What happens when I pause (or exit) Dropbox during file syncing?

arled

Let's say I have a 16GB file that is now syncing for the first time to the Dropbox cloud from a Windows PC, using the desktop app.

The file is 89% uploaded, I then pause Dropbox, the desktop app itself is still open, 12 hours later I resume Dropbox, does the upload continue from the same point?

And how does this work when instead of pausing, I exit the desktop app entirely?

I just can't determine what the behavior is and how I should handle syncing big files.

Daphne

Hi there @arled, thanks for reaching out to us here!

 

If you pause the sync of the desktop app, when you resume the sync should continue where it left off. This is because the Dropbox folder contains a cache folder which assists in the syncing of the desktop app.

 

If you were to quit the app and restart it at a later point, most likely the app will again continue where it left off after doing a quick re-index of the files to check for changes.

 

However, this would depend on how long you have the app closed for as the cache folder automatically empties around every few days. If the cache folder is emptied then the sync would start again for the file.

 

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions!