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Forum Discussion
Permission Denied - Access Denied - Can't Sync - After clean Windows 10 reinstall
My Dropbox icon on the taskbar states it is 'Indexing 4 files... Cant Sync ....jpg (access denied). I'd either like to sync those files or delete them. I can't find those file doing a search on my ha...
- I noticed this happens to me sometimes when one/some of the files are being used/opened by a program, and some modifications to those files are made from another device/web. You may try closing the programs which might be using files in your dropbox folder, and it should complete the sync. You may also try restarting dropbox/computer if that is not a big issue.
sorry. This isn't what's happening. Try again.
Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey there JimSTX,
Welcome to the Dropbox Community!
I'd be more than happy to help.
To have a better understanding of what you're seeing though, I'll need a bit more info, such as:
- What is the Dropbox icon on your system tray or menu bar showing when you hover over it?
- Are you seeing any errors? If so, a screenshot (without any personal info) would be very helpful.
Any additional details on this would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know what you find!
Short answer: I've been working on a document that I needed to transfer from one computer to another, so I could print it. (Windows 10 trashed my home network and I haven't figured out how to restore it yet.) I put the doc in Dropbox, went to the other computer, printed it, found an error, went back to the first computer to fix it, then came back to the second computer. The new version wasn't in Dropbox there, though the old one was. I checked Dropbox online and found the new version had replaced the old. I checked the Dropbox icon in the lower right corner of the screen and found a blue circle with a line through it that said I did not have permission to download it. WTF? I ultimately rebooted the second computer to clear and reload Dropbox. No change until I right-clicked the document and asked it to sync. It finally did. I have automatic sync turned on on this computer, so that should not have happened.
This is the third time I've had trouble with Dropbox failing to download items, though it's the first time I've been denied permission. No, the document was NOT in use by another program. Thus my message.
-- Jim
- Lusil
Thanks for the additional information and sorry to hear about the frustration this has caused, JimSTX.
At first, since you mention that you had to right-click and select it to sync, could the file have been Smart Synced as online-only?
If so, please bear in mind that the option to set your files to be online only allows you to save hard drive space by marking content as online-only instead of local. That way, the files take up minuscule amounts of space as only the name, location, and date the file was updated are downloaded.
However, I do want to help troubleshoot this behavior, so if it does occur again, please don't hesitate to nudge me and send me a screenshot (without any personal info) of the relevant icon and error message.
In the meantime, let me know if you have any other questions and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!
No, it was not Smart-synced. It was set to local. These are my desktop computers with lots of storage. I rarely use smart-sync, except on my smallest laptop; I use selective sync instead. But I know how to check for smart-sync and that wasn't the problem. It was a permission problem. That's what the message said when I held the mouse over the dropbox icon.
-- Jim
