They are visible on my Dropbox account when viewed in the browser, but are missing on File Explorer. Is this a sync issue? How do I get visibility of these files in Explorer?
Hey there, @philipinleeds, welcome to our Community!
Let's jump right into this. To help me troubleshoot, could you please share your device's exact OS, the Dropbox app version, and its current syncing status? You can find this information by hovering your mouse over the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (next to your Wi-Fi icon).
Is it possible that the folders you mentioned, have any of these characters in their names? And if so, can you rename them to remove these characters?
Lastly, is it possible that you’re using selective sync? If that's the case then some folders may not appear locally on your PC.
Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!
Thanks Megan. Thanks for getting back so quickly.
OS - windows 11 Pro, version 25H2.
Dropbox App version 269.4.4231. Sync status - up to date as seen from my side of the computer, yet the two big folders [with my and my wife's photos] are hidden on File Explorer.
I sent the Help message from my wife's side and after I wrote it I found settings to make all folders visible on File explorer and to access off line. That has been mostly successful but one sub folder won't sync & Explorer says the folder is empty. The contents are available on the browser.
This has all developed since I changed my desktop computer to the current Win 11 one with a SSD of 237Gb. The previous comp had a 500Gb magnetic hard drive and everything was visible.
We like to store photos on the hard drive as its easier to manipulate them, but this problem is causing us a lot of difficulty. Maybe there's a better way of storing pictures.
PS. does my computer store 2 sets of Offline Dropbox files? One each for me and my wife?
Hi there, I’m still learning how Dropbox handles online and offline files on Windows, and this situation raised an interesting question for me. 😊
If Dropbox Desktop shows “Up to date,” but a particular subfolder appears empty in File Explorer while all of its files are still visible on Dropbox online, how can we determine whether the problem is with syncing, the folder’s offline status, or File Explorer itself?
Is there a way within Dropbox Desktop to check the sync status of that specific subfolder📁 or force only that folder to refresh, rather than re-syncing the entire photo library?
I’m particularly interested in this because large photo collections can consume a lot of local SSD space, and re-downloading everything just to troubleshoot one folder wouldn’t be ideal.🙄
Also, the question about two Windows users is interesting. If both users make the same Dropbox content available offline, would Windows store two separate local copies and therefore use roughly twice the disk space?
Would appreciate any clarification on how Dropbox handles this. Thanks! 🙏
Hey @philipinleeds, thanks for getting back to us!
Just to clarify the situation, when you say that you found the settings to sync your folders and make them visible on the computer, are you referring to the selective sync settings?
About the folder that won't sync, does it appear in the selective sync settings as checked, but still won't sync?
If you click on your Dropbox icon, then on your initials/profile pic and then on "view sync issues", do you see anything about that folder there?
Hi to you as well, @Danny514!
Regarding your subfolder that is not syncing, did you check out Megan's response above to see if any of the info she provided helps in your case?
To check the sync status of a folder, you'd basically need to look at the sync icons next to it. However, I understand that although the particular folder appears in your Dropbox folder, it's empty.
In that case, can you please open it, right click anywhere inside it and then choose "refresh", to see if that helps?
You can also try to quit the Dropbox app and then to restart it to see if that helps too.
About the two Windows profiles (users), would both of them be logged in to the same Dropbox account or two different ones?
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for getting back to me! 😊
Yes, I was facing the same issue where the folder was visible locally but appeared empty even though the files were available on Dropbox online.
I tried your suggestion of refreshing the folder first, then quit and restarted the Dropbox desktop app. After restarting, the folder began showing the files correctly and the issue is now resolved.
It seems the files themselves were fine and the desktop/File Explorer view just needed to refresh properly.
Regarding the two Windows profiles, I was referring to both users being logged into the same Dropbox account. I’m still curious whether making the same folders available offline under both Windows profiles would create two separate local copies and consume disk space twice.
Thanks again for the help, the main syncing/empty-folder issue is solved now! 🙏
Hey there, @Danny514!
I'm happy to hear that your files are back on track and that everything is now synced.
Regarding your questions about profiles and available offline files: keep in mind that each Windows profile has its own local Dropbox folder location under that profile’s user directory (e.g., C:\Users\User1 and C:\Users\User2). Since these folder paths are separate, each profile maintains its own local copy of synced files.
Essentially, making the same folders available offline under two different Windows profiles on the same computer creates two separate local copies, which consumes disk space twice.
If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to let me know.
All clear now, thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain everything so clearly. This definitely clears up my confusion about how Dropbox works across different Windows profiles. Thanks again for your help and support...😊
It's my pleasure being able to help. If you need anything else give us a shout, and we'll be there to assist.
Have a wonderful week ahead! 🤩
