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Dropbox is no longer capable of downloading files automatically.

The update to V175.4.5569 has broken Dropbox for me (MaxOS Ventura).

My workflow is to put dozens of GB of raw images onto dropbox, and then edit and organize them on one of two different computers. For years, this was a flawless system.

But now, it is impossible to force Dropbox to actually download all of the images to the other computer. In the past, it might take an hour or two, but it would download all of the images. Now it just… doesn’t do it. I left the laptop open overnight and awoke to an assortment of non-downloaded fake files with cloud/cloud downloaded symbols, but very few real, actually downloaded files.

Eventually, it can download all the files, but not without a lot of babysitting — far more than in every previous version of Dropbox.

Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 7.31.21 AM.png

I have every folder set to “Make Available Offline,” and this hasn’t helped.

Do you know how useless a bunch of 45 MB raw files are that haven’t actually downloaded from the cloud? Pretty useless if I'm trying to edit or do anything with them. It actually crashes Adobe Bridge now if I open a folder that has any of these fake non-downloaded cloud files. (In the past, Bridge would work fine, and the files would pop-in as they were downloaded.

Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 7.35.47 AM.png

Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 7.56.34 AM.png

Another issue is that the syncing status in the menu bar dropdown usually just says “Syncing…” with no status or progress given.

Screenshot 2023-06-05 at 7.31.31 AM.png

Dropbox is fundamentally broken for me now.

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Comments

Walter

Hi there @kmccauley, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

It seems that you updated to the new desktop app for Mac OS - you can have a look at this Help Center article about the expected changes.

As for the syncing issue, could you clarify how long it's been since the app stuck at syncing?

Have you rebooted your computer at all since you noticed this?

Keep us posted!

kmccauley

The issues started after Dropbox moved to ~/Library/CloudStorage in the update last week.

My workflow is to use Dropbox like a server — I upload 20-50 GB of images onto one device in a Dropbox folder, and previously, they would be available on the other device within a few hours without much intervention from me. The syncing issue now is that Dropbox won't download my files locally without a lot of babysitting and monitoring the device. And on top of that, I can no longer see the status of how much is left to download, or if it's even still downloading.

It will eventually do it, but it no longer will download large batches of files automatically if I just leave it. Showing me an icon for a fake file that isn't downloaded (and isn't downloading) is not helpful.

I have rebooted several times.

Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @kmccauley.

Can you please click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar, then on your initials/profile pic, then on "preferences" and then on "sync" and send us a screenshot of what you see there?

kmccauley

Sure:

Screenshot 2023-06-06 at 8.17.59 AM.png

Walter

Hey @kmccauley, sorry to jump in here and thanks for your patience while we checked this with the team.

This should be fixed in the 177 version of the desktop app (it's not out yet), so make sure to keep the desktop app up to date.

I hope this helps!

kmccauley

Thank you for the response, I look forward to that update

kmccauley

I'm on version 178 now, and it's still terrible. I left my laptop open overnight in hopes it would download 40GB of photos from my other computer, but it just gives up and stops downloading for no reason.

I really miss the old dropbox, which worked, but I guess those days are over.

Screenshot 2023-07-22 at 8.02.34 AM.png