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Desktop folder no longer backing up after Dropbox backup update

Good morning,
I state that 2 days ago my desktop was correctly synchronized. Yesterday after updating the dropbox backup utility, the entire desktop is no longer synchronized and a "my dropbox files" folder appeared containing two folders that were synchronized yesterday afternoon, one of which is present only inside this folder while the other also has an unsynced copy on my desktop. The other folder present in the "my dropbox files" folder is another "files on my pc" folder which connects me to all the unsynchronized folders present on my desktop. In my events yesterday it appears that about 25,000 files were deleted from the backup between 9:57 and 10:27.
I think it's a problem related to the update I did yesterday morning, but regardless of what the problem is, I would like to understand what is the best way to resynchronize my desktop again without having conflicting copies and without losing data. some advice?

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Hannah

Hi there, @ale0805, thanks for letting us know about this.

Can you give us some more info about the update you mentioned?

A couple screenshots showing the issue, would also be really helpful.

Also, if you hover over the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar, what's the sync status and version of the app?

Let me know and we'll go from there.

ale0805

The sync status is "synced" in the menu bar. As you can see in the screenshot the desktop folder should be synchronized but instead the folders were suddenly desynchronized and deleted from Dropbox following the update. Two folders that were on the desktop and are currently synchronized have ended up inside the folder marked with the blue arrow.

Spoiler

Hannah

Thanks for the additional info, @ale0805.

If you go to your backups page on dropbox.com, does everything appear as expected?

Do you see all your backups, or are any files missing there too?

ale0805

HI,
if I go to my backup page, only the folders present in the "my dropbox file" folder (marked with a blue arrow in the previous screenshots) are synchronized and are present on the page while those present on the desktop are no longer present.

Nancy

Hi from me too, @ale0805! Hope it’s OK to jump in.

Can you please clarify what kind of update was it that you referred to above? Was it an automatic update of the Dropbox app, or did you take any steps on your end?

I’m asking because the “My files in Dropbox” folder can be created on your desktop app due to this reason.

Finally, can you send one more screenshot of what you see here?

ale0805

Good morning,
the update request appeared in the morning when I turned on the computer with a window telling me to update dropbox backup and reassuring me that the files would be temporarily desynchronized but that everything would then be back in order once the update was complete.
I attach two screenshots in which in the first you can see the two synchronized elements, i.e. the external hard disk and the desktop of my PC, in the second you can see that, in fact, the backup is updated because there are files with recent changes. However, the problem is that when I try to access the files on my desktop from another device they are no longer available while those in the my dropbox files folder are also available from another device.

Nancy

Thanks for the screenshots and the clarification! Are you unable to access those files just from a specific device, or all linked devices in general? Can you clarify the OS of any device(s) on which you can’t access your backup files?

ale0805

the computer where the files are present is a PC with Windows OS. The files are inaccessible from the two devices I tested, namely an Android smartphone and a laptop with Windows OS.

Jay

Hi @ale0805, please could you contact the support team directly for them to investigate this further.

richardjphotog

I did the same update. Macx OS 14.4.1 Sonoma. I had specific folders on my desktop that were backing up without issue for a year until this update released. The files are still selected for backup but are not syncing. I do believe this was a bad Dropbox Update.

richardjphotog

After doing newest Dropbox update, selected folders on my desktop are no longer syncing even though they are selected in preferences. Mac OS 14.4.1 Sonoma.

Megan

Hey @richardjphotog, welcome to our Community!

Would you mind clarifying the Dropbox version you're using on your end, along with the app's syncing status at the moment?

You should be able to hover your mouse over the little Dropbox icon, on your menu bar, next to your WiFi and check there.

If you have any screenshots of your Backup, they're more than welcome in order for us to have a visual too.

Keep us posted, and we'll take it from there!

samburden

Hi, I also have a problem here following the Dropbox backup update.

I was syncing my desktop and downloads folder between 2 Macs and had all of those files in a 'Mac' folder on DB. The folder has now disappeared, my laptops desktop is empty and the downloads folder just showing a question mark.

Hannah

Sorry to hear about this, @samburden.

After the update is complete, your desktop and downloads folders should be back in their original locations.

Is it possible that the Dropbox app hasn't finished updating yet?

If you hover over your Dropbox icon, what do you see?

samburden

Thanks Hannah, Ahh I see! Yes it looks like it's still backing up. So the 'My Mac' folder should re-appear when this finishes?

Is using this feature to mirror my desktop on both machines the correct way?

Best,
Sam
Screenshot 2024-04-22 at 16.42.58.png

Hannah

Thanks for checking, Sam!

So, once the update is finished, you shouldn't be able to see your backed up folders inside the Dropbox folder anymore.

They'll still be backed up, but they should go back to their original locations, the ones they were in, before you had enabled backup, so you should be able to access them from there and also from your backups page online.

samburden

Hi Hannah, The backup has finished but the files have not re-appeared on my laptop.

Perhaps I should explain how I was using the backup feature;

I had both my laptop and office Mac's backing up to one folder called 'My Mac' within my Dropbox. This kept any changes in sync across both machines. If I changed a file on one machine it would automatically update on the other and I could also access my desktop files via the dropbox app on my phone. All very handy in making sure my files were kept up to date.

Since updating to the new version of Dropbox Backup the 'My Mac' folder has disappeared from my Dropbox folder and my laptop has lost all files on the Desktop and the downloads folder is now just a question mark in the dock. When I look at where my desktop and downloads folder should be in finder, they are now just alias's rather than folders. My office machine is as it should be. Does that make sense?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Megan

Hey @samburden, thanks for the added info!

When you visit your account online, are you able to see your Backup as it should be with all the recent changes in it?

Also, would you be able to send me a couple of screenshots from the way your Desktop and Downloads folder now looks like, and the alias you mentioned?