\ / : * ? " < > | or file paths exceeding 260 characters on WindowsClick the Dropbox icon in the system tray (Windows, bottom-right) or menu bar (Mac, top-right). If you see "Syncing is paused", click Resume syncing. Dropbox pauses automatically on low battery or when you manually pause it. Also check if your computer is on a metered Wi-Fi connection — Dropbox pauses on these networks by default. On Windows: Settings → Network → your Wi-Fi → set to "Non-metered".
Click the Dropbox icon → click your profile photo or initials → Quit Dropbox. Then relaunch Dropbox from the Start menu (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac). This clears most temporary sync glitches and re-establishes the connection to Dropbox servers.
A restart clears cached states, refreshes network connections, and resolves file locking issues — all common sync blockers. This is especially helpful after a Dropbox app crash or after waking from sleep mode.
Visit dropbox.com/account/plan while signed in. If your storage is full (100%), Dropbox cannot upload new files. You'll see a banner in the Dropbox desktop app warning you. Delete unnecessary files, empty the Dropbox trash (files stay in trash for 30 days on free plans, indefinitely on paid plans), or upgrade your plan.
Click the Dropbox icon → look for a red X or warning. Hover over it for details. Problematic files often have: names with special characters like \ / : * ? " < > |, paths longer than 260 characters (Windows), file names ending with a space or period, or the file is open and locked by another application (like Microsoft Word or Excel).
Temporarily disable your antivirus or firewall and check if Dropbox resumes. If it does, add Dropbox to the allowed applications list. Dropbox uses port 443 (HTTPS) and port 17500 for LAN sync discovery. On Windows Defender: Settings → Firewall → Allow an app → find Dropbox and check both Private and Public boxes. On corporate networks, you may need to ask your IT department to whitelist Dropbox.
Click Dropbox icon → click your profile → Preferences (Windows) or Settings (Mac) → General tab → check for "Check for updates" or click the dropdown menu → Help → Check for Updates. Running an outdated version can cause sync errors that are fixed in newer releases.
Click Dropbox icon → your name/icon → Preferences/Settings → Account tab → Unlink this Dropbox. Sign back in with your email and password to re-establish authentication. This resets credentials and sync tokens without deleting your local files. Your Dropbox folder and all its contents remain untouched on your computer.
Uninstall Dropbox completely: on Windows, Settings → Apps → Dropbox → Uninstall. On Mac, drag Dropbox from Applications to Trash. Do not delete the Dropbox folder — just the app. Reinstall from dropbox.com/install. Your files remain on disk and will re-sync to the existing folder after login. During installation, choose "Advanced Setup" if you want to select a specific Dropbox folder location.
Dropbox icon → Preferences/Settings → Sync tab → Selective Sync → Click "Change Settings" or "Choose folders". Ensure the folder you need is checked. Unchecked folders are removed from local storage but remain in the cloud. After changing selections, Dropbox needs time to download or remove files — check the sync status for progress.
Open Settings → Dropbox → enable Background App Refresh. Also go to Settings → Dropbox → ensure Cellular Data is enabled if you need to sync on mobile data. To manually sync: open the Dropbox app, pull down on the file list to refresh. If camera uploads aren't working: Dropbox app → Account icon (top-left) → Camera Uploads toggle → ensure it's on.
Open Settings → Apps → Dropbox → Battery → select Unrestricted. Many Android phones (Samsung, Xiaomi) aggressively kill background apps to save battery. Also ensure Dropbox has storage permission: Settings → Apps → Dropbox → Permissions → Files and Media → Allow. For camera uploads: Dropbox app → menu → Camera Uploads → toggle on.
This means Dropbox is paused either manually or because of system conditions. Click the Dropbox icon → Resume. If it re-pauses, check your battery settings (Windows: Settings → Battery → Battery saver — exclude Dropbox from battery saver).
Another application has the file open. Close the file in the other app (Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc.) and Dropbox will resume syncing it. If you can't find which app has it open, restart your computer.
This is a network or firewall issue. Check if your system clock is correct (wrong time can break SSL certificates). Try disabling any VPN. If you're on a corporate network, contact IT to ensure proxy settings allow Dropbox traffic.
Your hard drive is full. Free up space on the drive where your Dropbox folder is located. Use Selective Sync to uncheck large folders you don't need locally. On macOS, go to Apple Menu → About This Mac → Storage to check available space.
This usually means the files are excluded by Selective Sync. Open Preferences → Sync → Selective Sync and enable the missing folders. Also check if you're looking in the right Dropbox folder location — you may have multiple Dropbox folders if you use both a personal and a work account.
Dropbox indexing a large number of new files can spike CPU usage. This is temporary and usually resolves within a few hours. If it persists, check for file sync conflicts, clear the Dropbox cache (see above), or reduce the number of files in your Dropbox folder by moving rarely-used files to Dropbox online-only mode.
Yes. Click the Dropbox icon in the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac) → click the pause icon (two vertical bars). Sync will resume automatically after 30 minutes, or you can click Resume manually. This is useful when you need to conserve bandwidth or battery.
Conflicted copies appear when the same file was edited on two devices before either could sync. Dropbox saves both versions with "(conflicted copy)" in the filename. You need to manually compare and merge the versions, then delete the conflicted copy you don't need.
On iPhone: Settings → Dropbox → enable Background App Refresh and ensure Cellular Data is on. On Android: Settings → Apps → Dropbox → Battery → select "Unrestricted" and grant Files/Media permission. Also make sure you're using the latest version of the Dropbox app from the App Store or Google Play.
If you've tried all the steps above and Dropbox still isn't syncing, contact Dropbox support at dropbox.com/support. Before reaching out, prepare your Dropbox desktop app build number (click the Dropbox icon → your avatar → Preferences → General), your operating system version, and a description of the exact error message or behavior you're seeing. Dropbox support can check server-side sync logs and identify issues that aren't visible from your end.