cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Musicians, convert your MuseScore files to PDF to play music on the go! Learn more here.

Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Number of files syncing keeps changing

Number of files syncing keeps changing

manfred91
Explorer | Level 3

When I click on my mac the dropbox icon on the top menu bar, I can see a message saying "Syncing xxx files" and Size and time.

 

What does that mean? It is constantly changing. Saying 8000 files with a size of a few megabytes and one minute. Increasing or decreasing the number of files not related to the total amount of files I put into my dropbox folder. The size changes a little bit but the time stays monstly the same. This can take days depending on the amount I am uploading.

 

But what do these messages mean? They are not related to the total number of files, the size is not related and the time doesn't make any sense.

7 Replies 7

Mark
Super User II

They are what is in Dropbox - so that is a count of the files that it is syncing and changing. If you dont recognise the number my guess is that you've set up Backup or something and so its syncing files from other directories. 


 


:penguin::penguin: - :penguin: - :penguin: - :penguin:


Heart Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below. 


:white_check_mark: Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.


:arrows_counterclockwise: Did this post not resolve your issue? If so please give us some more information so we can try and help - please remember we cannot see over your shoulder so be as descriptive as possible! 


 

manfred91
Explorer | Level 3

Hi Mark, thanks for coming back on the questions. But it doesn't really explain it. The number of files are going down and the size on the right of the message is going up and the time is jumping all over the place. No, I do not use the backup feature.

Nancy
Dropbox Staff

Hey @manfred91. Do you mind sharing a screenshot of the number of files that seem to be syncing at the moment?

 

Also, if you right click on your local Dropbox folder > select Get info, how many files seem to be syncing locally in total?


Nancy
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

manfred91
Explorer | Level 3

Hi, isn't there documentation about what dropbox is doing when it is syncing and a log file about which files have been touched, synced, deleted at which time ...

Perfect would be a monitor of course. But somehow the situation is that it isn't easy explainable what this line in the pull down menu is saying. Why is the number of files going up and down, why is the size going up and down and the estimated time going up and down. And there wasn't any activity on the computer and I am only watching this behavior -   only for files in the Documents folder - no system files involved. This isn't something which is new this is a constant thing.

 

So my questions are:

- is there a monitor function showing what is going on?

- is there a log file?

- is there proper documentation?

 

I do not want to post pictures of my screen and have some guesswork what could that mean.

 

Since no one has pointed out to me where I could find answers to the simple questions above, I assume there isn't a chance to do a proper investigation.

 

Thanks.

Hannah
Dropbox Staff

Hey @manfred91, the sync status can be found on your Dropbox.

 

Instead of clicking on the icon, try hovering over it; that should give you a bit more info as to which files are downloading, uploading, indexing etc.

 

Can you send us a screenshot of what you see there?


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

DrJSL
New member | Level 2
Hi there. I am experiencing the same issue right now. Seems like ALL the files in my DropBox suddenly have to download and sync again. No major changes made to files, root folders, online/offline or syncing preferences. The total number of files being synced keeps going up and down, with time remaining varying between hours and days. Will appreciate some advice.

Nancy
Dropbox Staff

Sorry to hear about this, @DrJSL. Can you send me a screenshot of the current syncing status of your Dropbox app and also clarify its app version?

 

Was there any kind of other update on Dropbox/your OS before the resync started?


Nancy
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

Need more support?
Who's talking

Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    Nancy Dropbox Staff
  • User avatar
    DrJSL New member | Level 2
  • User avatar
    Hannah Dropbox Staff
  • User avatar
    manfred91 Explorer | Level 3
What do Dropbox user levels mean?