Recent Backup update has corrupted my files and they can't sync due to lack of hard drive space

[Joel Wilson]

Recently updated my Dropbox App on Mac and had my computers 'Documents' folder synced to Dropbox, with certain folders as online-only so as to save space. The new update only allows for everything in the'Dropbox' folder to be selectively sync'd. This has resulted in files being kicked back onto my HD, but without enough space to store everything.

A few major problems that I don't know how to resolve:

• My Dropbox is stuck syncing files that read as 0kb after being pushed back onto the HD
• - i have tried many force quit operations, selective syncs, permissions, extensions
• A large proportion of my files that were backed up into the cloud are now reading as 0kb and are not available on my Dropbox, I think that Dropbox may have completely corrupted these files and i fear that i may not ever get them back again due to the way my dropbox was set up
• - i spoke to an advisor before realising they read as 0kb and they told me the update had changed the entire system to work differently
• I now am unable to sync any files that i save directly into any Dropbox folders, resulting in mobile app not showing me files, something i regularly use and think is so helpful is the seamlessness of being able to access files off of any device. 

In short, I am very worried and scared that I've lost a lot of files, I couldn't count how may, but looking through the finder, it seems like a majority. I'm a bit confused how this update has had such major oversight. For example, my HD space is 250GB but my dropbox plan is 2TB, with 1TB storage used; what did the engineers think would happen when dropbox spat all my files back onto my hard drive? My laptop is now full, but missing tonnes of files and unable to sync anything.. but stuck on "Updating 90,051 files".

Looking forward to anyone that can lend a hand! I've tried lots of different activity moniter / force quit / extension routes etc etc. 

[Nancy]

I’m sorry to hear about the whole situation, @Joel Wilson. 

Can you clarify the app version of your Dropbox app? 

Also, did I get it right that your backup files show as 0kb both on the desktop app and your online account? 

When trying selective sync, do you see any difference in the number of files that the Dropbox app’s trying to sync or does it appear to be frozen? 

Finally, when saying you’ve spoken to an advisor, do you mean you’ve been in touch with our support team? If yes, please send me your ticket number to check it, too. 

Keep me in the loop.

[Joel Wilson]

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for getting in touch,

Version: 199.4.6287

I checked online and it seems to show the full file size online (which is a relief!)

Selective sync doesn't seem to change anything and the percentage of sync seems to fluctuate up and down constantly. I also noticed that I moved large folders out of my HD and into Dropbox folder with the intention of freeing up space and these still appear in the HD on the website if this gives an idea of the sync being stuck.

Yes i spoke to an advisor! Ticket #23724629 

Thanks

[Nancy]

Thanks for the updates, Joel!

Can you perhaps move these folders out of Dropbox for the time being? It sounds like the Dropbox app’s syncing is stuck due to the large amount of files.

Regarding your backup files, can you try to use selective sync for one folder at a time? Do you see any progress, if you do this, or not really?