Missing icons and sync not working Windows10

[OmriYaHoo]

Hello,

I have a Windows 10 PC version 20H2 build 19042.746.

I'm not sure why but from time to time the sync icons are missing from the Windows Explorer.
When I check the sync in the app itself it's stuck on syncing some files.

I've tried the steps here - https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/sync-icons#files
In addition, I tried to sign-out, sign-in again and reinstall it, but nothing seems to fix the issues permanently.
I tried to close the app and reopen it but it doesn't work either, the only way to fix this issue until it happens again is to force close it with Windows 10 task-manager and reopen it.
Clicking "view sync issues" doesn't show anything.
In the ".dropbox.cache" I see the folders:

• icons
• new_files
• old_files
• tmp_dirs

They are all empty.

Dropbox is installed on 3 devices I have:

1. Windows 10 machine
2. MacBook Pro
3. Android phone

The issue is only occurring on my Windows Machine, other devices work fine.

Any suggestions on how to fix it?
I can't find any local logs that could give a better understanding of what the issue is.

[Jay]

Hi @OmriYaHoo, thanks for joining the Community!

Do you have other apps on your machine that create their own icons, similar to the syncing ones for Dropbox?

If possible, you might be experiencing this behavior. Could you try the steps there to see if this helps?

Keep me updated with any progress!

[OmriYaHoo]

Hi Jay,

I don't have any other programs installed that can make changes to icons. In fact, my Windows is a new clean installation of Windows (Only a few weeks ago).

I've tried the mentioned steps in that link.

My Dropbox folder is installed with all the defaults of the installation, meaning

C:\Users\{my-user}\Dropbox

Regards,

Omri

[Jay]

Perhaps the new installation has Onedrive running, which could affect the Dropbox icons from loading.

Could you try disabling it completely, if you're not using that service?

[OmriYaHoo]

It's not running for me since I'm not signed-in to it.
I would try to remove it completely for now.

I'll keep you updated.

[Jay]

Thanks for the reply, let me know how it goes!

[OmriYaHoo]

I'm not sure why it took a while to appear again but the issue has not resolved by removing OneDrive.
I did verify it wasn't installed back again by windows update or something like that.

I think maybe it happens when Windows is losing connection to the internet.
Since I had some issues before with a bad router and switched to a good one.

[Jay]

It does sound like the device is losing connection to the web, or at least, to the Dropbox domains which would allow the app to detect any changes.

There is a possibility that a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router issues that could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains. Could you check each one to see if this could be the reason?

[OmriYaHoo]

Hi Jay,

Taking back what I mentioned before, I think it's not related to losing connections since it happened twice when I was using the PC without any loss of connection.

Also, referring to what you mentioned - I don't use any proxy, VPN, Firewall (other than the defaults windows 10 one and obviously Dropbox is enabled for outgoing and incoming requests) and I don't have any issues with my router or my ISP as far as I know.

I'm using Cloudflare as my DNS (1.1.1.1) for years now and I never had any issues.

Very strange, is there no option to view logs by userId or something like that?
I'm guessing no logs are written to my own machine...

[chrissos]

Ho OmriYaHoo,

While I am new to the Dropbox community, I am a 10+ year user of Dropbox.  I too, have a Windows 10 computer and I too regularly have sync icon issues.  You're not going to like my reply, but it may make you feel better.  From both my reading and observation, there are limits in Windows 10 as to how many "overlays" an icon can have.  The limit is 15. 

My issue is that I have Google Drive for my day job, OneDrive for my consulting business, and Dropbox for everything personal/family.  Add all of those icon sets up, and it bangs up against the limit.  If I had to guess what would solve it for you, it would be to remove one or two programs that use Icon Overlays, then reinstall Dropbox.  That is probably not acceptable, but I might suggest another idea...install and run Dropbox.  My other suggestion is to use the Dropbox app itself to see the metadata associated with your folders and files in Dropbox.  It uses a much more friendly column to show (and it works perfectly) the status of the files.  You can make this super easy by adding a Windows shortcut key for yourself to replace the Windows Key + E simplicity of opening File Explorer.  You do this by finding the shortcut file location (right click in the Start Menu, show file location, then right click the Dropbox icon, Properties, and lay down a shortcut key combination while your cursor is in the Shortcut Key box).  I use CTRL + ALT + D for Dropbox.

Hope this helps.

Note to Dropbox developers, it would be most excellent if you could tie into the Windows 10 "status" meta data field (like OneDrive does) instead of using the legacy icon overlays.  Set the status field to show by default when the user displays in Details view.  My guess is they already have this queued up...but I'd +1 the suggestion. 

Here's the link to the MS article on the 15 overlay limit:

Why is there a limit of 15 shell icon overlays? | The Old New Thing (microsoft.com)