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RAM memory usage goes through the roof

I'm using Ubuntu. Dropbix used to work fine on my system but recently something happened and when trying to sync files, the memory usage rapidly increases to max up 32 GB RAM, and then the system freezes and the Dropbox apps shut down. This happens when trying to upload a small file. What could lead to such a behavior?

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Jay

Hi @kamadforge, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

What version of Ubuntu and the Dropbox desktop application are you running on your device?

This will help me to assist further!

eltrompetero

I'm having the same issue. Using Ubuntu 22.04 with nautilus-dropbox.

Megan

Hey @eltrompetero, let's jump right into this!

As a first step, have you made sure that your device is meeting all the necessary requirements?

Also, when did this behavior first appear?

Let me know more!

eltrompetero

It happened after I added another Ubuntu system to my Dropbox devices and ran apt update/upgrade, i.e. I'm not sure which is the proximate cause. It is not a system requirements problem. Never had a problem before. RAM usage went up to over 100GB.

Dropbox daemon version: 212.4.5767

Dropbox command-line interface version: 2019.02.14

Megan

Thank you for clarifying @eltrompetero!

How many files do you have in your Dropbox folder approximately on the local machine?

Also, do you have any proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router settings that could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains?

When you have a moment, please make sure to check this Help Center article too.

eltrompetero

That is a long list of domains to check, but I've had no problems with syncing. The problem is that RAM usually monotonically increases.

I have more than half a million files, but again this has been no issue in the past ~5 years.

Nancy

Hey @eltrompetero. If all of these files are syncing locally on your Dropbox app, it’s still possible that this could be the reason why you’re having this issue.

In general, syncing more than 300k files locally may cause performance issues from time to time and it’s suggested to remove any excess folders you don't access often on the Dropbox app with selective sync.

eltrompetero

Hm...not sure how to say this again without repeating what I said above...I've had no issue before with the number of files for the last 5 years. There is a discontinuous break. Is there some way to get this to tech admin?

kennygs

It's the same problem on Windows 11, even pause sync doesn't stop it from consuming tons of RAM, the app is the problem, please fix the app it doesn't make send to consume a tons of ram when I pause syncing it shouldn't consume so much ram al the folder in sync, on may laptop, please spend time to fix the app....

As you can see, it takes more RAM than Adobe Lightroom, and it is on pause.
this is a super bad experience...

Nancy

@eltrompetero, besides the file count currently syncing on your device, are there any third-party apps at all that could be interfering with Dropbox?

Can you also clarify your app’s current syncing status for me?

Nancy

Hey @kennygs. I’d also like to know the Dropbox app's syncing status and app version you see on your end.

Besides that, are there any third-party apps that are accessing the files in your Dropbox folder?

Have you rebooted your device in the meantime and the issue persists?

skalhoef

I was having the same problem with my Dropbox (Ubuntu 25.04). It happened right after I created some thousands (maybe also tens of thousands; I removed them all now) of *small* files (each about 1 kB large) within a couple of minutes for some project that I am working on.

The crash happened basically right after this... I tried a little bit around with ChatGPT, but nothing seemed to work and I ended up reformatting my computer... Since dropbox was synced up to the point prior to the creation of the files, I made the experiment and created the files again by running my python-script and the issue re-appeared. I constantly ran out of memory... I then increased the SWAP and the application required about 32 GB of memory in total to just "sync" (or "index" or so)... There was zero apparent progress (monitored through "dropbox status" even after hours...) Even if I pressed "stop syncing" or removed these thousands of files from my local computer, I would run into the memory issues... Somehow the application was "broken" after crashing once... So I ended up reformatting twice within 24 hours.

But at least in my case: Reformatting the computer was a silver bullet solution... In the future, I will avoid the creation of masses of files within short minutes.