Sync icons in the desktop app for Windows and Linux

This article is for Dropbox users on Windows or Linux. Learn more about sync icons on Dropbox for macOS.

Note: Linux users won’t see some icons as online-only functionality isn’t available on Linux.

There are two locations where sync icons appear:

In the Dropbox folder on your computer
In the notification center at the bottom right of your screen

The sync icons in the Dropbox folder

To see the sync status of a specific file or folder:

Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer.
Locate the file or folder you'd like to check.
- Note: You can use the search bar in the top right to find the file or folder.
Look at the sync icon next to the file or folder.

Available offline

A solid green circle with a white checkmark means your file or folder is synced and available offline. You will see this icon after right-clicking a file or folder and selecting Make available offline.

“Synced” means that any changes you made to this file or folder are reflected everywhere you access your files in Dropbox. “Available offline” means that your file or folder is available when you’re not connected to the internet.

For folders, this icon means all files in the folder are available offline.

While this file or folder is stored on your device, it can be made online-only by right-clicking and selecting Make online-only.

Note: Files and folders that are available offline won’t automatically change to online-only regardless of available hard drive space.

Online-only

A solid grey circle with a white cloud icon means your file or folder is fully synced and online-only. “Synced” means that any changes you made to this file or folder are reflected everywhere you access your files in Dropbox. “Online-only” means that your files can only be opened when your computer is connected to the internet. This saves hard drive space on your computer.

For folders, this icon means there is at least one online-only file in the folder. There can also be files that are “available” and/or “available offline” in the folder.

Learn how to make Dropbox files online-only.

Sync in progress

A solid blue circle with two white arrows going in a circle means that your file or folder is in the process of updating. If you chose to add it to your hard drive with the selective sync feature, this icon could mean that it’s still in the process of syncing to your hard drive. If you have set it to online-only, this icon could mean that your file is in the process of changing its sync status between online-only and available offline.

Available

A white circle with a green border and a green checkmark means that a file or folder was opened (directly or with a third-party application) and synced. It also represents files uploaded from the computer you are using.

“Synced” means that any changes you made to this file or folder are reflected everywhere you access your files in Dropbox. While this file or folder is stored on your device, it can be made online-only by right-clicking and selecting Make online-only.

For folders, this icon means there is at least one available file in the folder, but no online-only files. There can also be files that are available offline in the folder.

Note: If your computer is low on hard drive space, these files can automatically change to online-only to free up space.

Sync error

A red circle with a white “X” means that your file or folder can’t update or sync. If you just attempted to add this file or folder to your Dropbox account, it may mean that it can’t be added.

Learn about the different types of sync errors and how to solve them.

Ignored file

A gray circle with a white minus sign means that your file is ignored. That means it’s stored in the Dropbox folder on your computer, but not on dropbox.com or on the Dropbox server.

Learn more about ignored files.

The sync icons in the notification center

Below are the different Dropbox icons in your notification center (Windows). This is visible when the Dropbox desktop app is running on your computer. These icons show you the sync status of your entire Dropbox account, not just the status of one file or folder.

The icon color may vary.

Fully synced

A solid black Dropbox icon with no other icon means the Dropbox files and folders on your computer are fully up to date. Any changes you made are reflected everywhere you use Dropbox.

Sync in progress

A solid black circle with two white arrows going in a circle means that the Dropbox files and folders on your computer are in the process of updating. Any changes you made are updating everywhere you access your files in Dropbox.

Syncing paused

A solid black circle with a white pause icon means that you paused syncing. Learn how to pause and resume file syncing in the Dropbox desktop app. Any changes you make to your Dropbox files and folders won’t update everywhere you access your files in Dropbox until you resume syncing.

Not connected to internet

A gray Dropbox icon means that the Dropbox desktop app isn’t connected to the internet. This means that changes you make to the Dropbox files and folders on your computer won’t update everywhere you access your files in Dropbox until you’re connected to internet again. Learn why Dropbox might not be connecting and how to solve it.

Unread notifications

A red circle with a white number on it has nothing to do with syncing. It means that you have unread Dropbox notifications. Learn about how to manage Dropbox notifications.

Camera uploads in progress

A camera icon means that you have connected a camera or mobile device with a camera to your computer and your camera roll is being uploaded to Dropbox. Learn more about the camera uploads feature.

You can also see the sync status of your entire Dropbox account in the bottom left of the Dropbox app window. To open the Dropbox app window, click the sync icon you see from the table above. If your files are fully synced, the text in the bottom left corner will say Your files are up to date. Find out what other sync statuses mean.

Note: Dropbox Backup users will see slightly different wording on some sync statuses.

If you’re looking for an icon that isn’t listed here, check this article on file and folder icons, symbols, and colors.

What does the gray “X” icon mean?

In File Explorer, a gray “X” icon can appear on a file or folder in your Dropbox folder. This is a Windows icon and not a Dropbox icon. It indicates that your file or folder may not be syncing with Dropbox. To fix this, try the steps in this article about fixing syncing issues in Dropbox. If that doesn’t fix it, contact Microsoft support.

How helpful was this article?