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Dropbox keeps (re)indexing and syncing after activating smart sync

Dropbox keeps (re)indexing and syncing after activating smart sync

Wietse V.
Helpful | Level 5
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I've recently activated the smart sync functionality for my teams account. When I did, Dropbox started indexing and syncing a huge number of files which made sense to me because it needed to download all shortcuts to online files (the ones y had previously saved online only using selective sync). However, after finishing the whole process (after a day or so of syncing), and restarted my laptop, Dropbox seems to have started the process all over again. And today again. When hovering over the dropbox icon in the taskbar, the pop up message mentions hundreds of thousands of files to be indexed and uploading/downloading tens of thousands of files too. These numbers go down slowly (syncing in progress) but then go up again as if the whole process starts all over. 

 

Is this a know issue? Normal behaviour? Any suggestions about what I could do to solve this?

 

I'm running Windows 7 and Dropbox v47.4.74

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Wietse V.
Helpful | Level 5
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Hi Minato, 

 

Thanks for your reply. I decided to reinstall the Dropbox desktop application yesterday. After I did, I waited another couple of hours for a full sync, but once that was done the issue seems to have disappeared. The Dropbox app now reports that it's fully up to date and seems to stay that way (except for normal syncing behaviour when a file is changed).

 

I propose I wait to see if the problem reoccurs, and if it does I will create a ticket at the support page as per your suggestion. 

 

Kind regards, Wietse 

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23 Replies 23

Minato
Dropbox Staff
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Hey @Wietse V.,

 

It appears that this issue needs to be investigated by a speciliazed team.

Can you create a ticket at our Support page?

 

When you create it, please, send me the ticket number so I can forward it!

 

Thank you in advance!




Minato
Moderator @ Dropbox
https://dropbox.com/support


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Wietse V.
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

Hi Minato, 

 

Thanks for your reply. I decided to reinstall the Dropbox desktop application yesterday. After I did, I waited another couple of hours for a full sync, but once that was done the issue seems to have disappeared. The Dropbox app now reports that it's fully up to date and seems to stay that way (except for normal syncing behaviour when a file is changed).

 

I propose I wait to see if the problem reoccurs, and if it does I will create a ticket at the support page as per your suggestion. 

 

Kind regards, Wietse 

Wietse V.
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

Unfortunately the problem just popped up again (after a few days of working normally). A couple of observations:

- dropbox at first failed to start at windows startup. When I rebooted Dropbox did start and started syncing.

- Dropbox now is indexing 340,000 files and I have syncing icons on all my files and folders on dropbox. DB also reports that it's uploading 1782 files, which does not correspond to 1782 new or changed files I added to my computer since yesterday.

- I occasionally get pop-up messages informing me that I just joined folders that I in fact have joined already days or weeks ago. 

 

Argh.

 

I'll request a support ticket to further investigate this. 

 

 

 

dupyckles
New member | Level 2
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Hello, I am having the same problem: indexing and uploading thousands of files, so that my recent changed files are not uploaded. This problem started when I generated about a million small data files (less than 5 kb each) for my work. After I used the files, I did not need them anymore, so I deleted all of them with the hope the problem disappears. However, the problem remains, and the number of indexing and uploading files keeps increasing. Now it is more than 100 thousand for both. In the "Recent Changed Files" list there are only those deleted files. Can anybody help me? The problem is that my recent changed files are not been uploaded... 

trackerweb
New member | Level 2
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Hi There,

 

I'm having the same problem of this guys are facing.  After searching around, i can see that this is a problem for many user. Is anything that we can do? 

Otherwise i have no choise that stop using the services. Everytime i restart computer, start to Resync again, i have around a 1Tb of files, so, it been days that neves stops Syncing/uplaod/reload this that was UpToDate before.

 

Any solutions?

 

DragonLover
Explorer | Level 3
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Same problem here. No syncing problem on desktops (Windows 10) but on my MacBook Pro mid 2018  Dropbox is syncing, uploading and downloading like crazy (hover over the icon shows these activities) , and keeps doing so for days already, without me having changed anything that would justify this. And ond the dekstops no problem at all, so evidently a bug. Downside is that these unnecessary activities cut my batterylife, making my MacBook empty in a few hours instead of an working day. I hoped to find a solution here, but nothing? Ik stop dropbox on the MacBook but this diminishes my faith in DropBox dramatically. 

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hi @DragonLover, sorry to hear about this experience. 

I've sent you a ticket to the email address associated with your Community profile so that we can have a more in-depth investigation of this behavior. 

When you have the chance, please check your inbox for my message and we'll take it from there. Cheers!

PS. If anyone else is still having trouble or any questions, please don't hesitate to give me a nudge. :slight_smile:


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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MrV
Explorer | Level 3
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Same here. All of my laptop's are behaving exactly the same. Each time you restart the laptop there are over 45000 files synking!! Super slow to start, then checking for changes theeeeeeen synking which takes for ever even though on fiber.

Have reinstalled the desktop app with no change in behaviour. It drains battery and hogs resource for 10,15,20min while doing this. Mad.

MrV
Explorer | Level 3
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In addition to the above.
The same behaviour on my Surface Go (fastest version), surface book i7 16gb ram 1tb, old Samsung laptop and 13inch MacBook pro... I actively avoid restating the computer I'm using to avoid DBs frustrating process of starting checking and then synking the world.
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