Having problems syncing with File Provider on Mac OS

[-caffeinated-]

Ok this thing just never seems to work anymore. I've updated to the new File Provider system, hoping to alleviate some of the pain of using Dropbox on MacOS (I use Ableton a lot and supposedly synced files often, although randomly, end up missing or displaying as 'zero bytes'). Now I've updated to the new File Provide system things are either stuck syncing for literally days, or they magically complete syncing, and then I drag a file in from my hard drive and we're back to syncing forever. It has every firewall exception it needs and full access to my hard drive. 

I get that Apple have changed the ways files are accessed by apps a while back, but it shouldn't be this hard!

[Jay]

Hi @-caffeinated-, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What is the current status of the Dropbox desktop application when you view it from the menu bar?

What is the current version of Mac OS and the Dropbox app?

This will help me to assist further!

[-caffeinated-]

Hi Jay, 

Thanks- Dropbox is perennially syncing but not actually syncing. Full disk access is enabled and there is no active firewall. Finder extensions/sharing also enabled under 'added extensions'.

MacOS: Sonoma 14.4

Dropbox: v196.3.6883

Cheers

[Megan]

Hey @-caffeinated-, thanks for the reply! 

It sounds like you're using a beta version of the app, which could be the culprit here.

I'd personally suggest that you go into your account settings on the Dropbox website and turn Early releases off. After that, install one of the stable builds of the Dropbox application.

If this doesn't work, feel free to also take a look at this Help Center article, to see if that helps at all. 

[-caffeinated-]

Thanks Megan, this seems to work now (I used the get the 'zero bytes' issue a lot but so far it seems ok with the new system). 

Could you explain to me the following though- my files either have a green tick or nothing, but also an Apple cloud icon (maybe dashed, maybe not) or nothing. The two don't seem to agree with each other consistently. Which one means my files are downloaded?

[Megan]

Hey @-caffeinated-, happy Monday! 

I surely can. So, essentially on Dropbox for macOS File Provider, the syncing icons have slightly changed from what you may be used to. Files and folders can be in various sync states, for example:

“Available offline”

A solid green circle with a white checkmark means your file or folder is synced and available offline. You will see this icon after right-clicking a file or folder and selecting Make available offline.

“Online-only”

A cloud icon with a down arrow means your file or folder is synced and online-only until it is opened. Clicking on this icon will download the file/folder and change its state to “available”.

Double clicking online-only files from Finder will automatically download this file and open it in its default application. Opening files from an application will also automatically download these files and open it.

“Available”(no icon)

A file with no icon means that it has been opened either by double-clicking, through a third-party application or by clicking the cloud icon to download.

Files and folders may have other icons next to them if for example a file is syncing or downloading. Other examples include error states where a file/folder cannot be synced with Dropbox. Hovering over the icon will give more details of what the error may be.

You can see all the changes of our syncing icons here. 

[-caffeinated-]

Thanks Megan, 

So for a current example, I export from a program (Ableton) and it exports two files to the main Dropbox folder. One is 2.2 MB and has no cloud/no tick, the other is 98 MB and has a cloud. The former is automatically uploaded to dropbox (I can see this from my iOS app) but the latter is not, and has seemingly no way to upload it: no options upon right-clicking, and I've restarted dropbox which does not help. 

Sorry to make this an endless query, but I'm trying to work out what it default behaviour (i.e. what has changed with this new version) and what should be happening vs what is happening. 

Thanks

[Walter]

Hey @-caffeinated- - sorry to jump in here, but could you send us a screenshot of how those two files look on your end?

Also, is the app 'up to date' now or still syncing? 

[-caffeinated-]

Hi there, 

Of course! Screenshot below. Since the timestamp in the screenshot the app has considered itself up to date, even after restarting. 

Thanks

[Walter]

This seems like a temp file created by a third party app, namely Ableton in this case - are you able to preview it normally on your computer @-caffeinated- ?