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"Syncing…" doesn't stop

MacOS, Ventura, Dropbox 177.4.5399.

My Dropbox has been showing the "sync" badge for 24 hours now. At the bottom of its menu, it says just "Syncing…". No file count, just that one word.

It seemed to start when I added a folder to my Dropbox folder (in ~/Library/CloudServices) and created a soft link (ln -s) in it to a folder which also lives in my Dropbox folder. I've now deleted the link - in fact, I've deleted the new folder completely - but it hasn't helped. Under "View sync issues", it shows two identical problems: the name of the link file and "Dropbox can't sync this file or folder". Clicking on "Go to file" does nothing (presumably because the thing no longer exists).

I've tried quitting it and re-launching, I've tried logging out and in again.

Meanwhile, it carries on syncing everything else without issue.

Any ideas?

Jeremy

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kikashi

Actually, I'm wrong. It's syncing other folders in the Dropbox folder but it's not syncing this one.

kikashi

Weirder still. Using the web interface, I deleted the folder (which hadn't disappeared after I deleted it on my Mac). Both the "Sync issues" have now disappeared, so there are no sync issues left. However, the badge remains and so does the message "Syncing…".

Now I'm really out of ideas.

Jay

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

Just for clarification, has the folder now been deleted on the Mac? Are you able to quit the app and then delete the folder?

Could you try reinstalling the app, without uninstalling it first, using this link?

This will help me to assist further!

kikashi

I deleted the folder on the Mac (by moving it to the Desktop) and via the Web interface. I then quit and restarted the app. I've now put the folder back, having removed the soft links first.

I've also reinstalled Dropbox using the download link you suggested.

Nothing has changed. No sync issues are reported but the badge and the message at the bottom of the menu are as before.

Jay

Could you try these steps to repair the hard links and permissions in the Dropbox desktop application?

kikashi

Done. Both fix links and fix permissions. Dropbox reported success in both (links turned into copies). Had to authorise the permissions fix.

No change to badge or message.

Jay

Could you try pausing and resuming syncing? Have you also fully rebooted the device?

kikashi

I'd already tried pausing and restarting, which didn't make any difference. I have just rebooted the iMac Pro and again, nothing has changed.

In case it's of any help, if I modify a file in my Dropbox folder, or add a file to it, the message at the foot of the Dropbox menu changes to "Syncing 1 item…" for a moment, then changes back to just "Syncing…".

Jay

Thanks for the info, in order to look into this matter in more detail, would it be possible to reach out to the email associated with your forum profile?

kikashi

Yes, of course.

Nancy

You're all set, @kikashi! Please check your email address, and reply back to my message.

Cheers.