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Forum Discussion
Dropbox is stuck syncing after an update, what can I do?
I have the "Dropbox Plus" subscription and I run the client on 4 computers.
Yesterday (Monday, 13-Jan-2020) I signed onto my desktop (which is always on) and has a full local sync of my dropbox...
Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey Shawn B.14, I hope you're well today!
After some updates or reinstallations, it would be expected that the desktop app does a quick reindex of your files. However, the stuck syncing seems to be the problem here.
Can you try the following steps to see if they do the trick:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
- Click the profile pic/initials icon in the top right of the window.
- Choose "Preferences..."
- Go to the "Account" tab.
- While holding the Space bar key, click "Fix Hardlinks".
If you don't see any progress in the syncing status after a short period of time, please try the above again but instead choose "Fix permissions".
You can try this with both devices, but I'd suggest trying the steps with workstation 2 first.
Let me know how it goes!
I did both these steps without any apparent change in sync/indexing status or any change in system load which would indicate actual indexing or sync activity.
If anything, I'd say it's gotten slightly worse as the "indexing" count is up to 8k now.
What's the next troubleshooting step, an "advanced reinstall"?
- Daphne
Hey Shawn B.14, apologies for the delayed reply here!
Can you let me know if you've had any progress with the syncing at all?
Usually, if incorrect permissions are the cause of stuck syncing, applying the fixes mentioned above would allow syncing to progress so it may be expected that the number increases for a time while the app works away.
Keep me posted - thanks!
I haven't had any material improvement, including after performing a clean install (called an "Advanced Install" in one of the Dropbox tech documents).
My primary workstation ("workstation 1") is stuck at "Uploading 1 file, Downloading 7 files". My secondary workstation ("workstation 2") is stuck at indexing ~9k files, uploading 1, and downloading 10.9k files.
One thing I've noticed on both systems is that one of the Dropbox.exe processes is stuck at maximum single-threaded CPU performance. Also, on both systems browsing within Windows File Explorer, the sync icon labels are extremely slow to appear and right-click menus for folders are also heavily delayed. But none of the dropbox processes seemt to be doing any meaningful networking or disk-related tasks, it's all CPU.
It really feels like there's some kind of bug/
One thing I'd like to know is:
What are the files stuck in downloading/uploading status on workstation 1? How can I get this information?
Also, is there any way to determine what my install/build history was or at least the release history and when I might have been expected to have automatically been updated to build 88.4.172? When is the next build release scheduled?
The only good news I can report is that I appear to at least gain synced files from other computers; I created a new folder and text document as a test, and these were synced to workstation 1. They have NOT appeared on Workstation 2, however, which has a backlog that doesn't seem to be abating, even after days.
I'd be happy to work with someone in a higher level of tech support (no insult to you). I am an IT consultant by trade, so I have better than average computer skills/knowledge, not the usual consumer.
Hi @Daphne, I do not have the Fix Hardlinks or Fix Permissions options in the account section of my dropbox preferences.
What can I do?
Tried all the fixes suggested by @Daphne and still not working. This is clearly a widespread issue. I have 3 machines that are having the same stuck on connecting/synching issue.
