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Getting notifications about online-only files, with Google Drive/OneDrive active

I have a regular DropBox account that I've been using for many years. This afternoon, it suddenly started giving my this very same notification every 30 seconds or so. It doesn't tell me which files it's having trouble with - just, "These files are online-only." When I click on the notification, it goes away, but it continues the incessant beeping. How do I get this to stop?!

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Jay

HI @Bill_Richards, if you look in the Dropbox folder in Explorer, do you see any files or folders without the green syncing icon on them?

themicah

I have the same issue as Bill. All my files are local (when I go to the online only section of the app it shows nothing online only) and everything in the dropbox folder has a green check. Logged onto my computer this morning (didn’t use it yesterday) and nonstop notifications that “these files are online only”. I tried restarting the Dropbox app, restarting my whole computer, etc. this is on windows 10.

Bill_Richards

No, they all have the green sync icon:

Nancy

Hi @Bill_Richards! Out of curiosity, are you using any other cloud services/apps on your computer that could be interfering with Dropbox?

Bill_Richards

I use Google Drive as well, but I've been using that for years. This problem just started suddenly for no apparent reason yesterday.

Bill_Richards

I did notice somthing that may or may not be related. If I show hidden files, there are two folder that appear to be syncing endlessly:

Withint he cache folder, all the sub-folders are synced except one, with an odd gibberish name:

Within the other folder (.tmp.driveupload), there are 180 tiny files, all given 5-digit names, none of which is synced.

Nancy

That’s interesting. The files within .tmp.driveupload, do they also have the blue rotating icon next to them?

The reason why I asked you about other cloud services before is because Dropbox doesn’t normally have a green syncing icon with an underlined checkmark, so I’m wondering if it’s Google Drive that's trying to sync those files.

If you check the syncing status of your Dropbox app, does it say up to date or syncing a specific number of files?

Finally, if you’re still receiving the notification, there should be a button with three dots right next to the X button. Can you please click on them and let me know what options you see?

Bill_Richards

> The files within .tmp.driveupload, do they also have the blue rotating icon next to them?

Yes

> Dropbox doesn’t normally have a green syncing icon with an underlined checkmark,

> so I’m wondering if it’s Google Drive that's trying to sync those files.

Perhaps, but Google Drive isn't pinging every 30 seconds - it's Dropbox. As soon as I kill Dropbox, the annoying pings cease.

> If you check the syncing status of your Dropbox app, does it say up to date

> or syncing a specific number of files?

Here's a screenshot:

> there should be a button with three dots right next to the X button.

> Can you please click on them and let me know what options you see?

Here is the notification, and below that is what I see when I click on the 3 dots.

Nancy

Thanks for the screenshot! I‘d like you to ’click on the “Go to notification settings” option and disable the notifications for your desktop app. After that, please restart your computer and re-enable them. Does that make a difference?

Bill_Richards

I just powered my PC back on and Dropbox is beeping at me every 30 seconds, but there is no notification in the Task Bar so I cannot select the “Go to notification settings” option. If I right-click on the Dropbox icon in the Taskbar and select Preferences/Notifications, I see this:

nickpap

I have the same very annoying issue suddenly, windows 10. How did you resolve it?

Walter

Hi there @nickpap - sorry to hear about this.

Could you send us a screenshot of the app's exact status and version of the desktop app as shown in your system tray?

Also, have you tried rebooting your computer or moving your files out of the Dropbox folder and back in again to see if that improves matters?

nickpap

Hi Walter.

I just rebooted, no dif.

I don't know what files are causing this issue. You mean to move all the files out of dropbox?

But the issue is caused from some files out of the dropbox folder

Walter

When you say out of the Dropbox folder, could it be that you're referring to files that you've backed up to Dropbox using the Dropbox backup feature perhaps @nickpap ?

nickpap

I don't recall using the Dropbox backup feature

Walter

Thanks for the clarification @nickpap

Could you try updating to the latest version directly from this page and let me know if you notice any difference?

nickpap

Unfortunately still same, after even restarting the pc.

Jay

Hi @Bill_Richards, the sync icons shown aren't actually from Dropbox. The green tick with an underscore is actually a Google Drive icon.

Is it possible that you also have that program running on your machine at the same time? Is it trying to sync the Dropbox folder?

Bill_Richards

As I stated in an earlier post, I do have Google Drive running and it is syncing the Dropbox folder. But that has been the case for several years. The incessant beeping didn't start until Monday, so what changed?

Megan

Hey Bill!

If you have Google Drive and it's interfering with Dropbox then this sounds the most plausible cause.

Usually two cloud programs shouldn't be used together, as this might cause issues.

Not sure why this behavior began this past Monday, but to overrule it, would you mind temporarily pausing Google Drive, to see if you'll still be receiving these pop-ups?

Bill_Richards

Yes, if I pause Google Drive, the pings stop. Then when I resume Google Drive, they start again. But it is Dropbox that is sending the notifications, not Google Drive. And this worked fine for years - literally - so what has changed?

And why is Dropbox telling me that "these" files are only online, but not listing any files? Something is wrong, and disabling Google Drive syncing of my Dropbox files is not the solution.

Nancy

@Bill_Richards, one more question; did you recently move any files from Dropbox to Google Drive by any chance, without making them available offline on Dropbox first?

Bill_Richards

No. I don't move files between any of the cloud apps. I just let Dropbox do it's thing with the files in the Dropbox folder, and Google Drive simply backs up my documents, photos, videos, music, and Dropbox folders.

themicah

I have the same situation as Bill_Richards: Windows, Google Drive and Dropbox syncing the same folder, never had an issue until this week when I started getting these annoying Dropbox alerts, pausing Google Drive sync stopped the Dropbox alerts, resuming Google Drive brought back the Dropbox alerts, etc.

But I think I found a solution! I deleted the .tmp.driveupload folder and the alerts stopped (at least for now). This seems to be a folder that Google Drive was creating and it seemed to have a bunch of empty files called "placeholder" with various file extensions, but no actual content. I think Dropbox was getting confused by it. Why that folder suddenly showed up this week I'm not sure. Maybe some kind of failed Google Drive update?

themicah

Gah. Ignore my "solution" from the prior post. A few minutes after deleting .tmp.driveupload, it reappeared and the Dropbox alerts came back. It definitely seems to be a problem with this folder (I think Dropbox is trying to sync it and thinks that the contents are "online-only").

I really, really want to be able to have my Dropbox folder synced with both Dropbox and Google Drive and this has worked perfectly fine until this week. It would be great to know if this was some kind of update at Dropbox or Google that suddenly started creating the problem.

Walter

Thanks for the update @nickpap

Would it be OK if I sent you an email to have a further look internally at this point?

HypnoWarriorNZ

I have the identical issue as mentioned above that started a few days ago. I also have my Dropbox folder synced by Google Drive. It's incredibly annoying to the point I'm about to scrap Dropbox if this isn't rectified very soon. I can't work with these messages popping up every 5 to 8 seconds. Please fix your software so that it works nicely with other sync programs...

sstructural1

It would be nice to keep it on the forum so that if a solution is found we will know. I just turned off notifications to keep it from happening. As I turn it on the notifications keep popping back up.

Nancy

Hi everyone! Before looking into this further, can you all check this user’s solution here, and let me know if it helps any of you? This will help us isolate the issue more.

nickpap

Never mind, I think I've spent enough time with this issue. I just turned off dropbox notifications to get some piece of mind.