dropbox stuck in syncing on big sur

[yyyyyyddd]

I recently installed dropbox on my new mac mini with big sur system. However, dropbox stuck in syncing with 14,000+ files not syncing... It has been stuck for almost 2 weeks. I have tried the following approaches:

1. restart the computer and logged/logged in dropbox

2. unintall dropbox completely and reinstall it and relogged in

3. update big sur and dropbox to the latest versions

4. remove firewalls and uninstall security applications, etc.

Unfortunately, dropbox is still stuck in syncing... What can I do now? Thank you.

[Hannah]

Hey @yyyyyyddd, thanks for joining our Community and happy Monday!

Can you take a look at this article, to see if there's any useful steps that you can follow?

Let me know how it goes!

[yyyyyyddd]

Hi Hannah,

I have tried all the solutions in this article. None of it works...

[Jay]

Hi @yyyyyyddd, could you try fixing the hardlinks and permissions of files by following these steps?

[yyyyyyddd]

Hi, @Jay , I have tried "fixed permissions" and "fixed hardlinks". Dropbox said "success". Then I restarted my computer. Unfortunately, dropbox is still stucked in syncing. (It actually has more files syncing...before restarting it is "syncing 14100+ files". Now it is "syncing 14300+files"). I have attached a screenshot.

screenshot

[Jay]

Are the number of files syncing decreasing as more of them get synced to the site? Does sync history show the files being synced successfully?

[kota256]

I have a similar issue (also BigSur). Pause-Restart syncing, Stop, and relaunching Dropbox. "Syncing 1508 files" has not decreased for days (Increases when changing some folders to "local" but do not go down from this number). 

The problem is that when I add a new file, which I plan to share with someone else, does not get recognized by Dropbox so my collaboration is hindered. In the end, I uploaded those files to Dropbox via the website and created a link to the file, but this is not how it should be. 

[Megan]

Hi @kota256, thanks for posting today! 

Have you tried fixing your app's permissions using the steps @Jay provided above? 

Also, what is the syncing status and version of your desktop application? 

Keep me posted!

[kota256]

Hi Lori, 

Thanks for responding. 

The version number of my Dropbox is v133.4.4089

I tried both "fix hard links" and "fix permission" already, but tried "fix permissions" again and observed the response. After seeing "success!" message, the number of syncing files increased to 15,000 or so, and then gradually decreased, while the number was fluctuating with a small decrease/increase in numbers. It took time, and when the number became about 6,000, I quit dropbox onece and relaunched again. Then the number was about 2000 or so, gradually decreased to 1708 and stopped syncing - just like before. 

When I check the file status, I see many folders "syncing" (rotating icon) while all files inside are with green check icons. 

It would be very helpful to know which files are 1708 files. Is there any way to list them in the command line with full path, not by checking the sync status icon in Finder, so I can think about some way to fix it locally by moving files, like creating a script to move them systematically?

Cheers, 

 Kota

[Megan]

Thanks for the exceptional details, @kota256!

Have you checked your files or folders for any invalid names or bad characters that would prevent them from syncing?