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.

Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

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

Dropbox stuck indexing, then silently shuts down

Dropbox stuck indexing, then silently shuts down

Beennn
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

I'm having some trouble getting dropbox to sync.

I recently reset my windows 10 installation, after which I reinstalled dropbox, and since have been unable to use it. 

My dropbox directory is stored on another drive, so when re-installing, i am selecting the original intact drive with all of my dropbox files on. Dropbox then prompts me with a message saying 'indexing 170 files...", which it remains stuck on for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes or so, the application then just closes and nothing happens. Relaunching the application repeats the above process.

Any idea what's going on? and how i can fix it? 

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey there (@Beennn), did you point the new installation to your existing folder-structure using the Advanced Settings on the setup window? Any detail in regards to how you went about with the migration would be very helpful. 
 
From there, as it looks like you may have some files in your folder that have their permissions incorrectly set, the first step is to try resetting the permissions to see if that helps Dropbox interact with your files. Those are the instructions in Part I. If that doesn't work, I'd like you to try the advanced reinstall steps outlined in Part II. Please only go to Part II after restarting your computer and making sure that Part I didn't solve the problem.
 
Part I: Permissions: 
 
Spoiler
You can fix your permissions settings with the following steps: 

#1. If Dropbox is running:
- Click on the Dropbox icon in the system tray
- Choose "Exit"

#2. Press the Windows Key + R (at the same time) then type "cmd" and press enter to open the Command prompt.

#3. Copy and paste the following lines into the Command Prompt, one at a time, and press RETURN after each one. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste these commands(don't type them by hand), as getting them wrong could cause some harm. Also, you can only paste them by right clicking and selecting “Paste”. Don't worry if one of the instructions below fail or you can't find the folder in one of these locations. This is normal.
 
icacls "%HOMEPATH%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
icacls "%APPDATA%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
icacls "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
If you have any questions before you do this, or if you see an error after running one of these commands, please let us know!
 
#4. Restart Dropbox from Start -> All Programs. Please also restart your computer.
Part II: Advanced Reinstall
 
Following, please follow these instructions to perform an advanced reinstall. 
 
Please do let me know of the outcome whenever you have some spare time & I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

View solution in original post

19 Replies 19

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey there (@Beennn), did you point the new installation to your existing folder-structure using the Advanced Settings on the setup window? Any detail in regards to how you went about with the migration would be very helpful. 
 
From there, as it looks like you may have some files in your folder that have their permissions incorrectly set, the first step is to try resetting the permissions to see if that helps Dropbox interact with your files. Those are the instructions in Part I. If that doesn't work, I'd like you to try the advanced reinstall steps outlined in Part II. Please only go to Part II after restarting your computer and making sure that Part I didn't solve the problem.
 
Part I: Permissions: 
 
Spoiler
You can fix your permissions settings with the following steps: 

#1. If Dropbox is running:
- Click on the Dropbox icon in the system tray
- Choose "Exit"

#2. Press the Windows Key + R (at the same time) then type "cmd" and press enter to open the Command prompt.

#3. Copy and paste the following lines into the Command Prompt, one at a time, and press RETURN after each one. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste these commands(don't type them by hand), as getting them wrong could cause some harm. Also, you can only paste them by right clicking and selecting “Paste”. Don't worry if one of the instructions below fail or you can't find the folder in one of these locations. This is normal.
 
icacls "%HOMEPATH%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
icacls "%APPDATA%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
icacls "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Dropbox" /grant "%USERNAME%":(F) /T
 
If you have any questions before you do this, or if you see an error after running one of these commands, please let us know!
 
#4. Restart Dropbox from Start -> All Programs. Please also restart your computer.
Part II: Advanced Reinstall
 
Following, please follow these instructions to perform an advanced reinstall. 
 
Please do let me know of the outcome whenever you have some spare time & I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

Beennn
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Hi Jane,

Thanks for your reply,

did you point the new installation to your existing folder-structure using the Advanced Settings on the setup window?  I did yep; i have dropbox on its own dedicated HDD, my windows instalation is on its own dedicated SSD; i also use the windows SSD for program installations (including dropbox); i then set the location for dropbox to use under the advanced settings during installation to use the HDD (the HDD already holds all of my dropbox files pre-installation).

Unfortunately part 1 didn't work - will be trying part 2 today. Will keep you updated, thanks!

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Sure @Beennn, let’s leave this discussion open as a point of contact; please take your time to try my suggestions & keep me posted on the outcome whenever you get a chance! 

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

Beennn
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

@Jane sorry for the long delay - unfortunately i'm still having trouble after following part 2 of your instructions. Can you advise anything else? 

Thanks,

Ben

Jane
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Thanks for sticking with me on this discussion Ben (@Beennn); I appreciate the update & I’d happily further investigate the cause of this discrepancy with you! As I’d like to dig a bit deeper & have a closer look on your setup through our Official Support channel having all our tools available, I’ve made sure to reach out to you directly via email. 
 
Whenever you find some time, please check your inbox for my email & I’ll make sure to promptly get back in touch with you asap!

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question! (
Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

danielarce
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Hi Jane.

 

Do you know perhaps what are the Pt I permissions instructions for mac? (mac Os Monterrey 12.6.3)

 

Thanks a lot.

Daniel

Jay
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hi @danielarce, these are old instructions specifically for Windows devices due to how permissions work on those devices.

 

Could you clarify what issue you're experiencing on your Mac device?


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!

danielarce
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Hi Jay.

My dropbox seems to be stuck at indexing, it shows to be syncing. But nothing happens. It doesn't sync any file.

Every day I must force quit and reboot several times the dropbox app, then pause/resume sync until it starts syncing files.

 

I have followed all instructions related to this issue. Configured all systems permissions. Reinstalled the app etc.

 

I’m using a Mac Studio M1 max Chip but had the same issue with an iMac pro.

 

Thanks.

Daniel

Walter
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hi there @danielarce, sorry to jump in here, but could you send us a screenshot of the app's exact status and version as shown in your menu bar at the moment? 


Walter
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?
Who's talking

Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    Walter Dropbox Staff
  • User avatar
    danielarce Explorer | Level 3
What do Dropbox user levels mean?