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How to tell which files are being copied

I have been following various "slow sync" threads, given that I am in the middle of a four-day sync of just six files. This is the first time in nearly five years that DropBox has grinded to a halt like this, and the various threads speak of checking for weird filenames and other perfectly reasonable approaches to take.

But this raises an additional question for me: how does one know which files DropBox is trying to sync?

At least on Windows, the app sports a pretty meager interface. I know which files have already been synced from the Recent tab and I get a basic idea of its current activity from the "Syncing X Files" message and the accompanying progress bar. But nowhere can I find the name of the file that DB is actively trying to sync.

That seems like important information! What am I missing...?

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Lusil

Hey @Rick A.2, thanks for reaching out to us about this.

I'd be more than happy to help look into this with you, I'll just need a bit more info, such as:

What do the syncing icons show on your Dropbox folder? Can you see any with the blue icon and the spinning arrows?
Could you also send me a screenshot (without any personal info) of what the Dropbox icon that's next to your computer's clock shows when you hover over it?
Is the Dropbox folder located on an internal/supported location? You can check this from your desktop app's settings.

Let me know what you find!

All comments

Lusil

Hey @Rick A.2, thanks for reaching out to us about this.

I'd be more than happy to help look into this with you, I'll just need a bit more info, such as:

What do the syncing icons show on your Dropbox folder? Can you see any with the blue icon and the spinning arrows?
Could you also send me a screenshot (without any personal info) of what the Dropbox icon that's next to your computer's clock shows when you hover over it?
Is the Dropbox folder located on an internal/supported location? You can check this from your desktop app's settings.

Let me know what you find!

Rick A.2

Lusil, your questions were telling. I use an alternate file manager (Total Commander) so I rarely set foot inside the Windows File Manager. To address your question, I opened a file window into DropBox and, perhaps for the first time, made note of the icons. Sure enough, there was a small log file with the blue syncing icon -- it seemed to be stuck in a feedback loop, endlessly updating itself and never being fully synced.

As soon as I ditched that useless file, my hard drive quieted down and DropBox reported itself to be up to date. Many thanks for that.

Lusil

Thanks for your swift reply, @Rick A.2 - glad to hear that you were able to resolve this!

If anything else pops up, you know where to find us.

In the meantime, have a lovely day ahead!