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Some files stuck syncing on Mac 11.6 since March

Hi!

My issue is that some files have been permanently stuck syncing since at least March 20, 2024 on my computer. We are talking about under 100 files from millions.

I'm running macOS Big Sur 11.6 and my Dropbox is on an external hard drive (There is more than enough storage place on our Dropbox plan).

Most of the files are not that important, however, two of these are data files for an app which is updated regularly. At the online Dropbox site, the files seem to be up-to-date, however on my computer, they seem to be permanently syncing and stuck at the version from March 20, 2024.

I tried removing the folder with selective sync, but these files remained there when all others were removed. After this, I removed the remaining wrong files and when I resynced this folder these files would not redownload while all others were all right, so they were just not there. I tried downloading the newest file to replace old ones, but that did not work either.

Sidenote: other computers and accounts can access this file without any issues, only my computer has a problem.

I'm trying to avoid reinstalling the Dropbox app because of the sheer amount of files synced on my computer.

Thanks for the help in advance!

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Accepted answers

Jay

It does look like you have over 300k files in your Dropbox folder, which could be the reason for what you're experiencing, as the performance of the app can decrease over that amount of files.

All comments

Jay

Hi @Bittobetty, thanks for messaging the Community.

Are these files in a specific folder, or randomly located on your account?

How large are the files you're trying to sync?

This will help me to assist further!

Bittobetty

Hey Jay,

Thanks for getting back to me.

These are data files for an invoicing app, so they are in a specific folder. One is around 355 MB and the other is 122 MB.

Screenshot 2024-04-08 at 15.31.02.png

Thanks!

Jay

Is the invoicing app currently open? Have you tried quitting that app entirely to see if this helps?

Could you also check the bandwidth limit in the Dropbox desktop application preferences?

Bittobetty

No, the app is not running, I have not started it since I noticed the syncing issue.

As for the bandwidth, currently there is no limit on the downloads and the upload rate is set to 'limit automatically'

Nancy

Hey @Bittobetty, sorry to jump in here.

Can you also share with me the syncing status and app version of your Dropbox app?

I’d also like to know how many files your desktop app is currently syncing. Any file count larger than 300k that syncs locally on the Dropbox app may cause performance and syncing issues, so I’d like to make sure that’s not the case here.

Bittobetty

Hey Nancy,

My Dropbox version is v196.4.6900. I'm not really sure what you mean by syncing status. My dropbox is always syncing due to our office workflow, but usually under 50 files are syncing. Right now, it's 23 files only.

" Any file count larger than 300k that syncs locally on the Dropbox app may cause performance and syncing issues, so I’d like to make sure that’s not the case here."

Yes, we are familiar with this, but this is not the case here. 🙂

Thanks!

Nancy

Thanks for clarifying the syncing status! As for the file count, can you please right click on your Dropbox folder, go to “Get info” and send a screenshot of the next window you’ll see?

This may indeed not be the cause of the issue, but it’ll give us a rough idea of what may be happening.

Let me know, and we’ll go from there.

Bittobetty

Dear Nancy,

I'm sorry, I probably misunderstood you before on the 300k files syncing. I thought you meant syncing at the same time, not in general!

Here is the screenshot:

Screenshot 2024-04-09 at 15.04.16.png

Jay

It does look like you have over 300k files in your Dropbox folder, which could be the reason for what you're experiencing, as the performance of the app can decrease over that amount of files.

Bittobetty

Hey,

Thanks for the help, in the meantime I removed around 80-90 GB worth of files from my computer and it works now!

Jay

Glad to hear that the files are syncing now! Let us know if you need any further assistance in the future.