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The desktop app always shows as syncing on Mac OS

I have strange syncing behaviour on my MacBook M3 running Tahoe V26.1

Dropbox build 237.4.5655

In general, syncing seems to be working, but syncing never stops. If I change 2 files and monitor the sync activity, it shows 2 files being synced, then one named file, then just “syncing”, which never goes away. If I pause syncing, then restart, it shows “Syncing 1 file”, but no name, for about 20 seconds, before returning to the simple “Syncing” message. The icon in the menu bar always shows the syncing wheel.

Any help much appreciated!

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Accepted answers

NLC99

I have spent a couple of hours going through files and finally found one with a sync error icon. I unsynced and resynced and the error has cleared! Not sure why this didn’t show up as a sync issue on the “Sync and Storage” page of the app, but the problem is solved.

All comments

Jay

Hi @NLC99, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

When you view the files in Finder, do they show up with the syncing icon as well, or do they show another icon?

Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

NLC99

Hi @Jay. In Finder, all the folders show the green tick-mark as they are available offline. None of the top-level folders show syncing activity, even when files are syncing in child folders. The syncing files themselves show the cloud icon.

I have a huge number of files and it isn’t practical to go through every folder to try to identify a file that is stuck in sync. But surely, if there is such a file, in should be identified by the activity window of the desktop app?

Jay

It's possible that there might be an issue syncing the files in the desktop app.

Could you try reinstalling the Dropbox desktop application, without uninstalling it first, by using this link?

NLC99

Have reinstalled as suggested, but no difference. Still stuck with syncing continuing indefinitely.

Jay

Thanks for the info. I think it would be best to contact the support team since they have more tools and steps available to troubleshoot this matter for you.
You can submit a ticket to the team via this link while logged into your Dropbox account.

NLC99

Megan

Amazing news there @NLC99!

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved!

if you need anything else, give us a shout. ☺️

Theresa

Hi there @NLC99 and welcome back to the Dropbox Community! 😊

I am glad to see your issue is resolved, sometimes a small refresh is all it takes to clear things up. Thank you for coming back to update the thread - it really helps others who may run into the same thing!

By the way, I’m Theresa 👩‍💻, one of the community managers here at Dropbox HQ. I’d love to know... what’s your favourite Dropbox feature? I always enjoy hearing what people find most useful.

Looking forward to hearing more,

T 😺 (Dropbox Community Manager)