Child Item

blue circle syncing icon not showing

The blue circle icon that indicates my file is syncing doesn't display at all in the Dropbox desktop app. The green sync completed icons do appear, however.

I tried uploading a 1.5Mb file. Dropbox indicates that it will take one hour to upload and sync.

To test whether upload/syncing is working at all, I tried uploading a 17Kb file. It was fine.

Since I had experienced very slow upload/syncing speeds a few days ago, I had done the following:

1. Reinstalled Dropbox.

2. Ensured that the Bandwidth preferences, Upload Rate is set to Don't Limit.

I also re-tried uploading the file via the Dropbox web site. The blue circle sync icon does display in the web site version. The View Details of the file sync keeps showing varying time durations of how long the upload will take as well as what percentage of the file has been uploaded. The file got to 50 per cent uploaded and showed that it would take less than 10 seconds left to complete uploading. Now the file has gone back to 25 percent uploaded and has 9 minutes left.

Interestingly, it only took less than 1 minute to upload the same file into Google Drive.

I am running Windows 10. Using Dropbox version 44.4.58

Please help me figure out why blue circle syncing icon doesn't display in the Dropbox desktop app for Windows 10.

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Accepted answers

Mark

The blue icon will not appear online for the website OR if you are using the mobile version of Dropbox from the app store.

It will only appear if you use the 'full' version which has created a 'Dropbox' folder.

www.dropbox.com/downloading may also help. Make sure you give it full admin rights

All comments

Mark

Ripples88

How do I ensure that when I reinstall Dropbox that I give it full admin rights? I don't recall seeing this option (I'm not technical).

BTW - thanks for the link to www.dropbox.com/downloading. I've now downloaded the Dropbox desktop app for the 3rd time. I've unlinked and relinked the Dropbox desktop app to my computer. I've also ensured that the Preferences are set so that the 'Start Dropbox on system startup' is checked.

I now get another alert message that says "Please reinstall Dropbox to fix all your syncing problems".

Ripples88

Unfortunately none of the solutions have worked so far. I've reinstalled Dropbox desktop app 4 times now. I also increased the Bandwith preference to 'No limit', in case it's a slow upload speed issue.

I guess I'll just have to accept that 'no icon' replaces the 'blue circle icon' and have faith that syncing is, in fact, taking place.

Karina

Hey @Ripples88 and @Mark

I just wanted to add (in case this might be a contributing factor), is to have a check on the Dropbox version you're running and make sure it's our latest Stable build, rather than one of our Beta (experimental) builds.

Currently our latest Stable build is: 44.4.58

A Beta build is essentially an experimental version of the app which is still in the testing period, and this can sometimes lead to inconsistencies in the behavior and performance of the application.

If this is not the case, again, please write back with any updates or additional info you think might be helpful for us to know on this matter.

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your day!

rishi1

I reinstalled using the link you provided but still not working.

Lusil

Hi there @rishi1!

Could you please provide a bit more info? Are you able to see the Dropbox icon that’s next to your clock on your desktop? If so, what does it read when you hover over it?

Also, any screenshots (omitting any personal info) of your concern would be very helpful in having a better understanding of what you’re seeing.

Thanks in advance!

rishi1

Hi Lusil,

Everything was working fine until my laptop crashed and I had to reinstall dropbox but now the icons don't appear as before.

Icon on the taskbar next to the date - When sync is complete, it does not show any icon on it (just the box). When syncing it shows the blue syncing icon which is good.

The folders & files inside the dropbox folder on the desktop - When sync is complete these show the tick which is good. However when syncing it doesn't show the blue syncing icon (it doesn't show any symbol on the folder / file when syncing).

I hope I have explained clearly. If you still need snapshots, I can send.

I did update dropbox with the download link you provided but it didn't fix anything.

Thank you.

Rgds,

Rishi

Lusil

Thanks for the swift reply, Rishi, aka @rishi1!

You mention that:

@rishi1 wrote:
The folders & files inside the dropbox folder on the desktop - When sync is complete these show the tick which is good. However when syncing it doesn't show the blue syncing icon (it doesn't show any symbol on the folder / file when syncing).

Could you please clarify if the green tick icon, for example, disappears from files/folders that are syncing at the point in time? Also, during this time, does your Dropbox icon show the blue syncing icon?

Finally, could you please send a screenshot (omitting personal info) of what your Dropbox icon reads when you hover over it? Thanks! :laughing:

rishi1

Hi,

Below I created a new excel file in a dropbox folder. You will see the excel file doesn't show the blue sync icon but the dropbox folder at the bottom does.

Below you will see once the sync was over the file shows the green tick but the dropbox folder and the bottom doesn't show the green tick.

Below you can see the dropbox is up to date but doesn't show the green tick.

Below you can see when syncing the bottom dropbox icon shows the blue icon showing sync is in process but once sync is complete it shows a plain box without the green tick.

Lusil

Hey @rishi1, thanks for the detailed screenshots - much appreciated!

I can see in one of your screenshots that the folder that you’re looking at doesn’t end in Dropbox, so could you just confirm for me if it’s indeed the Dropbox folder? Also, is it under your quick access list? Finally, do you see this newly-added file uploaded via the website too?

