downloading the 19.4gb and then found that the there was no file even in my download folder. i screenshotted this error message in the corner, though the only information provided was "network error". in the cleared cache attempt, i recieved a network error message at around 4gb downloaded.

my imac pro is plugged in directly to the cable ethernet. no internet instability has been reported in my area or in my household.