You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

schmidtsp's avatar
schmidtsp
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

Dropbox files on PC are not showing up on the Dropbox website

I recently had to re-install Windows 10. I re-installed Dropbox using the install function from the Drobbox website. What shows in the Dropbox folder on my computer does not match what shows on the website. There are several important things I saved to Dropbox on my computer that are not showing on the Dropbox website and thus are not showing on my labtop. How do I fix this and not lose the new information that I "entered" on the computer?

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    Hey schmidtsp, welcome to the Dropbox Community!

    Can you let me know the sync status of the Dropbox application on your computer?

    You can check that by hovering with your mouse over the Dropbox icon in your system tray.

    Also, do the files in your Dropbox folder have syncing icons next to them? Green check marks or blue circling icons?

    Keep me posted!

     
  • schmidtsp's avatar
    schmidtsp
    Explorer | Level 3

    Thank you for your response. My Dropbox situation is very confusing.  This afternoon I found another "hidden" Dropbox folder under my username.  It does not show up normally when I open File Explorer.  (I have to click on the arrow next to quick access and choose my user name to see the Dropbox icon.)  It seems to match the online Dropbox but does not include any files I have added to my PC Dropbox for the last 2-3 months.  The PC Dropbox I have been using (that doesn't match the online Dropbox) is listed as a folder under documents.  Neither the apparent "real" Dropbox folder listed under my username nor the Dropbox listed under documents has green sync checkmarks.  

     

    For a comparison, I opened the Dropbox icon/app on my laptop PC (Windows 10).  It matches the online Dropbox and has green check arrows beside the file folders and individual files.  Neither the laptop nor desktop PCs show the Dropbox icon on the system tray.

    I'm not sure what to do to get everything in sync and the "real" Dropbox icon showing up on my desktop PC.

     

    • Hunter's avatar
      Hunter
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey schmidtsp, sorry for bumping into your thread.

       

      It sounds like your "hidden" Dropbox folder, isn't actually syncing to your account.

       

      Firstly you need to make sure the Dropbox application is always running (icon in your system tray).

       

      To ensure that, you can run the Dropbox installer.

       

      To find your active Dropbox folder, you can:

      1. Open your desktop app preferences.
      2. Click the "sync tab".
      3. Note the "Dropbox folder location"

      Any files you add in the above Dropbox folder location, will sync and upload to your account, as long as your Dropbox application is running.

       

       

       

      • schmidtsp's avatar
        schmidtsp
        Explorer | Level 3

        Thanks Hunter.  I ended up copying all the files I had added to the nonsyncing folders (I had two of them for some reason) to a jump drive, uninstalling anything "Dropbox" on my PC, and then re-installing Dropbox from the Dropbox website.  Everything seems to be working now.  I'm not sure why it didn't install correctly the first time.

  • Larry Placido's avatar
    Larry Placido
    Explorer | Level 4

    This is my first time using Dropbox where I have copied over a file of photographs so I could do a preliminary edit when away from my desktop. 

     

    The file itself is large, with over 1000 images. When I tried to access the images, I found that only 117 were seen (they all had green check marks) on my laptop. But when I was on my desktop at home, ALL the images were seen and could be accessed easily.

     

    I'm pretty close to my max limit on my account. I don't think that is the issue though... 

     

    This quite frankly has me stumped. I've never had any issues with accessing anything while on dropbox before.

     

    Suggestions and/or help would be appreciated,  thanks.

     

     

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi Larry Placido, let's look right into this! 

       

      Did you try to access the content using the website, or the app on your laptop? 

       

      It sounds like the content you added, while using your desktop device didn't sync.

       

      There are a few reasons this might have happened: you didn't have enough space to the account, you closed the device before it had time to sync etc. 

       

      I suggest you have a look into this Help Center article. 

       

      If you have any questions, let me know.

      • Larry Placido's avatar
        Larry Placido
        Explorer | Level 4

        Hi Megan,

        Well thinking back at it now... I accessed it via the app on my laptop. I know that my account is almost out of room.

         

        And I might have closed Dropbox too soon. I'm going to go through that link that you sent me for the Help Center article. I'll let you know what I find.

         

        It confuses me a bit because if Dropbox didn't sync correctly, why is it I can see all 1020 images in that file while on my desktop. But when I'm on my laptop, only 117 are shown? 

         

        And, if I were to delete that file on my laptop, would it delete it also on my desktop? 

         

        Thanks, 

        Larry

  • Corina_'s avatar
    Corina_
    Explorer | Level 3

    Good morning,

    I used three devices with my account, a phone, a pc and internet where I manged my files.

    Once that I uploaded something from the pc or even the web site it seemed to upgrade also in the other devices, so I had all my files together and a modify could be applied to the file in every station.

    But last thursday I uploaded some files from the pc but the never appeared online and I don't have them any more.

    How can I have my files back? They were copied in the app on the pc but the other times it was syncronized with other station and this time it didn't work.

    Please help me, were important documents that I don't have anywhere now.

     

    If I upgrade my profile can I have them back?

    I don't know what to do.

     

    Thanks in advice.

     

    Corina

    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      Corina_ wrote:

      ... I uploaded some files from the pc but the never appeared online and I don't have them any more. How can I have my files back?


      You placed the files in the local Dropbox folder so they would sync, but you don't see them online? If so, that likely means they haven't synced and would still be located in the Dropbox folder on the PC. Check the sync status on the PC by hovering your cursor over the Dropbox icon in your system tray (near the date/time).

      • Corina_'s avatar
        Corina_
        Explorer | Level 3
        Hi Rich!
        Yes I think they didn’t sync and wasn’t the first time happening, but I don’t have access on that local pc any more and I’ve deleted the station for that reason.
        There is some possibility to find them anyway?
        I thought I would have found them online as always but this didn’t happen this time.
        If I update my account there is the possibility I can find them and restore ore something like that?

About 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.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!