Child Item

All files randomly started syncing and now I can't save anything

Application Affected
Dropbox app
Device
Dell inspiron 15
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)

Windows 11

Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
Can't find this information-- I don't see an "about" section anywhere. As far as I know, it's up to date

Question or Issue

I'm using the dropbox app on my newish computer (7 weeks or so), so it's all newly synced and up to date. While I was writing a document, a popup message appeared telling me about new dropbox icons and took me through explaining new icons (they don't look new to me...), and then my entire account started to resync all my files. It's been over 10 hours now and is still going. I was in the middle of writing an important document when all of this happened, and I have not been able to save that document. I looked at my online account, and the latest version is not saved there (I'm having to email it to myself the old fashioned way). New documents I've created last night and this morning do not even appear in my online account.

Why did this happen?? Is this some kind of update because it's really disruptive! How do I get it to stop syncing? Does that mean that files never originally synced? They seemed like they did because I've been using them. Any guidance is appreciated! I've used the dropbox app since 2019, and this has NEVER happened before.

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Comments

Laura888

After 12 hours, it has stopped syncing, but now it's stuck indexing... and there's NO movement on that. It's really throwing me off because the blue cycle icon is showing all the time. I rely on that to make sure new saves have synced, but it's not useful if it's going to show ALL the time now. What even is indexing??

Rich

Laura888 wrote:
a popup message appeared telling me about new dropbox icons ... (they don't look new to me...), and then my entire account started to resync all my files.

It sounds like you received the prompt to update to the Dropbox for Windows update. The key sentence in that help article is this:

Throughout the process, all files and folders that are being migrated will show the syncing status icon.

Basically, your files appeared to be syncing while they were being migrated to Microsoft's new Cloud Files API.

Laura888

That's horrible! I would never want anything to do with any kind of Microsoft Cloud. How do I get rid of it??

Laura888

I tried following that link you sent, signing out in order to opt out of updates... but now I can't sign back in! It wants to sync all over again?? I can't simply just sign back in? Now it's stuck in "starting..." forever!

Laura888

Tried again, and I have no idea what to respond to this prompt:

Laura888

I guess it's renaming everything and syncing EVERYTHING all over again. WHY?????? Surely this isn't how this is supposed to work?

Laura888

Application Affected
dropbox app
Device
Dell
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Windows 11
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)No idea where the about section is

Question or Issue
My personal computer is a MESS because of some kind of update with Microsoft Cloud. I was show instructions on opting out here: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/dropbox-for-windows

I tried to log out of my account and log back in as instructed, but then it asked me if I want to rename my dropbox folder or find another location for it. Uh.... no? What is the the actual correct answer to that? I chose to rename because I didn't want a second folder somewhere else. Is that right? I've been using dropbox for 7 weeks on this computer. It's already set up... I simply needed to log out and log back in.

Now it's syncing everything ALL over again. Why?? Is that supposed to happen when you log out and log back in? I want to do this on my work computer so that the Microsoft garbage doesn't initiate without my consent. But, I'm afraid to log out and log back in again and lose everything. Help!

Laura888

After everything synced, all my folders now have a grey cloud on them. Before logging out and logging back in, they all had a green check mark next to them. How do I fix this??

Mark

Laura888 wrote:
Is that supposed to happen when you log out and log back in?

Basically yes. Because it doesnt know what is different from the machine to the cloud after a disconnect - the database with this info is trashed basically. So when you reset up the connection it needs to rebuild all of it.

However, it should just reindex and realise that its all the same and so not actually download - even if its saying it is. Just give it time and hopefully all should work for you

Rich

Laura888 wrote:
I would never want anything to do with any kind of Microsoft Cloud. How do I get rid of it??

It's not what you think. You're not using Microsoft's cloud. Microsoft created an API (application programming interface) for cloud storage companies, such as Dropbox, to use to better integrate into with the Windows operating system. It's just a programming interface for Windows, which Microsoft called the Cloud Files API, because it deals with files being stored in the cloud (any cloud, not Microsoft's).

