Syncing with Dropbox Sync is the process by which your content is synchronized (synced) between your cloud storage, computers and mobile devices. It means the latest versions of files are always at your fingertips. Let’s look at how this works. Folders having a check mark with them will be sync to your device. If you don’t need any of it to be synced, simply uncheck it. Dropbox Sync for Mac. Mac users follow the steps mentioned below. Step 1: From the System Tray click on the DropBox icon. Step 2: Click the Gear icon and from the menu select Preferences. Step 3: Click on the tab Account.

• Dropbox Sync Desktop Mac Download
• Download Dropbox Sync
• Dropbox Sync Windows

Summary :

Dropbox can help you to sync files & folders and you can access them on different devices such as a computer, Mac, Android phone or iPhone with the same Dropbox account. But you may be bothered by Dropbox not syncing in Windows 10. So, MiniTool offers this post to show some solutions and also introduces professional Windows file sync software.

Dropbox Not Syncing Windows 10

Dropbox, one of the most used cloud storage services (Google Drive, OneDrive), allows you to upload files to the cloud and then you are able to access them anywhere on any of your devices including Mac, PC, iPhone or Android devices.

In Windows operating system, you use Dropbox to back up files so you can recover your data when the hard drive crashes or other computer accidents happen.

However, many Windows 10 users have reported that they encountered some problems, including Dropbox not updating shared folder, Dropbox stuck syncing, Dropbox not connecting, etc. The serious issue is Dropbox not syncing files or folders.

Actually, the Dropbox sync issue is very common, just like Google Drive not syncing Windows 10. Why isn’t Dropbox syncing? The main causes are misconfigurations and bugs in settings, file in use, identical names, firewall issues, Proxy settings, etc.

If your Dropbox won’t sync files or folders, you come to the right place since we will show you some useful methods to fix the issue of Dropbox files not syncing in Windows 10.

Fixes for Windows 10 Dropbox Not Syncing

As with all troubleshooting, we will start with some basic checks and then work towards some complex methods. Try them one by one if Dropbox stopped syncing.

Solution 1: Restart the Dropbox Process

The first thing you should do is to check whether the Dropbox process is running on your computer. Sometimes, the Dropbox process isn’t running or responding or has frozen up, which causes the sync issue. In most cases, you can simply start or restart the Dropbox process, which is sufficient to solve Dropbox folder not syncing.

Step 1: In Windows 10, go to Task Manager.

Is Task Manager not responding in Windows 10/8/7? Now get the full solutions to fix Task Manager if you can’t open it.

Step 2: Look for the Dropbox process.

• If you find it in the list of Processes, choose it and click End task.
• If you cannot see it or have ended the task, click the desktop icon to restart it.

If the restart couldn’t help, try other ways.

Solution 2: Check the File

If the file is open in an application, it cannot be copied from the Dropbox folder on your PC to the cloud server. Dropbox will not sync the file and you may receive the error message - file is in use.

To fix the sync problem of Dropbox, follow these tips to make a check:

1. Make sure the file you need to upload or sync is not open on your computer.
2. Check the file name and ensure it doesn’t contain any characters, for example, %, ?, #, &, etc.
3. Delete the file from the Dropbox folder and copy a new version.

Solution 3: Clear Dropbox Cache

Full Dropbox caches might also cause the client to be not syncing files or folders. To fix the issue, you should empty the cache.

1. Open Windows 10 File Explorer and go to the Dropbox folder.
2. Locate to the .dropbox.cache folder.
3. Choose all the files in that folder to delete.

Solution 4: Use Selective Sync

In Dropbox, there is a feature called Selective Sync that enables you to choose files or folders you want to back up. If you enable this feature, it will only sync the selective files. If you don’t add certain files or folders, you may find Dropbox is not syncing your files.

Try these steps to fix your issue:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in the taskbar.
2. Click the Settings button, go to Preferences > Sync.
3. Click Selective Sync to put the files you want to sync into the selective sync folder. Also, you can unselect files that you don’t need.

Solution 5: Make Sure the Internet Connection

Internet connection is the basic to ensure the normal work of Dropbox. If the PC isn’t connected to the Internet, obviously, Dropbox stopped syncing. So, you should ensure the Internet is connected. In addition, you should keep enough network speed and do not limit Dropbox download and upload rate.

Learn how to troubleshoot Internet connection problems with these 11 tips incl. WiFi connected but no Internet Windows 10, router not connecting to Internet.

Solution 6: Disable Your Antivirus Software

Your antivirus program like Windows Defender, Norton, AVG, etc. may regard the Dropbox application as a dangerous software; as a result, it stops Dropbox from syncing.

If you are bothered by Dropbox files not syncing, you should remove it from the antivirus program’s blacklist or disable the antivirus software temporarily. Then, you can sync your files with Dropbox again.

Solution 7: Grant Access in Firewall

In Windows 10, Windows Firewall may block Dropbox and then the sync problem happens. In this case, you don’t need to turn off the Firewall but you can add this application to the exception list to allow access.