Thanks in advance!

rishi1

Hi,

Yes it is the dropbox folder.

No its not on quick access. Its on the desktop.

Yes if I add it on the desktop folder, it appears online straight away and if I delete it online, it deletes from the folder straight away so its all working fine. Just the file would not show the blue sync icon.

And the dropbox icon on the taskbar doesn't show the green tick once all synced.

Rgds.

Lusil

Thanks for the detailed description, @rishi1!

Initially, please note that when syncing is complete, the Dropbox icon will just read up to date - it won’t have a green tick on it. However, when files are syncing, they should show you a blue syncing icon on them, as you also mention.

As an initial troubleshoot step, could you please have a look at this Help Center article? It provides some suggestions and steps in cases where you don’t see the syncing icons, along with some other additional info.

Let me know how it goes! :nerd:

gearshift

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7kirwtq9ofrv7hx/Screenshot%202018-09-18%2008.51.38.png?dl=0

Is this an update or an error? The blue "selective sync" icon has disappeared on folders that have selective files making it hard to see which of my folders are partially shared/selected. It doesn't seem like Dropbox Customer Support is understanding the issue.

rishi1

Nothing works!!! Same problem as already explained.

Lusil

Hey, @gearshift.

Initially, please bear in mind that the blue syncing icon illustrates when a file is syncing. Selectively synced folders (as this feature is folder-specific) should not appear in your Dropbox folder, as they are chosen to not sync.

Could you be referring to Smart Sync instead by any chance? If this is the case, could you please check that you’ve toggled on the Dropbox system extension from your General tab?

If this is not the case and you’re facing a similar issue like @rishi1, as a first step, please make sure to have a look at this link. At the bottom of the article, please select the relevant OS and see if any of the steps do the trick for you.

If they don’t, the issue you and @rishi1 are seeing may be related to an incorrect level of permissions when the Dropbox app was installed. Before following the steps outlined below, please ensure to take a note/screenshot of any selective sync settings you may have applied in case you need to re-apply them upon re-install.

Verify that the Windows UAC levels are set to default levels.
Uninstall the desktop app. Please remember that you don’t need to remove the Dropbox folder or any files from it.
Download the newest version of the desktop app.
Once you have downloaded the installation file, double-click on to run it. Please do not launch the installer by right-clicking on the file and selecting Run as admin as this will lead to incorrect install permissions.
During the installation process, you may be prompted for the Admin username/password of your computer. Please be sure and provide the username/password of your Admin user account on your device.
When prompted, enter the email address of the Dropbox account you’re using on this computer and, if needed, check the advanced preferences to apply any selective sync settings.

If the issue persists after this, I’d kindly suggest contacting our Support team as account-specific and sensitive info may be required to further investigate on the matter. In this case, you can either submit a request here or I can contact you to the email address associated with your Forum profile.

Let me know how it goes and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation on this, @rishi1 and @gearshift!

gearshift

You are correct that it is the SmartSync icon, white with green border (not blue like I previously mentioned). That is what was there a few days ago and is gone now. I havent adjusted any settings.

Lusil

Thanks for confirming that for me, @gearshift!

Were you able to check out or carry out any of the steps above that I mention in my previous post?

Let me know of any update!

gearshift

The only step is for me to uninstall/reinstall dropbox? This is happening on both of my workstations. Is it a Windows 10 update?

Lusil

If you've got this behavior on two devices, @gearshift, you could try out the reinstallation process (as also mentioned on the third step in my previous post) on one of them, and see if that makes a difference. :slight_smile: Let me know!

rishi1

I uninstalled and reinstalled again today. But its the same. Windows 8

Lusil

Hey @rishi1.

Were you able to verify that the Windows UAC levels are set to default levels before uninstalling and reinstalling, as I mention in my previous post?

If you did, and you’re still experiencing this behavior, have you submitted a request to our Support team?

rishi1

Yes all in default.

Just reinstalled but the icons are still not appearing.

Submitting a request to the support team means I have to explain all these steps all over again with screen shots??? Ive spent a few hours on this forum already explaining and trying to sort this issue out. I really don't have any more time to explain the same thing to someone else over again.

I'd rather move to another cloud storage.

Lusil

Thanks for the swift reply, @rishi1.

You wouldn’t have to explain it all, as I’ve gone ahead and sent you an email to the email address associated with your Forum profile so as to further investigate on the matter. Please check your inbox for my latest message.

Cheers!

jrh1

I had the same problem of missing blue Dropbox sync icons in Windows. Here's what fixed it for me:

Step 1: uninstall OneDrive

Step 2: restart Windows Explorer

Other sync apps could also affect it. Windows has a strict limit on the number of overlays that programs like Dropbox and OneDrive can use (max 15 overlay icons shared among all). For me, the blue Dropbox sync icons returned after I uninstalled OneDrive and restarted Explorer.exe.

Advanced users can open regedit and go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers
and count the number of items to see if they exceed the overlay icons limit of 15, and to see which applications are using those slots.

I know this thread is dated, but hopefully this response will help someone.