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Forum Discussion
Dropbox stopped syncing since update
Ever since Dropbox released their new update, my files have been stuck on the same few hundred files and haven't been able to sync or save anything new in over 4 months. All the while they keep charg...
Hey pdiseris, I hope you're well today!
The first thing I would suggest to check would be to correct the hardlinks and permissions within the Dropbox folder. You can do this with the below steps:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar/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 Option/Alt key (Mac) or the
Space barAlt+H keys (Windows), click "Fix Hardlinks". - You might be prompted to enter your computer's username and password (not Dropbox's).
The app might need to sync for a while after doing this, so please just keep an eye out for any progress.
Let me know how it goes!
EDIT: Just updated the steps to reflect the new changes.
Hi Daphne,
I have a similar issue with a recent update that broke syncing of hard links in Windows for me as well.
I was happy when I saw your solution, however, I don't get the option to "Fix Hardlinks" anywhere in the options (v. 88.4.172).. I'm confused now.
In Windows, or any other programmes, those same hardlinks work perfectly fine!
Any suggestions?
Cheers
Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi hardlink, thanks for joining the discussion!
To see the option within your desktop app preferences, you need to hold down the Space bar key while you're within the "Account" tab.
When you do this, are you able to see the option? You'll need to keep the key pressed to see and click on the option.
Let me know how it goes!
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, and sorry for the delay on my end:The space bar did indeed bring up the 2 buttons (only after some time though, don't know why it wouldn't work before)..
So, I clicked "Repair", got the info "Dropbox sucessfully repaired .. and made them into copies". However, nothing's changed, the hardlink folders are still not sychronised (and marked with a small red x symbol).
I also clicked on "Fix permissions", which didn't do the trick either. :(
I've also restarted both Dropbox, and then the entire OS, without any success.
Do you have any more suggestions?
Or will the issue be addressed in the coming updates?Thanks in advance!
- Daphne
Thanks for getting back to me hardlink!
Is it possible that they're symlinks instead of hardlinks? Rather than a copy of the file that it's linked with, it would be like a shortcut to the file in another location.
Could you try the steps listed in point 7 here and let me know if you find symlinks within the Dropbox folder pointing to files outside the folder?
If you do, can you replacing these with the actual file and using the symlink in the original location? Otherwise, please try moving files with the red X outside of Dropbox and then move them back inside.
Keep me posted with your findings!
Hi Daphne,
I'm sorry, you are right!
When I checked terminolgies, I remembered: mine are indeed symbolic links, as they all point to folders (and they don't recommend hard links for folders). And there was some other issue I don't remember exactly, but I went for symlinks ("mklink" command) for a reason.I want the target outside my dropbox, because my dropbox folder is on an encrypted partition, but I want my normal files backed up and syncronised in the cloud, too. It doesn't work the other way round, because if I start Dropbox and forget to mount my drive, it will think those files are gone and delete them. I don't want to type my encryption password every time I work on the computer either.
The solution I had worked perfectly fine.
But now apparently they broke the programme. :(
