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Stuck syncing and creating multiple "selective sync conflict" folders

A couple of hours ago I had to do some work - but my file didn't open (like opening a recent file in ableton) because it couldn't access the file in my dropbox, I never get that error - but I just tried to do the "Make available offline" command but that didn't work either. I noticed my dropbox app was stuck a syncing 44 files and I tried many things, but I just couldn't get it to "download/sync" the files I needed. I tried to unsync and then sync my folder - but that started pure chaos! It has created multiple, meaning many, selective sync conflict folders - so now my dropbox is complete f*cked with these copies folders everywhere, and now it stuck a syncing 95 files. I really have to get this work done - but don't know what to do

Please help (I tried adding a photo, but I couldn't)

I'm on osx 15.4.1

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Joergen

In my cause that problem was caused by a "bad folder" just like a tooth can go bad, apparently folders can also go bad. I take a copy of it, and deleted the original. That resolved the problem - never had that happen before, and I used dropbox for 15 years.

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Joergen

And when I try to clean and delete the folder on the dropbox website, I keep getting logged out - that hasn't been an issue before.

Joergen

I deleted all the "selective sync conflict" folders, and now it is back at 44 files to sync. Doing nothing, and the file size of whats left to sync goes up and down, really weird.

Joergen

Megan

Hey there, @Joergen, thanks for posting here today!

The behavior you described was quite odd indeed.

I'm glad to hear that your great troubleshooting solved the issue, and that everything got back on track.

Just to make sure I got this right: the app is now fully synced, and when you try to upload new content by adding it to your Dropbox folder everything syncs the way it should. Does this sound correct? 🤨

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way.

Theresa

Hi @Joergen and welcome back to the Dropbox Community. I am glad to see you got your issue resolved and got all your folders and files successfully synced 🙌.

It's amazing to hear how long you've been using Dropbox you are for sure one of the OGs 👨‍💻.

If you're up for it, I’d love to hear a bit more about your experience and how you use Dropbox. We might even be able to share some of your feedback with our internal team ✨.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

T 😺 (Dropbox Community Manager)

drizzy

I now have over 12,000 Selective Sync Conflict folders populated on all my computers using Dropbox. When I delete them, they start re-populating themselves, like some bad sci-fi movie replicators. I've already burned up tons of time chasing this Dropbox Bug. And it won't go away.

k3222a

I am facing the same problem with thousands of Selective Sync Conflict folders. I had an issue with one folder and DB tech support suggested me to sign out locally and to relink again. Then the Selective Sync Conflict folders started popping up.

It's on pause for now and I don't even know if I can let it run through without first running out of storage space.

Did you manage to resolve the problem?

drizzy

Yes, we resolved the problem by abandoning Dropbox and moving to Microsoft OneDrive. The Dropbox bug was simply insurmountable, and caused us hours of hand-work. Horrific bug. Sad to leave Dropbox after all these years, but that's life in the big city.

Megan

Hey @k3222a, sorry to hear about that!

I was able to locate your existing ticket number in our system. Please rest assured that it has already been escalated and marked as high priority.

Our team is currently reviewing your case, and you should receive a response as soon as possible.

We truly appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to find the best course of action for your issue.

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way.

k3222a

@drizzy I am mentally preparing... it will also be hours or more likely days of work with nearly 15 years worth of files on Dropbox.

@Megan Thanks a lot. Earnestly looking forward to a fix.

BBllg

Had the same issue. Last week I decided to trial a business account. The business account was a no-go, so I reverted back to personal account the same day. At that time (I guess?) Dropbox made a new folder and resynced my entire Dropbox. In the process it seems to have created its own conflict through this resync. I have no idea why it even needed to resync as my old personal Dropbox folder was still there. Dropbox even renamed it when it began duplicating everything.

But here I am with thousands of broken links and countless duplicated folders created by selective sync. I also have no idea why some of these folders were duplicated because they were never in the same root folders—they were nestled inside project folders.

So this bug, or whatever it is, appears to be something Dropbox has no solution for at the moment. Customer service gave me the 'it is what it is' line. As for me, I am stuck with a mess of folders and duplicated files that I will need to sort through by hand. Their suggestion was to just ignore the folder name changes, something my team cannot do since many of these folders contain links for files we work on daily. These folders are also placed in the main Dropbox folder with their system name "Presentation", "Assets", etc, because they belong in their respective client folders. Moreover, to break those links is even more work in the future to fix.

I don't know how or why this should be my problem, but apparently it is.

drizzy

I was given the same response by Dropbox support: "you'll need to remove the files and directories manually, then you'll be OK." What turned out to be over 14,000 items, times 4 computers, all of which were logged out of Dropbox to prevent the repeated spawning.

BBllg

Having poked around in other threads for a couple hours, it looks like this has been an ongoing thing for Dropbox for years. I suppose this thread will just be another on this topic and Dropbox has no answer for why it happens nor solution for what happens if it does.

For people who use Dropbox for thousands of files and folders, this 'Selective Sync Conflict' bug could potentially destroy your workflow and cost many thousands of dollars to fix.