My files don't always to my online Dropbox account, even when the app says it's up to date.

[TomFuller]

On my Macbook M1 Pro, I add files to the local hard drive, but they do not always appear on my Internet dropbox account or on my iPhone. Sometimes I "touch" them with a slight modification, and that gets them to sync, but even this does guarantee that they will appear on my account or iPhone. 

[TomFuller · Accepted solution]

SUCCESS!

I finally figured out the problem and solved it! It is a very subtle "bug" in Dropbox. If a file is copied into a folder under Dropbox control, but its name is changed within a couple seconds, Dropbox loses track of it and does not sync it. I have a program that produces text files that are always named "notes.txt". I copy these into my Dropbox folder and immediately give them more useful names. If I do so too quickly, Dropbox "loses" them. A work-around is to re-name them before placing them in the Dropbox folder. Another work-around for files already "lost" in the Dropbox folder is to slightly edit (I add a space character) and save them. Then Dropbox is suddenly aware of them and syncs them. Both work-arounds work perfectly.