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Forum Discussion
Why is the Dropbox desktop app running so slowly?
Why is Dropbox smart sync terribly slow? I have 1GB/sec up and down for speed, with a hard connection into an iMac Pro and it takes forever for large files to download when I switch them from online to local? I have a plane to get on tomorrow morning and was looking to take some videos with me to edit, now I can't because dropbox is painfully slow. I was told you do not throttle speed, but I find this "extremely" hard to believe. All of my files were "up to date" already sync'd and then I switched one 70GB file to local so I could transfer it to my portable SSD, its been 4 hours and its at like 2%. This is absurd for a paying customer. Between this and your infamous storage issues with Mac that you continue to blame on Apple, I keep asking myself why I continue to use you? You never work when I need you the most.
Hey there bmallon - sorry to hear about this.
First of all, note that the Dropbox servers do not set caps on the upload/download speeds from the Desktop client, but file sync is a complicated process that includes more than just the transfer of the data. Bear in mind that each file is divided and compressed into hashed components, transferred via secure data transfer, and then encrypted and stored on our servers.
Now, to have a better look into this, can you let me know your app's status at the moment? Also, can you change your bandwidth settings to boost the syncing process?
Another source that could be helpful is the following Help Center article (especially step 7 about symlinks): https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/high-cpu-usage
Let me know of any updates!
9 hours later my 2.7 MB PDF file is still "smart syncing" to Dropbox.
2 Days later and my 1.3 MB Excel file is still "smart syncing" to Dropbox.
All recommended checks done - no limits on bandwith, no competition for bandwith. I'm the only user currently running at 35.45 Mbps upload and 11.23 Mbps upload.
As a subscriber I'm both perplexed and disappointed with the service.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hi people brvoltz, vitalsine, barrygardiner54 & lynmac; thanks for your reports and I'm sorry for the late reply here.
Can you please let me know if you're still having issues with slow uploads/downloads when using our desktop app?
In case you do, I'd love to look further into this so please let me know if it would be OK if I used the email addresses that are associated with your Community's profiles to open up a support ticket on your behalf.
Thanks a bunch and apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused so far.
My issues regarding speed and some other discrepancies...
Using a custom-built PC designed for 3D Graphics and film editing workflow. My company is one of the largest commercial producers on the east coast. I doubt you can find a faster system owned by a medium-sized business. We have 1GBS up/down and Dropbox is currently uploading at 5MBS. We're going to upgrade to 2GBS to see this makes a difference. This information should let you all know your system and internet speed is not the issue.
Support has been interesting also. We either get someone bending over backward to help us or someone who could really care less and has no idea what they're doing. There's a problem when I, the customer, seem to know more about how the product works than the support rep.
24/7 phone support means you get someone who will answer the phone 24/7. However, in most cases where a serious issue is happening, you'll get transferred to advanced support who will not take calls. Frankly I think 24/7 support is misrepresentation is your just answering the phone and transferring the case to email only.
We inquired about enterprise, the rep ended the chat on us without even answering our question. When we opened a new chat, we got the same rep... She said we didn't qualify because we don't have a enough users and we didn't qualify. Again, completely disregarding the questions I was asking. They lost a 10K sale because of that. Really seemed like the rep didn't think we could afford it. (we can)
Were basically not happy, if enough service pops up with comparable features we're switching in a heartbeat. Cost for space is the only thing keeping us. We're mainly not happy with the vibes and the culture of the company. I know quite a few people who quit working here because of the culture.
Anyway, I'm with you my friend, fix it or I'm out.
- Walter
Hey there bmallon - sorry to hear about this.
First of all, note that the Dropbox servers do not set caps on the upload/download speeds from the Desktop client, but file sync is a complicated process that includes more than just the transfer of the data. Bear in mind that each file is divided and compressed into hashed components, transferred via secure data transfer, and then encrypted and stored on our servers.
Now, to have a better look into this, can you let me know your app's status at the moment? Also, can you change your bandwidth settings to boost the syncing process?
Another source that could be helpful is the following Help Center article (especially step 7 about symlinks): https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/high-cpu-usage
Let me know of any updates!
- I am to let the file sit overnight to finally download by morning. I am assuming it took just over 8 hours for 70GB file. You need to fix your complicated smart sync process. Apple iCloud Drive does it in less than 10 mins.
Something really bad has happened with Dropbox in the last few weeks. Now it can suddenly decide that it has to index mutliple files and it takes hours. What has changed? It is stopping my computer working and I am now thinking that I will have to unfortunately stop using Dropbox because this is now unacceptably slow.
