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Windows 11 Dropbox not syncing. The solution to make it work is to close it, and open it again.

Hello everyone,

I seem to be having the same problem as everyone else: Dropbox stops syncing on Windows 11. I have been working on this problem on and off for several days and none of the "known" solutions are working: after a few hours/day, Dropbox simply stops syncing. When I close Dropbox and re-open it, it's starts syncing normally again. Even if I pause syncing and resume, it's starts syncing again normally. But if I leave my PC unattended for a day or so, it stops entirely until it is restarted.

My bandwidth/Internet connection is excellent, there are no strange files/sizes, I'm on the latest version, all power-save settings are disabled, there are never any errors, I've been a paid Dropbox customer for over a decade without any significant issues. My account/payment is in good standing, I have removed and reinstalled the app, I have my folders on the local hard drive, firewall is default, everything is as it always has been - since Windows 11, Dropbox simply stops syncing. i.e. goes idle. At this moment, is is running, no crashes or errors, but it hasn't sync'd since yesterday and shows "Up to date" in the status.

Is there anything I'm missing? Anything that I should do differently?

Thank you!

David

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Megan

Hi @devedsmith, happy Monday!

So, just to recap everything you said: it seems that the app unexpectedly stops syncing content, and then only works when you close and then re-open the app, right?

You mentioned you're using the latest version. Would you be able to clarify the version, just to make sure you're not using a beta, instead of our stable one?

Also, when that happens, -when the app stops syncing- what do you notice in regards to the app's syncing status? Is it "up to date", "syncing", "indexing" or something different?

Keep me posted!

devedsmith

Correct. This is version 179.4.4985. When it is idle and not syncing it shows "Up to date".

Megan

Hi @devedsmith, thanks for clarifying!

So, if you keep the app open, and add a new file in your Dropbox folder -without closing the app- will it still say "up to date", without uploading the file online, and vice versa?

Did you happen to notice how long this has been going on for?

devedsmith

Correct. This has been happening for about 6 months maybe more.

Nancy

Hi from me too, @devedsmith! This is quite a strange behavior, indeed.

Can you let me know what’s the average number of files your local Dropbox folder contains at the moment? You can double check this by right clicking on your Dropbox folder directly and going to its Properties.

What do you see there? Feel free to send over a screenshot as well, if you prefer.

kcrusco

This is happening to me as well and it is driving me crazy. It has been happening every since I upgraded to Windows 11. I have not updated by laptop and syncing works there fine if I am working on that but anything I save on my local desktop does not sync to dropbox. I need this feature to work. I can sometimes get it to work if I reboot but not always. Please help. I have also done everything that the OP said.

Walter

Hey @kcrusco - sorry to hear about this.

Can you please let us know the version of the Dropbox desktop app installed on your computer and let us know when you first noticed this?

devedsmith

I'm on v195.4.4995

Windows 11 Pro

Megan

Hey there, @devedsmith, long time no talk, welcome back.

Did you have a chance to review Nancy's response here? I'm asking, because I'd also like to know the number of files that your Dropbox folder has.

emendes

Hi! Any updates on that bug? I updated a few days ago to Windows 11 (was Windows 10 before), and now it is not syncing too. I have also the paid version, and worked very well for years. Version v218.4.4348

devedsmith

No, that is not a solution.

Nancy

@emendes, can you send me a screenshot of what you see on your end? It’d definitely help to have a visual before troubleshooting further.

emendes

Hi @Nancy ,

I don't know what to screenshot. I use two operating systems, Windows and Ubuntu, and I use one ".txt" file on both systems, which is in the Dropbox folder. Since I updated to Windows 11, when I alternate to Ubuntu, the updates done on Windows are not there. When I change the file in Ubuntu and save it, I see the syncing icon on Dropbox for one second, and that used to happen on Windows 10 too. Now that is not happening on Windows 11. It just cannot detect that I modified the file.

Best,

Eduardo

Walter

Hey Eduardo, thanks for the additional information there.

The screenshot that would help in this case is the Dropbox desktop app's exact status and version as shown in your system tray. For example, are you ensuring that it shows 'up to date' and not still syncing before you check the file you worked on, on the Ubuntu side?

You could also check the website to make sure the file has been updated before you switch to Ubuntu.

emendes

I think I discovered what the problem is. Notepad of Windows 11 has a different behavior from Notepad from Windows 10:

1- It has autosave, that saves the file automatically [3rd party link was removed by Moderator as per our Community's Guidelines]

2 - It changed the keyboard shortcuts (at least in Portuguese). Before it would save with Ctrl+S, and now it is Ctrl+G.

3- When you close the file, it will not ask if you want to save the modifications.

So, basically, I was not saving (I was pressing Ctrl+S); it was not asking me to save when closing it, but the next time I opened it on Windows, all the changes would be there.

I do not know where autosave keeps the modification, but looks like it is not in the original file. I think it is important for you to find a way to make it work with Dropbox anyway.

Walter

Thanks for the additional information and your feedback on this as well @emendes

Let us know if you have anything else to add.

PS: I removed the 3rd party link you included in your response to align with our Community Guidelines]