Child Item

Desktop App for Mac not working, stuck in "sync," can't access recent files

My Dropbox desktop app (for Mac) hasn't worked since a recent update - I've tried reinstalling Dropbox and no dice. The Dropbox website says I need the Dropbox Update app but I don't see how to install that anywhere. My web browser version of Dropbox is fine but missing recent files that I uploaded into my desktop folder - I'm also running into issues when I'm trying to open files or import them into design work. I get this error message when trying to open a file from the desktop folder:

Screen Shot 2023-11-29 at 17.53.04.png

And I do have Dropbox in my taskbar, but it's stuck in "syncing" - I've restarted Dropbox and my computer several times.

2021 Macbook Pro, Monterey OS
My Dropbox app says it's v187.4.5691

Please let me know how to resolve this - thank you!

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Mac

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Accepted answers

All comments

Megan

Hey there, @Snowdrop, let's investigate together!

As a first step, keep in mind that it seems like you're using our latest version, since 187.4.5691 would be the one.

How long has the app been stuck in this syncing status? Do you see a number of files trying to sync and if yes, does that number appear to change or does it remain the same?

Try to also make sure that all other apps are closed and that there's no antivirus, firewall, VPN etc. running, and then start the Dropbox app again.

Reply back to me, and we'll take it from there!

Snowdrop

Hi @megan - it's been stuck in "syncing" for several days. It's not giving me a number of files, just says "syncing."

I have no antivirus/firewall/VPN running, have restarted Dropbox 3 times today, and no improvement. Is there anything else I can try?

Hannah

Hey @Snowdrop and @Simple, can you check if the Dropbox app has full disk access by following these steps and let me know if that helps?

Snowdrop

@Hannah - the Dropbox app has full disk access. It's still stuck in "Syncing" without a specific number of files, and I still can't open files from my desktop Dropbox folder (so basically can't do any design or client work at the moment -ARGH!!). This didn't help. Is there anything else I can try?

Hannah

Hmm, try these steps here to fix your hardlinks and permissions and let me know how that goes, please.

Snowdrop

@Hannah - fixed the hardlinks and permissions, restarted my computer, and nothing changed - still stuck in "syncing" with no number of files and I still can't open files from my desktop folders. Please advise.

Megan

Hi @Snowdrop, is it possible that you have more than 300K files in your Dropbox folder, which would be the app's soft limit? If yes, do all these files sync locally?

Would you mind checking the properties and Get info part of your Dropbox folder, to identify how many files you have there?

Snowdrop

Hi @Megan - I don't see the number of files in "Get Info" - where should I be seeing this? And no, I have all new files set to sync online-only.

Nancy

Sorry for jumping in, @Snowdrop. This is where the number of files should be showing.

Can you right click on your local Dropbox folder again, select “Get info”, and send me a screenshot of what you see? I’d also like to take a look.

Finally, you mentioned in the beginning that all this started after a recent update. Was it this one perhaps? Has your Dropbox folder been moved to this filepath ~/Library/CloudStorage ever since, and it's still trying to sync?

Snowdrop

Hi @Nancy - yes, it does look like the Dropbox folder moved to ~/Library/CouldStorage - how do I fix this/what do I do with this to get everything to work again?

"Get info" screenshot is below:

Screen Shot 2023-12-01 at 12.17.43.jpg

Megan

Hi @Snowdrop, let's try one more thing, which is to restart the app.

To restart the Dropbox desktop app:

-Open your Dropbox desktop app if it isn’t running already.
-Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
-Click your profile picture or initials in the upper right of the window that appears.
-Click Quit.
-Open a new Finder window.
-Click Applications.
-Double-click the Dropbox icon.

Snowdrop

Hi @Megan - I have tried restarting the Desktop app many many times - this doesn't help at all. Please let me know how I can resolve this issue. Can I move the folder out of the ~/Library/CouldStorage space back to a main folder? Is this what's happening? How do I fix it?

Snowdrop

Ok everyone, I uninstalled the desktop app again, unlinked my account, relinked my account, and am seeing this error message:

Screen Shot 2023-12-02 at 10.09.53.png Screen Shot 2023-12-02 at 10.12.21.png

Is this what the issue has been all along? It looks like all work I've been doing for the past couple of weeks did NOT sync into the online version and I'm missing a ton of files now. Boo!!! Any updates on this fix? Any other ways I could maybe recover the lost files?

Hannah

Hey @Snowdrop, can you go through the app's preferences, find the 'sync' tab and let us know what the location of your Dropbox folder is now?

The error message is likely related to that.

Snowdrop

@Hannah - it is in my main computer folder.

Walter

When you say your main computer folder, it's not under ~/Library/CloudStorage any more - is this correct @Snowdrop?

Could you maybe send us a screenshot of the app's current status in your menu bar?

As for the missing files you mentioned earlier, could you have a look at your events page and let us know if you see any signs of them there?