Laura888 wrote:
I guess it's renaming everything and syncing EVERYTHING all over again. WHY?????? Surely this isn't how this is supposed to work?

If you went through a sign out/sign in, then yes, it's going to sync everything again, or at least re-index all of your files if you told it to use the existing Dropbox folder. You signed out. The database used to store information is removed, so Dropbox doesn't know what files are on the computer anymore. When you sign back in it either has to sync everything again or, if you use the same folder, re-index the existing files so it can rebuild its database.

You're likely moving too fast, expecting certain results that don't come instantly, then trying something else and making it worse. The best thing you can usually do is to just let Dropbox work. If it has to sync or re-index, there's nothing you can do to stop it or speed it up, and anything you try will likely cause it to start over again, or worse, stop working.

If it has stopped working, then you'll probably want to uninstall and reinstall, and yes, this means you'll need to sync or index all of your files. I'd recommend not opting out of the Dropbox for Windows Update. Even if you opt out now, it's only temporary and you'll eventually be updated again later. It's not an optional update and Dropbox is slowly rolling out the update to everyone.

If you have a Dropbox folder that's complete, as in it was fully synced with no changes, then I'd suggest an advanced reinstall. Pay attention to the prompts during the install portion and you should see an Advanced Options link at some point. Clicking this will allow you to select a location for your Dropbox folder.

If it again tells you to chose another location or rename the existing folder, choose rename. At that point you have two options; a) let it sync everything into a new folder and LET IT WORK, or b) when the install is complete and it starts to sync, exit the Dropbox application, copy all of your files from your renamed Dropbox folder into the newly created Dropbox folder, and then launch Dropbox again only after the copy process is complete.

With option A, you obviously need to wait for everything to sync, but with option B you'll also have to wait for everything to re-index. It's faster than syncing, but still takes a while if you have a lot of files.

Laura888

Because everything is obviously here already (I'm logging out and immediately logging back in to opt out of the AWFUL new update that ruined my other computer over the weekend), it asks me if I want to rename the folder or move it to another location. Those are the only two options, and I have to choose one. What is the right answer to cause minimal disruption?

Laura888

Of course I'm moving too fast! I'm in the middle of a major project, and this update happened right while I was in the middle of it without prompting me to even save my work beforehand or asking if I wanted this update! I just looked down, there was a popup (that didn't even pop up) in the bottom task bar and I saw that my icon was showing a sync when I hadn't done anything to disrupt it. I've spent my weekend trying to fix this instead of working on the project (which I had to cut/paste into an email so I could continue working on it on my other computer. Now all my files are set to online only (I definitely didn't authorize THAT!).

How do I fix it so it's back to normal? How do I prevent this from happening on my other computer?

Hannah

Hey @Laura888, thanks for keeping us updated on the situation.

I completely understand your frustration over this and I've made sure to pass your feedback along to our team.

As for the situation, can you let us know where you stand at the moment? Did you make a choice about the Dropbox folder and did it work out okay?

Regarding your files switching to "online-only", if you'd like them to be downloaded and available on your computer, you'll need to select them, right-click on them and then choose the "make available offline" option.

Laura888

I've basically abandoned that computer for now until I get some guidance. It's not usable if Dropbox is unusable since I rely on that for everything. I'm on my work computer, but I NEED to know how to avoid this on that computer if the update is going to come out of nowhere, require no consent, and give no warning.

Why would they switch from being on my computer to online only?? That doesn't make any sense, and it now makes a TON of work for me to have to go through and fix them all.

Laura888

Any updates on this at all? It's been really impossible to get any timely help with this distressing situation.

s p.5

I feel your pain Laura. I've had similar happen multiple times over the years causing huge disruption. Right now I'm stuck waiting for 43,000 files to sync/download (I' don't even know wtf it is doing at this point). This is the LAST time I'm dealing with this sh!t. Goodbye Dropbox and good riddance.