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The Dropbox desktop app is stuck at syncing

My dropbox is stuck showing says "syncing" continually. There are no syncing in my Dropbox folder, and nothing is syncing. I have tried restarting the PC, restarting Dropbox, reinstalling Dropbox, and clearing the Dropbox cache and it does the same thing. It doesn't work from a domain joined computer but if i remove the computer from domain it works.

Has anyone else has this issue. I have tried everything out there. We are not blocked at PROXY. We checked that. We have no domian policy on a domain joined computer still it cannot sync. This is so annoying. Not sure if there is a known issue but i have tons of machine showing same behaviour.

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John98683

Fixed it. The problem is that Dropbox client application for Windows 10 OS needs ciphers to be in certain order.

Once i fixed the ciphers it worked fine. This has not been a problem with any other vendor applications we run today but only dropbox.

here are the ciphers you will need.

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA

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Lusil

Hi there @John98683, thanks for dropping by!

Could you try the following steps in the exact order listed, and let me know if there's any change in behavior?

Click on the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
Go to the gear in the Notifications panel.
Select Preferences...
Navigate to the Account tab.
Click anywhere in the window under the tab.
Hold down the 'Alt+H' keys.
Click on the Fix Hardlinks button.
You may be asked for your computer's login credentials, in which case, please enter them.
Wait a bit to see if Dropbox resumes syncing.

If the above steps don’t resolve your issue, try the first six steps again, but then click on the Fix Permissions button, instead.

Let me know how it goes, cheers!

John98683

I tried all the steps and nothing worked. Please i need urgent help.

In addition to your steps i have tried these as well: https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/dropbox-not-syncing.html

Nothing worked from multiple machines.

Also, i checked with and other people have same issue but no solution via DROPBOX:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Syncing-is-stuck-on-my-Windows-10-computer-Can-you-help/td-p/437294

Daphne

Thanks for the update here @John98683.

Can you let me know what version of the desktop app you have installed on your computer at the moment? What OS versions are your computers running?

Also, please send a screenshot of the current sync status.

Keep me posted!

John98683

Fixed it. The problem is that Dropbox client application for Windows 10 OS needs ciphers to be in certain order.

Once i fixed the ciphers it worked fine. This has not been a problem with any other vendor applications we run today but only dropbox.

here are the ciphers you will need.

Ivilina

Hi @john98683,

Could you give more details how to find the ciphers? I have the same problem and nobody so far was able to help me.

Thank you!

Ivilina

CJL1127

I also have the exact same problem and Dropbox Support has been trying to troubleshoot it for 8 days. I am beyond frustrated. How do I tind and fix the ciphers?

Ivilina

@CJL1127I tried with the ciphers but did not work for me. But here is how you can do it. Open a PowerShell - just type PowerShell on the lower left corner next to the windows logo - and run it as Administrator. Then type:

Enable-TlsCipherSuite -Name "TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,

TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,

TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,

TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,

TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA,

TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256,

TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,

TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA"

next urban

hi,

i cant see the chang doing in anothere computer.

HEJohnsonJr

I've been searching for hours and just came across the 'magic' I needed:

Dropbox icon

Preferences

Account Tab

Atl-H

Fix Hard Links

Thank you!

Jorge4

Using v. 107.3.416. Syncing is stuck at 207,406 files for over 12 hours. Tried fixing permissions and hardlinks, but it doesn't get unstuck. Exiting and restarting is useless. Exited Boxifier in case that was the problem, but nothing happened. No sync issues. Read all the posts but no real answer. Is there a way for Dropbox to take over my computer (with my permission, of course) and fix the problem like Microsoft does?

Quite honestly I'm starting to be fed up. I have 420 Gb of data but am thinking of using another software that doesn't give me trouble.

Jorge

Jay

Hi @Jorge4, it looks like you’re running the beta version of the Dropbox desktop application.

To install our latest stable version, visit this page and switch ‘Early releases’ to Off.

Afterwards, re-download the app from here and let me know how it goes!

Jorge4

Did everything you said. Now I have v. 106.4.368

Syncing stuck at 183853 files after satrting at 183831. Am trying to fix permissions, see what it does.

Jorge

Jorge4

Slowly moving: 197521 files syncing now, one hour after.

Walter

Thanks for keeping us in the loop @Jorge4.

I just wanted to mention that you can also adjust your bandwidth settings through the app's preferences to see if that improves your syncing times.

Keep us posted!

Jorge4

A couple of hours more and the syncing got stuck, this time at 207,427 files, after fixing permissions. I'll try fixing hardlinks, but without any hope.

Isn't there really a solution? Can't I get the program to work properly?

Jorge

Jorge4

BTW, I've always set NO limits to bandwidth.

Jorge

Jorge4

Stuck again after 24 hours at 207,435 files. Tried everything but can't get over that hurdle.

Should I move over to a competing service?

Daphne

Hey @Jorge4!

Is it possible that you have symlinks within your Dropbox folder? If you're not sure how to check this, you can use the directions outlined in "step 7" here.

Also, is this a recent install of the desktop app? Is this the first time syncing your files down to your computer?

Jorge4

The Dropbox folder is in an external hard drive (F:). I have changed the instruction in step 7 to C:\dir "F:\Dropbox" /a:1 /s and received the answer "Parameter format not correct -"1""

What should I do now?

Jorge4

And no, this is not the first sync. I synced without a problem in another computer and then when I opened this one after 3 idle months, I have had these problems.

As per your suggestion I downloaded the latest version replacing the beta one that I was using in this computer (see above).

Daphne

Thanks for the swift update @Jorge4!

In the command there, it should be a lower case "L" instead of a "1", eg. "F:\Dropbox" /a:l /s

Let me know if that fixes the error there!

Jorge4

Indeed, my mistake. Ran the instruction and the result was that 141532 files were listed occupying 32,9 Gb with 233 Gb free.

What should I do now? Exit Dropbox and restart?

Jorge4

Re-started and immediately went to "Syncing 183,854 files" and got stuck there.

Will fix permissions to see if that works now.

Jorge4

Slowly moving up, 184,071 now.

Jorge4

Got stuck at 184,548 files!!!!

Jorge4

After fixing links the syncing started again and then stopped at 207, 434 files.

And now what?

Daphne

From the results of the command it looks like you do have some symlinks within the Dropbox folder @Jorge4.

Symlinks are known to cause syncing issues with the desktop app and could potentially be causing the stuck sync you're experiencing.

If you need to use symlinks, we instead recommend placing the actual file in the Dropbox folder and placing the symlink shortcut to the file outside of the Dropbox folder.

The command you ran should show you the full file path of any symlinks in Dropbox and where the actual file location.

Since it seems like such a high number of files, it may be that they reside in a specific folder which you can move into Dropbox instead to see if that does the trick.