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.

View, download, and export

Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

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

Re: Dropbox stuck syncing, won't let me delete files

Dropbox stuck syncing, won't let me delete files

serafinalvarez
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Hello,

My Dropbox is taking forever to sync.

Over a month now I started having issues when syncing shared files. I could manually upload and download the latest version of a shared file via browser, but my files wouldn't sync locally. It took me a while to notice it, so I lost hours of work and had a few arguments with work mates, because I wasn't seeing their edits and they weren't seeing mine. When I finally discovered that my local files weren't up to date, I found the Dropbox app was stuck syncing over 2,500,000 files (it probably was because I moved the location of the root folder of a big project containing millions of files, so I guess Dropbox was having difficulties relocating that many files).

Over a month later, I got sick of having to manually download and upload every single file I wanted to edit, so I cancelled my paid account, and moved to a different company. The thing is, I need to use Dropbox for a few (light) things because it's the platform where I share it with a few others , but even though I moved away almost everything it still says it's syncing over 2,200,000 files, and won't let me sync anything because it says my Dropbox is full.

Long story short: After moving away almost all of the files that I had stored on Dropbox I cancelled my Dropbox Pro account, but it is still syncing millions of files and says I'm using over 4000 % of my free storage. I moved away those files locally, but they continue to appear via browser. When trying to delete them via browser, it says they're too many and asks me to do it locally.

What can I do to delete those files from my Dropbox?

Thanks,

Serafin

 

19 Replies 19

Jay
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
If that’s the case, would it be okay for us to reach out to your email address associated with your forum profile to assist further on this matter?

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

serafinalvarez
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Hello Jay,

Sure, go ahead.

Thanks,

Serafin

JeffBradford
New member | Level 2
Go to solution

Im having the exact same problem. Can you post the solution? 

serafinalvarez
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

Hi Jeff,

After contacting me by email the engineering team at Dropbox deleted the problematic folder themselves.

The issue was the huge volume of files in that folder (over 2,500,000). What they said is that the current limitation of the Dropbox desktop application is roughly around 300,000 files. I gave them permisition to remove it, and they did so.

Best,

Serafin

Timmusician
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

I unsynced Dropbox, stopped my account, deleted the dropbox folder from my PC, and it lost all my files and left me with a blank desktop. I've managed to get some of my files back and thankfully had some backed up on Google Drive. The dropbox folder STILL appears and STILL keeps adding my files to it (thus reducing my drive capacity at a fast rate). Please, anyone, do not use Dropbox. I can't get rid of it now and it contantly messes up my directories!!!

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @Timmusician, thanks for nudging us here and sorry to hear about your frustration. 

Since you mention that you uninstalled the desktop app and deleted the Dropbox folder, could you clarify if the folder you're seeing is a regular folder by any chance? 

It'd be super helpful if you could send us a screenshot of it. 

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

Timmusician
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution
I had to reinstall the Dropbox app in order to get back to where I was. I have unlinked everything and still can't get rid of the DB folder without losing all my files again

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
If you unlinked the desktop app from your account, that Dropbox folder should be like any other folder on your computer that doesn't sync to the website. 

In this case, I'd recommend leaving it as is, or moving to another location, so that you can cross-check the files that get synced after you reinstall the desktop app.

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

serenasu
New member | Level 2
Go to solution

Hi, 

 

I've had the same problem. I had 128k files stuck even after I deleted them from my PC. the constant sync trashed my PC and if I stopped Syncing I am not able to access my files. 

Please can someone here help me? 

 

Serena.

Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hey @serenasu, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

 

If you haven't already, can you please restart your computer, to see if that helps?

 

If not, hover your mouse over the Dropbox icon in your system tray, to see if there are any error messages or sync issues causing this behavior.


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

Need more support?