The Windows Firewall may prevent your program from access the Internet. This post shows you how to allow a program through Firewall Windows 10.

Step 1: Go to the Allow apps window.

1. Input firewall in the search box and then click Windows Defender Firewall. Then, click the Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall
2. Alternatively, you can go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender > Open Windows Defender Security Center > Firewall & network protection > Allow an app through firewall.

Step 2: In the pop-up dialog, click Change settings, scroll down the list of apps, find Dropbox and check the boxes of Private and Public.

Step 3: Click OK to save the change.

Solution 8: Adjust Dropbox Settings (for Advanced Users)

If you have tried the above methods but they don’t work to fix the issue of Dropbox not syncing files/folders, perhaps the problem is caused by incorrect configurations or modified settings. So, you should adjust Dropbox settings by following the steps below.

Here is what you should do:

Step 1: Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray, go to Settings (gear icon in the notifications panel) and choose Exit Dropbox.

Step 2: Input cmd in the Windows 10’s search bar, right-click Command Prompt and click Run as administrator.

Step 3: Copy and paste the following commands to the pop-up window in order and press Enter after each command:

icacls “%HOMEPATH%Dropbox” /grant “%USERNAME%”:(F) /T

icacls '%APPDATA%Dropbox' /grant '%USERNAME%':(F) /T

icacls '%LOCALAPPDATA%Dropbox' /grant '%USERNAME%':F /T

icacls '%PROGRAMFILES%Dropbox' /grant '%USERNAME%':F /T

Step 4: Restart Dropbox and check if the sync problem is solved.

Other Possible Solutions

In addition to the above eight methods, you can try many other possible solutions to fix the issue of Dropbox not syncing Windows 10. You can try these methods but here we won’t show you the detailed steps on them.

And they are:

1. Unlink Dropbox
2. Try installing Dropbox from Windows Store
3. Run the App Troubleshooter
4. Exit other applications
5. Rename the files
6. Update the Dropbox application to the latest version
7. More…

Other Cases of Dropbox Files Not Syncing

As you know, Dropbox can be used on your iPhone, Android phone or Mac besides PC. If Dropbox won’t sync on your iOS or Android devices or Macs, take it easy! Just search for the solutions based on different cases and some methods are the same as the troubleshooting on a Windows PC.

Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Sync Files in Windows 10 PC

To sync files or folders on your Windows 10 computer, you can use the professional sync software – MiniTool ShadowMaker.

At first glance, you will find this program is a piece of professional PC backup software. After launching it, you see it can back up Windows operating system, files & folders, disks, and partitions. Also, you know it supports automatic backup, incremental and differential backup.

Actually, it can be as a file sync software since its Sync feature can easily help you to sync files to other locations, such as a USB flash drive, external hard drive, network (in the same LAN), NAS, etc. If you are using Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7, you can easily finish file sync. Similarly, you can use the Schedule feature to automatically synchronize files or folders.

Now, get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition (only used within 30 days for free) by clicking the following button for file sync in your PC. Of course, you can upgrade to a full edition to use it forever.

Here is how to sync files in Windows 10.

Step 1: Open MiniTool ShadowMaker

1. Double-click the program that you have installed.
2. Click Keep Trial to use this edition.
3. Choose a sync mode: local or remote by pressing the Connect button.

Step 2: Choose Files to Sync

1. Under the Sync tab, click the Source section.
2. Check all the files or folders that you need to sync.
3. Click OK.

Step 3: Choose a Destination

1. Go back to the Sync window, click Destination.
2. Choose a target for the file sync.

Step 3: Perform File Sync

1. Click Sync Now to start file synchronization.
2. In the Manage window, you can see your sync task.

With MiniTool ShadowMaker, you can easily sync files to a hard drive, network or NAS. Unfortunately, it currently doesn’t support cloud storage. If you have a need, now get it to have a try.

Final Words

Have you encountered the issue of Dropbox not syncing in Windows 10? Relax! This post gives you multiple solutions. Just try them to get rid of the trouble. Also, you can use MiniTool ShadowMaker to sync your files easily to other locations.

On the other hand, leave your idea in the comment part if you have any suggestions or other solutions. Alternatively, writing an email and send it to [email protected] is also available. Thanks for your share.

Dropbox Not Syncing Windows 10 FAQ

1. Go to Dropbox’s website to download this app and install it on your PC.
2. Click the Dropbox icon from the taskbar, go to Settings > Preferences.
3. Choose which folders to sync by going to Sync > Selective Sync.
4. Click OK.

In this article…

• How Smart Sync works: Supporting technologies
• How to Disable Smart Sync

What is Dropbox Smart Sync?

The team at Dropbox says it best:

And this short video discusses the considerable benefits of Smart Sync:

Indeed, Smart Sync has been a very popular feature since its debut in 2017.

How Smart Sync works: Supporting technologies

Smart Sync leverages a trio of Windows capabilities:

1. NTFS Sparse Files technology

NTFS Sparse File functionality allows Dropbox to create an “empty shell” for any file — with all the usual information (name, size, etc.) but with none of the actual content.

