Dropbox sync stalling on Big Sur

[dacX]

Dropbox has always worked well for me -- until I updated my (very new) iMac to macOS "Big Sur" (11.1) about a month ago.

The issue in a nutshell is that Dropbox will upload changed files for a little bit after starting, then stall entirely, or slow to a creep.  It's a little tricky to characterize, because it's not consistent.  A few times I quit Dropbix and restarted it and (judging from the "Recent" activity listing in the menubar dropdown) a few files would quickly upload, but then would stall and nothing else would upload, or a few items at random.  The little wheel at the bottom of that dropdpwn is turning and says "Syncing XXX files", but nothing seems to happen, and the number of files just keeps going up ... and down ... and up ... it's very difficult to tell what's actually happening or what Dropbx is doing because there doesn't appear to be a sync log I can access.  I've tried quitting and deleting the Dropbox app and re-installing.  A couple of times when I've done that there would be a burst of upload activity, but then it would stall again, but I can't even get that to happen consistently.  Of course Iv'e tried the usual things like restarting and so forth.

Another reason it's difficult to in down is that the behavior is so erratic.  In one instance a file I put in a particualr Dropbox folder uploaded right away.  But in that same folder are things I added WEEKS ago now that have yet to sync.   If there's a pattern or characteristic common to things that are not uploading, or when or why Dropbox stalls, or how to kick-start those bursts of uploadeds, I can't identify it.  (No clues in "View sync issues".  Just a few Outlook emoji that won't upload because they have an emoji in the file name.)

I'm feeling stytmied.   Suggestions as to things to try welcome, or tools to help figure out what Dropbox is doing or trying to do to help narrow down the issue.  (I have  about 1.6 TB worth of stuff in Dropbox, though, so solutions that involve re-uploading everything from scratch will not be particularly welcome.)

I've Googled around and not been able to identify others with similar issues. 

Thanks.

[dacX]

How did you do the latter steps?  (Reset permissions and hardlinks) -- See my post above.  How did you access those options?

Thanks.

[ceeeeeeej]

Hey mate,

Go to the Dropbox app > preferences > account tab and then hold the option/alt key on your keyboard. That will display the options

[dacX]

No, it doesn't, as I indicate in a post above.  I've seen this advice multiple times online, but it simply doesn't do this on ANY of the three machines on which I have Dropbox installed (two desktops and a laptop).  So there's another mystery here.

Would you (or anyone?) for whom this actually works [holding down the opt key on a Mac to see the "Fix Hardlinks" and "Fix Permissions" options] post a screenshot of the Accounts prefence tab with these options showing so I know what I'm supposed to be seeing?

Thanks!

[Emma]

Thank you all for reporting this, it is related to a known issue a number of users experienced last week. The team have now resolved this and it should be working again.

Please let us know if we can help with anything else or you're still having trouble!

[Arielct]

Hi,

I'm having exacly teh same issue and we have a bussines Account. What ever you guys sayyou have fixed is not working. I urgently need help as have large Video files to share!

looking forward to telling me in detail how to fix thsi issue!

Cheers

[Arielct]

As an example DB is saying I started these 17 mins again, when in fact it was 3 hours ago! Also the total in the 3 files is 133mb (not Gb). My networks upload speed is 30mbps and no other uploads. I have a real fast broadband so its not that as i've tested via FTP with these files and it only took 6 seconds to transfer! 

Do I have to delete DB totaly from my Mac or is there an update?

Looking forward to a swift reply please.

Thank you

[Daphne]

I'm sorry to hear you're still having trouble with this @Arielct!

Just to have a bit of a better idea of your setup, can you let me know what version of the desktop app you have installed?

You can hover over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar to see this.

Let me know and we can go from there - thanks!

[Arielct]

Hi, thank for the reply.

My version is 114.4.426 

And this

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@Daphne wrote:
I'm sorry to hear you're still having trouble with this @Arielct!

Just to have a bit of a better idea of your setup, can you let me know what version of the desktop app you have installed?

You can hover over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar to see this.

Let me know and we can go from there - thanks!

---

is the upload speed in DB only!

Cheers

[Daphne]

Thanks for the screenshot @Arielct!

Can you try these steps to see if that helps the upload complete?

If the syncing is stuck due to incorrect permissions on the files, this should do the trick.

[Arielct]

Hi,

For some reason nothing comes up when I press OPT on teh Accounts tab, or hover over and press. I think I will have to unlink, delete then try reloading it all again as im running out of time to deliver some important files. This is not just happening to me as I have been n contact with other Big Sur/DB users and it's happening to them as well.

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@Daphne wrote:
Thanks for the screenshot @Arielct!

Can you try these steps to see if that helps the upload complete?

If the syncing is stuck due to incorrect permissions on the files, this should do the trick.

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