If you frequently switch between offline and online work, you should know the importance of backing up files. File hosting services like Dropbox also allow you to do this with ease. You have to select the offline files or folders you want to be served to you online and the system will take care of it. However, from time to time, Dropbox’s sync may not sync systematically.
If you’ve ever experienced something like this, it’s time to run a few tests to quickly initiate the syncing process in Windows 10.
Without further ado, let’s look at some of the best ways to fix Dropbox sync issues.
1. Close and Restart Dropbox
You may have already tried this step, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Just exit the application and start it again.
If it’s a simple one-time thing, chances are you’ll see documents and files syncing after a while. At the same time, pay attention to the files that are open on your system.
2. Process Stuck
Dropbox not responding at all? If that’s the scenario, it might be a stuck process.
Stage 1: To end the Dropbox process, right click on the Taskbar to bring up the Task Manager.
Step 2: Next, right-click on the Dropbox process and select End Task. Once complete, restart Dropbox to see if it fixes your issue.
3. Is There Enough Space?
Like any other file hosting service, Dropbox has file upload limitations. Dropbox Plus, for example, lets you use up to 2TB of storage, while the Basic plan only lets you use 2GB. If you’re on the latter, you may have run out of storage. And when that happens, the files on your PC are not synced to the cloud. You cannot edit other than that. Therefore, it makes sense to exclude the possibility of storage space.
Stage 1: Go to Dropbox in your web browser and click on the avatar on the right.
Step 2: To see how much of the space is used, choose Settings > Plan.
Dropbox usually warns you when your account is running out of space, but you can always check if the option is enabled in the settings.
To do this go to Dropbox settings and click on Notifications. And in the meantime, you can also disable a few unimportant ones.
4. Selective Sync Option in Dropbox
If you only see some of your files and folders syncing, the selective sync feature may be the culprit. As the name suggests, it only lets you select a few files for syncing.
Stage 1: To check the selected folders, open Dropbox on your PC and click on your avatar on the right. Next, choose Preferences > Sync and click Selective Sync.
Step 2: Then deselect all files and folders from the list.
5. Clear Cache Files
Another reason why your Dropbox is not syncing properly is cache. Fortunately, clearing the Dropbox cache is easy.
Stage 1: Go to Program Files on the C: drive. Locate Dropbox and open the .dropbox.cache folder.
Step 2: Now delete everything inside.
If you cannot access or see the contents of the cache folder, luckily there is another way to access it.
Stage 1: Open the Run application from the start menu and enter the following command.
%HOMEPATH%\Dropbox\.dropbox.cache
Windows Explorer will immediately direct you to the Dropbox cache folder. Select and delete all folders.
6. Reinstall Dropbox
If all of the above steps did not resolve your issues, you may want to uninstall and install Dropbox. Once done, check that all old Dropbox files and data are also removed.
Once you’ve got everything done, install Dropbox using the same credentials.
Finally, check if Dropbox has access to communicate through your computer’s firewall. To check, go to Settings > Update & Security and select Windows Security from the left panel.
Once done, click on Firewall and network protection and select ‘Allow an app…’.
This will show you the names of all allowed apps and features. All you have to do is click Change settings to activate the change.
Next, scroll down and see if Dropbox is in the allowed apps group.
Synchronous
Dropbox systematically shows daily sync issues in the desktop app. Some of the common problems with filenames are incompatibility when special characters are used in filenames. The idea is to rule out common problems before attempting to replace any system files and folders.
