Dropbox is continuously reporting it's syncing, or indexing on Windows 10.

[coymeetsworld]

Hello,

Despite not making any changes to my Dropbox folder contents on my Windows host the Dropbox icon is at a constant syncing and/or indexing state and I cannot tell what it is actually trying to do. I've had this issue for weeks, I've had to even shut down Dropbox at times because it was using a high amount of CPU cycles.

I've updated to latest version 86.4.146 and I still have the problem. I do not have this issue on my Ubuntu box at home. Is there a way to tell what Dropbox is actually doing? I just get a vague statement it says it's "Syncing..." or "Indexing one file", but can't tell what it is syncing or indexing.

[DMP3D]

I'll update you tomorrow as I've just looked through some of the files I did ealrier and it seems they have synced so I'll let it on for a while and hopefully the rest will go in.

[DMP3D]

Hi @Daphne 

So I've left my PC on overnight and it stills seems to be syncing 12 files. It seems to always be 12 files. Have you any other ideas on whats going on?

Thanks,

[Daphne]

Thanks for the update @DMP3D!

Can you just confirm for me if you also tried the "Fix permissions" option too?

If so, are you able to see which files are currently trying to sync by opening your Dropbox folder in your File Explorer and checking for any folders/files with the syncing icon ?

If a folder shows this icon, please open it and narrow it down to the file that's trying to sync. From there, can you try moving the file out of the Dropbox folder and seeing if the app will complete syncing?

[DMP3D]

Hi @Daphne 

I think I've finally solved it. There was a couple of folders that seemed to be the issue. Luckily I had a copy of those on my PC so I deleted them in the dropbox waited to see if the sync item disappeared which it finally did. I then copied the files back to the dropbox web page and it all seems to be fine now.

I don't know why it did what it did but at least for now it's working as it should.

Thanks for all your help 👍  

[Daphne]

I'm very glad to hear that @DMP3D!

If there's anything else that I can help with, please don't hesitate to get back to me here and give me a nudge.

I hope you have a great week ahead!

[camner]

There are quite a few forum posts about Dropbox getting stuck syncing.  I've reviewed those and tried the various proposed solutions.  Here's what I've done thus far:

1. Quit and restarted DB
2. Rebooted the PC
3. Quit, downloaded DB again, and restarted DB
4. Unlinked DB and relinked DB
5. Used the Advanced Reinstall method linked here

In each case, DB dutifully starts resyncing my files and folders, and eventually just stops when it gets to 2187 files to go and 3.7GB to go.  

DB is not entirely broken, as it successfully syncs SOME new files and edited files, but it goes back to that number and storage-to-go number eventually.

This is PC running Windows 10 with the latest version of DB

Any thoughts and help would be appreciated.

[anonymous]

Hello @camner 

Have you tried a Force Un-Install of the Dropbox App on your computer(please note a forced un-install is different from a regular un-install)? If not follow the instructions on this page https://appuals.com/how-to-uninstall-programs-on-windows-10-that-wont-uninstall/. Also to fix common sync problems go to https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/files-not-syncing and https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/files-update-issues and follow the recommended steps. I hope this helps!

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[anonymous]

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[camner]

Thanks, @anonymous for your reply.

1. I'm not sure what you mean by a "force uninstall," but I used Add or Remove Programs from the Windows 10 control panel and Dropbox seemed to uninstall just fine.  I also used the "Advanced Reinstall" method described here. Is that what you mean?
2. I viewed the link you helpfully provided to the Dropbox article titled "Troubleshoot Dropbox syncing issues."  It mentioned characters in filenames that may cause problems.  Is there a way to search for files with such characters in their names?  I'm syncing nearly 300,000 files and it isn't possible to go through them all to see if any of them might have problematical characters in their names.
3. I have checked most of the items referred to in the last DB article to which you linked.  Most of the items I pass with flying colors.  I haven't tried turning off the antivirus software (Defender) or whitelisting DB, but I haven't made any changes to my antivirus software in several years, and the issue cropped up about 3 weeks ago.  I suppose there may have been an update that auto installed via Windows Update...

I think what I need is a way to determine which file(s) or folder(s) DB is getting stuck on, but I have no idea how to do that.

[anonymous]

Hello @camner 

You said that you are syncing over 300,000 files. Dropbox states that it starts to slow down with over 100,000 files and anything over that starts affecting performance.

As you have lots and lots on Dropbox you may wish to consider using Selective Sync to take off folders you dont use often (https://help.dropbox.com/syncing-uploads/selective-sync-overview). This leaves them in Dropbox, but, not on your machine. I hope this helps!

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[camner]

Thanks for the suggestion re Smart Sync.  I don't the large number of files explains the issue with sync getting stuck, though.  I've had that # of files for a long time, and never had a problem with syncing until recently.