Child Item

The Dropbox desktop app no longer automatically syncs new photos from my phone

Device
Samsung S25
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Windows 11 Pro / Firefox
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
234.4.5591
Syncing Status
Up To Date

Question or Issue
For the last couple of months, Dropbox no longer automatically syncs my new photos. It used to work fine, suddenly I have to manually upload them. AFAIK, I have all the settings correct, and I didn't change anything.

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Desktop

Camera Uploads

Sync

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Accepted answers

gunrunnerjohn

Well, I uninstalled everything about Dropbox on the phone, rebooted the phone and cleared the cache partition, and then installed Dropbox again.

That seems to have gotten it's mind right, now it's back to the normal behavior. Don't know what it was confused about, hopefully this was the cure.

All comments

Hannah

Hi there, @gunrunnerjohn, thanks for joining the Dropbox Community!

Just to confirm I have this right, you're plugging your phone into your computer to upload your photos through the Dropbox desktop app, correct?

Since you mentioned that the sync status of the app is "up to date", if you add a test file to your local Dropbox folder, does it get synced to your account online?

What exactly do you see when plugging your phone into the computer? Do you get any pop-ups or error messages?

Any additional info would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance!

gunrunnerjohn

I'm not connecting with USB, the connection is through the Internet as I can be anywhere with the phone taking pictures. I'm just using the Dropbox phone option to load all new photos into Dropbox. They used to show up on my desktop very quickly, now they don't transfer at all many times, sometimes they will show up. I have to go into my photos and "share" and manually send them to Dropbox to get them in most of the time.

Note that adding files directly to the Dropbox on the phone or desktop works fine. I can add and delete files on either the phone or desktop directly to Dropbox and they come and go properly. It's just the automatic camera upload when I take a picture that no longer works properly. The new picture often never shows up in Dropbox on the phone, but sometimes it will work, that's the most vexing thing. I did go through the FAQ and check all the settings for background power, etc.

Up to a couple months ago, this feature worked every time.

The phone is a Samsung Galaxy S25 that is running Android 16 and UI8, all updated. The desktop is running Windows 11 Pro, also fully updated.

Rich

gunrunnerjohn wrote:
I'm not connecting with USB, the connection is through the Internet as I can be anywhere with the phone taking pictures.

Regarding your screenshot above, the Camera Uploads function within the Dropbox application on your computer is for when you're connecting your phone to the computer via USB. That setting doesn't apply to the automatic Camera Uploads feature that works wirelessly on your phone.

Check the settings within the Dropbox app on your phone and make sure the feature is enabled. If everything is enabled correctly, run through this help article to see if anything on the device is preventing the uploads from occurring.

gunrunnerjohn

The Dropbox app doesn't show up in the sleep configuration on the Samsung Galaxy S25. Yes, it's installed and working on the phone.

Here's how the Dropbox is configured on the S25. I've basically turned on everything.

The never sleeping app list only has one entry.

When I try to add Dropbox, it's not on the add app list.

It's also not on the deep sleeping apps list either. AAMOF, it's nowhere to be found in the battery config section, but it's on the regular apps list.

Dropbox does show up in the Apps list like you would expect.

Megan

Hey @gunrunnerjohn, let me jump in here!

Can you please turn the Camera Uploads feature off and then turn it back on, to see if that helps?

Also, if you open the Dropbox app, tap on "account", then on the gear icon and then on "clear cache", does it help at all?

Thanks!

gunrunnerjohn

Well, I uninstalled everything about Dropbox on the phone, rebooted the phone and cleared the cache partition, and then installed Dropbox again.

That seems to have gotten it's mind right, now it's back to the normal behavior. Don't know what it was confused about, hopefully this was the cure.

Megan

Hey @gunrunnerjohn!

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved, and that everything is back on track.

If you need anything else, we'll be one post away. Wishing you an amazing week ahead. 😇

gunrunnerjohn

Thanks, not sure I should have to go scorched earth to fix something like this, but at least it's back in operation. 😂

Theresa

Hi there @gunrunnerjohn , and welcome to the Dropbox Community 👋

I’m really glad to hear everything is working again and thanks so much for coming back to update us! It’s always helpful when folks share that their issue is resolved, especially with syncing problems like this that can be tricky. 😊

By the way, I’m Theresa 👩‍💻, one of the Community Managers here at Dropbox HQ. Since you’ve been depending on Dropbox to sync your photos, I’d love to know… what’s your favourite Dropbox feature? Whether it’s about syncing, sharing, or something else entirely, I’m always curious what people enjoy most.

Looking forward to hearing more,

T 😺 (Dropbox Community Manager)