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Forum Discussion
Dropbox desktop app stuck syncing 20 files
Hello,
I'm a long time Dropbox user, I've run into an issue with my Dropbox desktop application "Syncing 20 files" constantly for the past few weeks, though I've seemingly not changed anything ...
The Advanced Dropbox Support team helped me pin this down.
In the end, it was something to do with file paths being too long, as some other members have identified as an issue in the past. In my case specifically, there were a handful of proprietary files of a .PDX extension that were buried deep in my Dropbox. That file type is essentially a bundle of many other files and folders, and so my guess is that this was creating many layers deep of file paths, causing the issue. I'm not 100% certain of this, but I know that removing the 20 or so instances of .PDX files in my Dropbox fixed this for me!
For anyone else having similar issues on Mac OS, check your file types for anything that is a bundle type (like an .app or something), and Open Contents on those files to check the file structure in there. If it's relatively deep/complex, it might be what's causing your files to stall syncing.
That said, I would not have been able to find this on my own, the Dropbox team called out to me what specific folder was causing the sync issues and I used Selective Sync to determine which specific file in that folder was the problem (because Selective Sync will have issues also trying to delete it from your system and it will remain). Without this advanced help, you'd have to go folder by folder doing Selective Sync to see what remains. 😅
Thanks Dropbox team !
Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey fosterdouglas, I hope you don’t mind me jumping in.
I’ve traced your ticket number in our system, and from what I can see, it’s already been forwarded to our specialized team.
In the meantime, I’ve also left them an internal note, so that they may get back to you as soon as possible.
The Advanced Dropbox Support team helped me pin this down.
In the end, it was something to do with file paths being too long, as some other members have identified as an issue in the past. In my case specifically, there were a handful of proprietary files of a .PDX extension that were buried deep in my Dropbox. That file type is essentially a bundle of many other files and folders, and so my guess is that this was creating many layers deep of file paths, causing the issue. I'm not 100% certain of this, but I know that removing the 20 or so instances of .PDX files in my Dropbox fixed this for me!
For anyone else having similar issues on Mac OS, check your file types for anything that is a bundle type (like an .app or something), and Open Contents on those files to check the file structure in there. If it's relatively deep/complex, it might be what's causing your files to stall syncing.
That said, I would not have been able to find this on my own, the Dropbox team called out to me what specific folder was causing the sync issues and I used Selective Sync to determine which specific file in that folder was the problem (because Selective Sync will have issues also trying to delete it from your system and it will remain). Without this advanced help, you'd have to go folder by folder doing Selective Sync to see what remains. 😅
Thanks Dropbox team !
- Hannah
Thanks for getting back to us about this, fosterdouglas!
We appreciate you giving us the results of your communication with our specialists and I'm happy to see that your issue is resolved.
If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to let us know.
Have a wonderful day!
Hello! How did you find the files that seemed to be the problem? On my end I have no indication of which file is creating this endless sync. 😞
- Hannah
Hey artsurmesure, sorry to see you're having syncing issues.
If you click on the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar, then on your initials/profile pic and then on "view sync issues", do you see anything there?
I do not. I reinstalled Dropbox and the issue seems gone. Thanks for the reply!
