Dropbox can never finish syncing because one folder is locked by another user.

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 1.png

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 2.png

Here are two screenshots of the problem. The first shows the message I get when I respond to the prompt to update Dropbox to the new MacOS platform. The message at the foot of my Dropbox drop-down menu item from the upper task bar always shows the message 'Syncing Mongolia LV report'.

The second screenshot shows that this folder 'Mongolia LV report' cannot be updated - it is 'Locked' and I have only 'Read only' permissions.

I would like to remove the folder from my Dropbox account, but it can neither be deleted directly or moved to the Trash.

No, I have not tried doing this via the website. I haven't used the website directly for quite a long time.

Appreciate any advice you can offer

Thanks

Walter

Can you also send us a screenshot of the app's exact status as shown in your menu bar @banbikas ?

Apart from that, can you try removing the folder via the website and let me know how it goes?

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 3.png

Here's the screenshot of the drop-down menu of Dropbox.

In the website, the folder 'Mongolia LV Report' is not there. All other folders are present.

Thanks for the help.

Hi @banbikas, are you not able to unlock the file via your OS settings, since this could be what is preventing the deletion.

Another method to try would be to quit the Dropbox desktop application entirely, and then try dragging the folder to Trash and then restarting the machine and Dropbox.

Hello Walter.

Do you have any further advice?

Since the folder does not appear in the website, the creator probably deleted it some time ago, but since I cannot remove it from my Dropbox folder on my laptop, it prevents any updates and syncing can never be completed.

Did you try the steps in my previous post to see if this helps?

Hi Jay

I may not have properly understood what you are suggesting.

I can't unlock the folder on my laptop, because I am not the creator of the folder.

I am also not sure how I can quit the Dropbox application. The Dropbox folder and sub-folders are an integral part of the file management system under MacOS Finder. I am not operating through a desktop application. How can I quit Dropbox?

Walter

The desktop app is the one which syncs your files, shown in your screenshot @banbikas.

You can click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar and then click on your avatar (account's picture) and Quit.

Let us know if you still get the same error after quitting the Dropbox desktop app completely before trying to delete this folder.

Hi there

Thanks for the advice. I managed to quit the Dropbox application. But I still cannot unlock the concerned folder, so I was unable to drag it to the Trash. I restarted the laptop, and I still have the same issue. Dropbox is once again trying to sync the 'Mongolia LV report' folder and is unable to do so. Hence I cannot update Dropbox when prompted to do so.

Hey @banbikas, if you click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar, then on your initials/profile pic and then on "view sync issues", what do you see?

Hi Hannah

I see this:

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 4.png

Nancy

Hi from me as well, @banbikas!

Just to make sure we’ve tried everything, can you please check your Shared tab, and let me know if you can still see your folder there, along with the option to add it back to your Dropbox account?

Hi Nancy

Apologies - I only just saw your message.

In my Shared folder on the Dropbox website, the 'Mongolia LV report' folder is not there.

In my Finder menu, the folder is still there with the red x next to it, and coloured in a watered-down version of the usual blue

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 5.png

Thanks for your update here, @banbikas.

Can you try the steps in this article, to see if this folder can be ignored, so that you can continue with the update?

Hi Hannah

I can't get very far with that.

To install 'Powershell' on my Mac, I have to install 'Homebrew' first. To install Homebrew I have to open Terminal and paste an instruction into it. Terminal then asks for my password, but shows a 'key' icon which seems to be preventing me from typing anything else in the field.

So I'm stuck here:

Dropbox sync issue screenshot 6.png

Hi @banbikas, at this point, it doesn't seem to be related to Dropbox any longer, as the folder is directly locked by the Mac OS. Even quitting the Dropbox desktop application doesn't allow you to delete it.

I'd recommend getting in contact with Apple directly, or searching their resources on how to delete locked folders from your machine.

Dear Hannah

I've tried again with the above solution (going via Powershell) and I managed to use MacOS Terminal to install Homebrew. Once it finished installing, I received the following instruction in Terminal:

Next steps:
- Run these two commands in your terminal to add Homebrew to your PATH:
(echo; echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> /Users/benvickers 1/.profile
eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"

I tried the first command twice, which appeared in Terminal as follows:

Bens-MacBook-Pro-2:~ banbikas$ (echo; echo 'eval "$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)"') >> /Users/benvickers 1/.profile

On both occasions this led to the following message:
-bash: syntax error near unexpected token `1/.profile'

Do you have any idea what this means?

If I can get past this problem, I hope to be able to install Powershell on the Mac (via Homebrew) and then try the solution in the article you shared.

Thanks for the additional info here.

Just a couple more things I'd like to ask you, @banbikas, can you quit the Dropbox app and then try to run the commands, to see if that helps?

Let us know if you still can't remove the folder.

Hi Hannah

I quit Dropbox from the menu bar at the top of the screen and then tried to run the command again in Terminal, but I got the same error message as before.

Ben

Thanks for the update here, Ben, and apologies for the delay.

Can we reach out to you via email, so we can look into this internally a bit more?

Hi Hannah

Yes, sure. My email is [Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Thanks

Ben