Note: If your device has an unreliable internet connection or a file is very large, it may take longer for Dropbox to sync. You can wait a few minutes for Dropbox to catch up. If that doesn’t work, try the steps below.
Sections in this article:
Locate Dropbox
On the web:
On your phone or computer, visit www.dropbox.com.
On your computer:
You can find Dropbox in the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).
Check our system requirements article to make sure your device and operating system are supported by Dropbox. If it’s not, you can update your device or use a different one.
On Mac: give Dropbox full disk access
If you’re on MacOS 12 or earlier, follow these steps to set your permissions to allow Dropbox.
If you added a file to the Dropbox folder on your computer, you must keep the Dropbox app running to sync it on dropbox.com or the mobile app.
Once your files are synced across your devices, you can close the Dropbox desktop app on your computer.
Close your other applications
If you have one of your Dropbox files open in another application, like Microsoft Word, your file might not sync properly. Close all non-Dropbox applications, then close and re-open the file on Dropbox.
Check your file names
Certain special characters, like “*” (asterisk) or “/” (forward slash), aren’t compatible with all devices. Remove any special characters in your filenames.
Files uploaded through the desktop app or mobile apps must be 2 TB or smaller and files uploaded to dropbox.com must be 50 GB or smaller.
All files uploaded to your Dropbox account must be smaller than the amount of storage space you have. For example, if your account has a storage quota of 2 GB, you can upload one 2 GB file or many files that add up to 2 GB. If you’re over your storage quota, Dropbox will stop syncing.
Note: Files uploaded through the API must be 350 GB or smaller.
