Files added from one connected computer do not sync automatically to another

[Alan J]

Hi all, 

I need your advice if you have similar experiences. Thank you in advance. I'm using window system working from home, in my office, and using my two desktops, android phone, and ipad pro. I reinstall dropbox app and reboot my desktops regularly for the issues below these days. 

I stored my work files in Dropbox on my desk tops and encountered syncing issues. Despite keep them power on both my home and office to ensure synchronization, the problem occasionally happens. Each time, I had to reboot my system to initiate syncing, otherwise sync doesn't work. 

Another issue is, when I saved files last night at home, only to discover they were missing when I checked at the office the next day. Despite verifying at home, I couldn't find them either. This occurrence repeated multiple times, prompting me to reboot my desktop to address any syncing errors. Sometimes I had to check Dropbox website instead of window explorer app. For this issue I make all files "available offline". I thought, at least they should be available in local dropbox folder in my external hard disk. 

After approximately two hours later, the missing files finally appeared, causing more frustration. If totally disappeared, I would consider it my fault, but the files showed up two hours later, not even available in the local drive for one day. 

Considering this ongoing inconvenience, I am thinking of switching from my company's Dropbox to other company if similar issues keep going on. 

[Hannah]

Hey @Alan J, welcome to our Community and sorry to see you're having these issues.

You mentioned something about having the Dropbox folder on an external drive; can you elaborate on this a little?

Is your Dropbox folder located on an external drive on one of those computers?

Also, when you say that the files disappeared, did they disappear from the home computer as well and then re-appeared?

Let me know.

[Alan J]

I've got this external drive(Samsung T9) hooked up to my desktop at home, but at the office, I rely on Dropbox without any external drive.

Last night, I was working from home and saved all my files in Dropbox. But when I got to the office today, I couldn't find them on my computer. Syncing issues with Dropbox are kind of a regular thing for me, so I initially chalked it up to another one of those hiccups. But then, when I got back home, I couldn't even find the files on my external drive.

I rebooted my computer and noticed some folders and files starting to sync, but it took a full two hours to see the files show up. The files size is less than 1 MB each. I even did some digging around in my Windows folders during the sync, but no luck finding them there either.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Last week, I worked and saved a presentation files using my computer with the external drive on hotspot of my phone in Las Vegas. It only reappeared after the weekend, but by then, I had to redo all my work. I assumed it might've been due to a slow or unstable hotspot connection and lost the files. 

Anyway, tonight I'm working again, and I'm planning to reboot my computer after finishing my work just to be sure Dropbox syncs up properly at least.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the update and the details, Alan.

The truth is that keeping the Dropbox folder on an external drive, has its risks.

If the drive gets disconnected for any reason, while the app is running, the app will detect this as a deletion and will subsequently delete the files from your account.

So, perhaps something like this happened in your case too and then upon re-connection, they got restored.

You'll need to be really careful with the external drive and always making sure the drive is connected to keep your files synced.

And let us know if the reboot doesn't help.

[Alan J]

Are you an AI or a human? 

I wasn't supposed to rely on an external drive, but due to Dropbox's unreliable syncing, I had to purchase one to ensure offline access to my files. Despite Dropbox being set up for online access by default, it fails to address the syncing issue and instead checks my external disk.

It feels like the focus is solely on rebooting to resolve issues, which isn't an ideal solution. Constantly rebooting my computers to address problems isn't solving the issues. 

I'm looking for professional advice from Dropbox to address this issue. My files have intermittently disappeared and reappeared in Dropbox folders where I originally stored them. However, during these periods, I cannot locate them on my computers or in any other Dropbox folders. 

[Rich]

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@Alan J wrote:

Are you an AI or a human? 

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Hannah and everyone else here are all very much human.

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I'm looking for professional advice from Dropbox to address this issue.

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The best advice to give is don't place the Dropbox folder on an external drive. Unexpected things can happen, including data loss and syncing issues, as you're experiencing.

The first step to troubleshoot this issue would be to move the Dropbox folder to a local drive and not use Dropbox with an external drive.