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WilliamLow's avatar
WilliamLow
Helpful | Level 5
7 years ago
Solved

Selective Sync Conflict mess!

Hello,  I just did a fresh OS install on my Mac, with my Dropbox folder on an external drive (my startup disk is too small to hold this data). I thought that I setup my Dropbox correctly, pointing t...
desktop
sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    Hi William, unfortunately there’s no way of merging the folders into one using Dropbox, since there isn’t a way of knowing which folder/file has the most up-to-date information in it, or instead older files that do have important data.
     
    This can only be checked manually by yourself since only you know which files need to be kept or discarded.
     
    The reason for these extra folders is that previous you had folders which were selectively ‘unsynced’ already according to the desktop app. This should delete the local copy of the folders on that drive.
     
    However, it seems that the folders were either recreated by some app, or the folders weren’t deleted in the first place. They would’ve had a gray minus symbol showing that they weren’t syncing to the site.
     
    When connecting the Dropbox account to the external drive after the reinstall, either these folders were then allowed to sync to the drive (i.e. all folders had a check next to them), and then this would create the selective sync conflicts. 
     
    This is done avoid data loss, since as I mentioned, only you know which files should remain or not.
     
     
    Hope this helps to clarify matters!
     
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Hi William, unfortunately there’s no way of merging the folders into one using Dropbox, since there isn’t a way of knowing which folder/file has the most up-to-date information in it, or instead older files that do have important data.
 
This can only be checked manually by yourself since only you know which files need to be kept or discarded.
 
The reason for these extra folders is that previous you had folders which were selectively ‘unsynced’ already according to the desktop app. This should delete the local copy of the folders on that drive.
 
However, it seems that the folders were either recreated by some app, or the folders weren’t deleted in the first place. They would’ve had a gray minus symbol showing that they weren’t syncing to the site.
 
When connecting the Dropbox account to the external drive after the reinstall, either these folders were then allowed to sync to the drive (i.e. all folders had a check next to them), and then this would create the selective sync conflicts. 
 
This is done avoid data loss, since as I mentioned, only you know which files should remain or not.
 
 
Hope this helps to clarify matters!
 
  • johnchubb's avatar
    johnchubb
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    I think this answer is a total fail to understand the impact to the customer.  If you don't want to use diff tools to verify all the files are the same, at least prompt the user to select which files to keep and stop cloning directories.  It's gotten so bad, I have conflict folders of conflict folders.  My use case is 2 computers with dropbox folders causing nightmares.  Why would we know that selective sync actually meant DropBox was deleting the folders locally?  I will be looking for an alternative provider if this continues to be unresolved.

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      7 years ago
      Hi John, the selective sync article mentions that when a folder is deselected, it will no longer appear on the machine.
       
      I’ll forward your feedback to our dev team for their consideration to improve the message prompts when using selective sync.
    • aaaaaaabbbb's avatar
      aaaaaaabbbb
      Explorer | Level 4
      6 years ago

      Thank you! this answer basically just says "we are going to [profanity removed by moderation according to the Community Guidelines]  up ALL of your files and you are stuck manually checking potentially THOUSANDS of files"

      I will also be switching to an alternate provider. I am paying way too much money for features that are BEYOND buggy. You might consider getting some better coders, there are plenty out there. 

      • Michael L.96's avatar
        Michael L.96
        Helpful | Level 7
        6 years ago

        Dear Dropbox, just fix all the many bugs in your software and these types of threads will disappear. It still appears that no one is doing anything about it and all the nice emails in the world aren't going to change people's mind. Stop adding new features that people don't want and fix your longstanding bugs. Smart sync is totally useless and unneeded in my opinion. I'd rather have selective sync working the way I should. Isn't that one of your basic features? It still doesn't work! Now I have to deal with this online and local [profanity removed by moderation according to the Community Guidelines] that doesn't work either. Even though I have local set in my preferences, everything sinks online only and I have to go back and switch it to local, a second step.

    • exDBuser's avatar
      exDBuser
      New member | Level 2
      6 years ago

      DropBox is an outdates service. they have not only failed to understand their clients, but also technology.

      Google File Drive is much more functioning and advanced alternative for the same price.

      For synching folders, I have found"Beyond Sync" to be very good! Without it I would have pulled all my hair out due to the DropBox mess I always seem to get in the two computers I use (Imagine the mess if I was using 3... LOL)

  • andrewjacoby's avatar
    andrewjacoby
    Helpful | Level 6
    6 years ago

    I have a ton of "selective sync conflict" duplicate folders that appeared out of nowhere. It seems that the duplicate folders have some files and subfolders within them, so it is not a matter of just deleting them. It seems from your post (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that it is impossible for Dropbox to simply merge all the files and subfolders into the correct folder. And instead I have to spend the next day cutting and pasting all the files and subfolders back into the original folders that they were moved from for some unknown reason. And the Dropbox page that addresses this error message insists that I "created" a new duplicate folder with the same name (which I did not do). So there is apparently no way to stop this from happening again after I fix the Dropbox problem.

    • SxFtSxInch's avatar
      SxFtSxInch
      New member | Level 2
      6 years ago

      After upgrading to latest version of Dropbox and enabling Smart-Sync I found that 5,334 Folders with 43,980 Files in them had been "designated" as conflicted. Then Dropbox started to "UPLOAD". I have no idea what it was uploading - I didn't ask for it to do anything different at this point, I just simply installed the new app. But the process took overnight on my laptop using an ethernet connection (it could not be done in less than a week using WiFi). Without a shadow of a doubt I know that your explanation of "Accidentally naming a folder/file with the same name" is inadequate and is missing another major systematic cause. I could NOT have "accidentally" named 5,334 folders with the same name. Nobody, with the possible exception of my wife, thinks I'm that stupid. After using and praising DropBox since its inception, I'm now afraid to touch it. Almost anything I do now (e.g. checking or unchecking Online Only) starts an interminable upload process. I have no less than 7 PC computers and 5 mobile devices that are all linked to the same Dropbox account. It worked beautifully (i.e. as I expected) prior to the "upgrade." I wish I had checked with the community before enabling Smart-Sync. By the way, since the late 90's I been using a wonderful backup program called "SmartSync Pro" from www.smartsync.com. How did DropBox avoid a lawsuit over the use of the name SmartSync?

      • Jane's avatar
        Jane
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        6 years ago
        Hey SxFtSxInch, sorry to hear you’re feeling this way; I ran a search on our system & I could see that you’ve chatted in to my colleague, where you’ve made some progress together, so it would be best to gather all relevant details under the same email chain for convenience’ sake. 
         
        While I’ve now made sure to include a copy of your comments & I’ve increased your support priority internally, I remain at your entire disposal should you need more help in any way. Thanks! 
    • pm3415's avatar
      pm3415
      New member | Level 2
      6 years ago

      i'm having similar problems.  I run dropbox on three different computers, and my files/folders are now *bleeped*.

      For comparing file versions, I have used Scooter Software's "Beyond Compare"  for a long time, to great success.  Even so, this is going to take a great deal of time to get sorted out!

      Don't even want to think what is may have done to shared folders.

      Oh which I'd just stuck with selective synch options!!

      • Jane's avatar
        Jane
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        6 years ago

        Hey kjconnors & pm3415, while I have some tips that could be helpful, please let me know if you’d need further assistance from me in any way & I’ll try to touch-base with you asap. Thanks! 

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