So when you create a file on Dropbox.com, the file’s information (its “metadata”) is immediately downloaded to your computer but none of the file’s contents are transferred in that operation. As a result, you can see the file on your system but it consumes almost no space on your hard drive. Very efficient!

But what happens when you try to access the zero-content file? That’s where the next technology comes in…

Dropbox Sync Desktop Mac Download

2. Windows file system Minifilter driver technology

When you access a file in your Dropbox folder, demanding to see its content, a Windows Minifilter driver ensures that the file’s contents are quickly fetched from Dropbox.com. The arrangement is fairly technical, but the following example illustrates the basic concept.

Suppose you have an online-only file called “notes.txt” in your Dropbox folder. Its contents have not yet been downloaded to your computer. When you double-click on the file:

1. Windows starts Notepad (the program associated with .TXT files), passing it the full path to notes.txt.
2. Notepad calls the Windows API ReadFile function to grab the contents of notes.txt
3. But before invoking ReadFile, Windows intercepts the operation and notifies the Dropbox Minifilter that a program would like to read the contents of notes.txt.
4. The Minifilter, seeing that the file’s contents have not yet been downloaded, arranges for the file’s contents to be retrieved from Dropbox.com and saved on the local PC.
5. Windows next calls ReadFile, which returns the contents of the file.
6. Notepad displays the contents of the file.

Most of the magic happens in step 4. The next section examines how that works.

3. Windows Interprocess Communication (IPC)

At first, we thought that the Minifilter component did all the heavy lifting, downloading content as necessary. However Dropbox says otherwise (the Minifilter is a “system extension”):

Clearly the Minifilter isn’t downloading the files from Dropbox.com. So what’s doing it?

The answer: Dropbox.exe — the process run when you launch Dropbox on your desktop.

So when you request an “online-only” file not yet on your hard drive:

1. The Minifilter receives the request.
2. The Minifilter contacts the Dropbox.exe process and asks it to get the file.
3. Dropbox.exe goes out to the Internet and downloads the file from Dropbox.com.
4. Windows makes the file available to the user.

The Minifilter and Dropbox.exe interact using Windows Interprocess Communication — a collection of technologies supporting communication between different programs.

Now that we understand how Smart Sync works, let’s highlight three implications of the technical architecture.

Implication #1: Files cannot be downloaded without an Internet connection

This shouldn’t be a surprise.

Since files are fetched from the cloud as needed, you must be connected to the Internet to download files from Dropbox.com.

Dropbox confirms this limitation in their FAQ as well:

Implication #2: Files cannot be downloaded if Dropbox isn’t running

As mentioned before, the Dropbox process (Dropbox.exe) plays a key role in downloading “incomplete” Smart Sync files. No file can be downloaded if Dropbox is not running.

To be clear, the Minifilter is always notified when you try to access an “online-only” file in the Dropbox folder. But if Dropbox isn’t running, there is no way for the Minifilter to download the file. The operation fails and you get a wonderful “Unspecified error” message (pictured here from the Dropbox forums):

Note that this behavior only occurs when Smart Sync is on. Without Smart Sync — where Dropbox synchronizes all files to your hard drive — each document you see on your computer is readily available whether Dropbox is running or not.

Implication #3: Files cannot be downloaded if Dropbox is running as a Windows Service

Perhaps the most subtle consequence of the Smart Sync architecture has to do with background operation. Specifically, the Minifilter and Dropbox must operate in the same Windows Session for the two to communicate.

This is not a problem when you use Dropbox interactively on the desktop. All components run in the single logon session and Dropbox downloads files on demand, as expected.

However, customers running Dropbox as a background Windows Service face a problem. Dropbox will be running in Session 0 (the home for all Windows Services), while the Minifilter will be operating in the user’s interactive session (for example Session 1). The components will not be able to communicate and the files cannot be downloaded or opened. The “Unspecified Error” will abound.

So if you’re running Dropbox as a Windows Service (perhaps with our AlwaysUp utility), you should definitely turn Smart Sync off. Read on to find out how to do that.

How to Disable Smart Sync

You have a couple of options. You can either disable Smart Sync for specific folders, or turn off the feature entirely.

Disable Smart Sync for a single folder

This video illustrates how to adjust your Smart Sync folder settings:

And here are the step-by-step instructions to disable Smart Sync for a specific folder only:

1. Click the Dropbox tray icon () to open the Dropbox menu
2. Click the folder icon in the upper right:
3. Find the folder that you would like to change. Right-click that folder and select Smart Sync > Local from the menu:

That’s it. In a minute or two, the Dropbox process will notice the change and will download the entire folder to your hard drive.

Turn off Smart Sync for your Dropbox Plus, Professional, or Business account

To turn off the Smart Sync feature entirely, please follow these instructions to opt out of the system extension on Dropbox.com.

Dropbox Business team administrators can deactivate Smart Sync by opting out here (sign in required).

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Questions about Smart Sync? Need Help?

Please get in touch and we’ll be happy to help — with this or any Dropbox feature.

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