Windows 11 search is lagging after a recent Dropbox update

[shrimpgordita]

I'm dealing with a very frustrating problem on all 3 of my Windows 11 machines and I suspect a recent Dropbox update may be the culprit. When I press the Start button and search for a particular file or folder, the result shows up in "best match" but it's not fully loaded. Instead, the preview/details pane to the right just sits as a blank gray box for 5-10 seconds before the gray box finally populates. Only that point can I click on the "open file location" button and get to the right place in file explorer. Similarly, if I immediately click on the particular file/folder in "Best Match," there's a 5-10 second lag between when I click on the file/folder and when the file/folder opens up or goes to the right place in file explorer.  It's making all of my computers almost unusable for productivity tasks.

[Jay]

Hi @shrimpgordita, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you try reinstalling the Dropbox desktop application, without uninstalling it first, using this link?

Keep me updated with any progress!

[shrimpgordita]

Just reinstalled it and the same issue is occuring.

[Hannah]

Hey @shrimpgordita, does this only happen with files in your Dropbox folder or any file in your file explorer?

If you close the Dropbox app completely, does the issue persist with the app closed?

[shrimpgordita]

It seems to only happen when I search or try to open files in my dropbox using windows search  Files in my downloads folders don't show up under "best match" in the windows search and instead show up under "this PC-Documents." For those files, I get an immediate preview or details pane to the right of the search results.

[shrimpgordita]

I'm still having this issue on all 4 of my windows PCs!!!

[Megan]

Hey @shrimpgordita, do you have any security apps installed on this device? Like an antivirus, VPN, firewall, etc.?

If you do, try temporarily disabling them, to see if that helps.

Also, can you right click on your Dropbox folder, and check its properties to see how many files you have there? 

[shrimpgordita]

Nothing other than built in Windows virus protection. 144,073 files and 14,379 folders

[Hannah]

Hey @shrimpgordita, can you please let me know what happens if you close the Dropbox app completely? 

Does the issue persist when the app is closed?

[shrimpgordita]

No. When I close the Dropbox app, and I search for the same file as when the app was open, it shows up immediately with details.  So, it appears the app itself is the problem.