It is a file hosting service operated from America. It offers cloud storage, personal cloud, file synchronization and client software which helps the people to be organized, stay focused and get in sync with their teams. It makes it easy to get your files through multiple devices such as computers, phones, and tablets, etc in free.
Fix Dropbox Errors
This dropbox syncs the data from your device and stores it on the cloud for whenever you want to reuse it or keep it permanently saved on the web. Sometimes Dropbox doesn’t sync your files and you don’t know why is that, it will annoy and frustrate you. It is a very easy problem to troubleshoot you don’t have to worry at all. We are going to tell you how to check why is this error taking place and remove it, follow the instructions
Is Your Dropbox Running On Your Current Device?
First of all, make sure Dropbox is running correctly on your computer. You can check the status of Dropbox from the menu bar of your device. if you’re using a Windows computer, you can check the status of Dropbox through the following steps:
The Dropbox system tray appears at the taskbar. If you don’t see it, check it in the hidden menu through the small white arrow in the right corner after you press the arrow icon. If in any case you don’t see the Dropbox icon or it is grayed out, restart the Dropbox and then check if your files could be synced successfully. If not, then move to the next step
Does Your Device Connect To Internet?
Dropbox syncing works through the Internet connection. If you are having a strong internet connection, it keeps syncing your data. So remember to check if your device connects to the Internet. Or if it is not connected then you can simply reconnect your device to an Internet connection and then check if Dropbox could sync your files or not. If it still doesn’t sync your data, no worries, move on to the next step.
Do You Try To Restart Your Device?
Sometimes you need a simple restart of your device which may fix a lot of problems. If dropbox is not working you can give it a try by restarting the device. If your device reboots and dropbox still doesn’t work, then move on to the next step.
Is There Any Other Program Which Is Editing The Files You Want To Sync In Dropbox?
If the file you want to sync in Dropbox is running at the same time in another application, then Dropbox would be unable to sync the file. When your files are open in some editing applications, like Microsoft Office, they would be locked. This lock prevents the Dropbox from accessing and syncing your files. In this case, save your files and exit the application from where your file is open. And then Dropbox will start to sync your files. If Dropbox still doesn’t sync, move on to the next step.
Does your file name have any incompatible character?
Check If there is any incompatible character in your file name, Dropbox won’t be able to sync your file then. Here are some common character issues for the file name you may probably encounter in such situations
- Files are incompatible with all operating systems with these two characters
forward slash
\ backslash
- Files are incompatible with Windows system with these characters:
< less than
> greater than
: colon
“ double quote
| vertical bar
? question mark
* asterisk
Period or a space at the end of the file name
If there is any incompatible character appearing in your file name, delete that specific character to rename your file. Once done, check to see if your Dropbox could sync your file. If it still does not work, move on to the next step.
Are You Using The Selective Sync Feature?
The Selective Sync feature on Dropbox is a feature that enables you to select those folders you want to see on your device. Which means that you can’t see those folders that you un-select. Follow the instructions to check if you’re using this feature. Note that this solution is for Windows users.
- Click the Dropbox icon from the menu bar on your device. Then click the Settings icon and then select Preferences.
- Go to the sync pane and click selective sync
- Wait for dropbox to load your folders, check if any folder has been unchecked.
- If it is unchecked then that’s where the files which dropbox doesn’t sync are located.
- Check the folder and click on update button then press ok
- Go back to dropbox window and see if it does the sync now or not
If it still doesn’t work, move on to the next step
Is Dropbox Whitelisted On Your Device?
If you have installed a firewall, or any security or antivirus software, it may probably prevent Dropbox from accessing the Internet. As a result, your Dropbox cannot sync your files. To cover this issue, Open the firewall settings and check if Dropbox is whitelisted in there. And if you have Dropbox on different devices, then do remember to make sure Dropbox is whitelisted on all of your devices. If it is still not working, we have one last method for you.
Is Dropbox On Your Device Up To Date?
If you don’t have the latest version of the Dropbox, you might encounter some problems, including this syncing problem. So please make sure you’re running the dropbox with its latest version. To get the latest version of Dropbox, follow the following steps:
- Click the Dropbox icon from the menu bar and press the upgrade button under the bottom right of the screen
- Click on upgrade your dropbox and continue with on-screen instructions to finish the procedure
- After it has been upgraded, hopefully, it will start to work back again.
If it still doesn’t work then look for more solutions and simply use help from the web.
Conclusion
Dropbox may have syncing issues sometimes but its not as difficult to fix it as it seems to be, but we guided you through series of steps which might be the possible solution to your problem. If you succeed to fix it through any other alternatives, feel free to contact us and add that method too. You can ask for more questions from us, our online support will be there to contact and reach you as soon as we get online.
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FAQ’s
Can I backup my data on dropbox without the internet?
No, it is not possible to back up your data on dropbox without the internet because it is cloud storage that needs internet access to sync the data on the cloud. If you don’t have an internet connection then, unfortunately, you cant back up your data on dropbox
How do you sync dropbox easily?
To sync the dropbox, you have to open the dropbox folder from your computer and click on dropbox icon from the menu bar. Choose to open the folder and locate the content that you actually want to sync to your computer. Right-click on the file or folder that you want to sync and choose a smart sync option. Choose the local option and then press sync automatically.
Does changing a file to the online-only, deletes the file from my Dropbox?
No, making a file to an online-only option doesn’t delete it from your Dropbox. When you make a file online-only, the file content will be deleted from the computer only, but the complete file will still be available in your account online and also on your device
Can I move online-only files within my Dropbox folder?
Yes, you can move the online-only content inside your Dropbox folder on the device, and change sync to your other devices. If you move the online-only content outside of the local Dropbox folder, then the content downloads to that location.