I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
---

db wrote:
> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
> ---

Use the same email account.

Ed

db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> wrote:

> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but they are not
> synchronised. How do I get it to synch on the phone, with the laptop
> contents?

Is each Dropbox client signing into the same Dropbox account? Are they
signed in at all? Open the Dropbox client to go to Preferences, select
the Account tab, and check if you are signed in, and under which account
(which is associated to your *e-mail address*). You could try to sign
out and then sign back in to make sure the client really is logged in.
While there, click on the Sync tab. That shows which folders are
monitored. Files elsewhere are not synchronized.

Is the Dropbox client configured to load on startup (probably more an
issue on your laptop with its unidentified operating system*).

* "laptop" says nothing about what OS runs there. Dropbox supports
several platforms; see:
https://help.dropbox.com/installs/system-requirements.

Sometimes servers go down, or are unreachable. When you open the
Dropbox client to look at history, have there been any synchronizations
in the past?

Is this a new setup, or have you been using Dropbox successfully for a
while, and this is a new problem?

When you open the Dropbox client and click on the icon to open the
Dropbox folder, are there any files in that folder to sync? There might
be folders, but are there any files in those folders?

In the Dropbox client, click on the user icon (top right corner). Click
on "View sync issues".

Have you exceeded your Dropbox storage quota? A free account gets only
2 GB of storage. You have to pay more to get more, or spam other users
by being a Dropbox "affiliate" to earn more storage as those you spammed
open new Dropbox account using your affiliate link. The latter method
makes you a spammer, so pay if you want more storage. Once your quota
is consumed, there's no more space to sync anything else to your
account.

db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> writes:

> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?

As far as I know, Dropbox doesn't sync on Android. You can access your
Dropbox files with the app but syncing the whole Dropbox folder to your
phone isn't supported.

If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean?

Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

> db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
>> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
>> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
>
> As far as I know, Dropbox doesn't sync on Android. You can access your
> Dropbox files with the app but syncing the whole Dropbox folder to your
> phone isn't supported.
>
> If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean?

It does on my Android smartphone. On my desktop PC, I added a file to
my Dropbox folder. In under a minute (it was a small text file), it
showed up when using their web client. I looked on my phone, and the
new file was listed there.

The offline mode (which I presume means files get download) is not part
of the free account. However, when I clicked on the new file listed in
the Android Dropbox client, it opened okay on the phone.

Sure looks like their Android client on my smartphone syncs to my free
account for a file that came from their Windows client on my desktop PC.

The folder does not get synchronized. It's what is in the folder.

On Thu, 7 Mar 2024 15:57:56 -0000 (UTC), db wrote:

> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but they are not
> synchronised. How do I get it to synch on the phone, with the laptop
> contents?
> ---

Thanks all for your help. I went into Admin and
marked the laptop where I have the account,
and it works now. I edited a file there, and after
going out of Dropbos on my phone and in again, it
had renewed, so is synching now.

--
---

VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> writes:

> Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:
>
>> db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
>>> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
>>> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
>>
>> As far as I know, Dropbox doesn't sync on Android. You can access your
>> Dropbox files with the app but syncing the whole Dropbox folder to your
>> phone isn't supported.
>>
>> If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean?
>
> It does on my Android smartphone. On my desktop PC, I added a file to
> my Dropbox folder. In under a minute (it was a small text file), it
> showed up when using their web client. I looked on my phone, and the
> new file was listed there.

Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file manager?
If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.

Am 11.03.24 um 12:22 schrieb Anssi Saari:
> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> writes:
>
>> Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:
>>
>>> db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
>>>> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
>>>> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
>>>
>>> As far as I know, Dropbox doesn't sync on Android. You can access your
>>> Dropbox files with the app but syncing the whole Dropbox folder to your
>>> phone isn't supported.
>>>
>>> If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean?
>>
>> It does on my Android smartphone. On my desktop PC, I added a file to
>> my Dropbox folder. In under a minute (it was a small text file), it
>> showed up when using their web client. I looked on my phone, and the
>> new file was listed there.
>
> Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file manager?
> If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
> post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
> means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
> which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.

And it also does on Android and iOS.

--
"Gutta cavat lapidem." (Ovid)

Jörg Lorenz <hugybear@gmx.net> writes:

>> Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file
>> manager?
>> If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
>> post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
>> means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
>> which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.
>
> And it also does on Android and iOS.

Does it, now? On which Dropbox Plan? I don't have it on their free
plan.

Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> writes:
>
>> Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:
>>
>>> db <dieterhansbritz@gmail.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> I have Dropbox on my laptop and my ANdroid phone, but
>>>> they are not synchronised. How do I get it to
>>>> synch on the phone, with the laptop contents?
>>>
>>> As far as I know, Dropbox doesn't sync on Android. You can access your
>>> Dropbox files with the app but syncing the whole Dropbox folder to your
>>> phone isn't supported.
>>>
>>> If that's not what you mean, then what do you mean?
>>
>> It does on my Android smartphone. On my desktop PC, I added a file to
>> my Dropbox folder. In under a minute (it was a small text file), it
>> showed up when using their web client. I looked on my phone, and the
>> new file was listed there.
>
> Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file manager?
> If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
> post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
> means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
> which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.

Not sure how I could open a file shown in the Dropbox client on Android
to let me edit it if it weren't downloaded. How do you open a file on a
local device that is still in the cloud? I wasn't using a web app to
edit the file. I wasn't taken to some web page to then download or open
the file.

VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> writes:

>> Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file manager?
>> If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
>> post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
>> means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
>> which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.

> Not sure how I could open a file shown in the Dropbox client on Android
> to let me edit it if it weren't downloaded. How do you open a file on a
> local device that is still in the cloud? I wasn't using a web app to
> edit the file. I wasn't taken to some web page to then download or open
> the file.

Is your answer to my question then no? Can you open a file in the
Dropbox client on Android if you put your phone into Airplane mode? If
not, Dropbox on Android doesn't sync.

Of course the Dropbox client can download and open any file on demand
from Dropbox servers, it doesn't need an external application for
that. But that's not what Dropbox does on PCs, it syncs all files into
local copies.

Anssi Saari <anssi.saari@usenet.mail.kapsi.fi> wrote:

> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> writes:
>
>>> Can you see that file in a directory on the phone with a file manager?
>>> If not, it's as I said, Dropbox is not syncing. From the rest of your
>>> post it seems we have a very different view of what sync means. To me it
>>> means all files in all Dropbox directories copied to all synced systems,
>>> which is what Dropbox does on Windows and Linux PCs at least.
>
>> Not sure how I could open a file shown in the Dropbox client on Android
>> to let me edit it if it weren't downloaded. How do you open a file on a
>> local device that is still in the cloud? I wasn't using a web app to
>> edit the file. I wasn't taken to some web page to then download or open
>> the file.
>
> Is your answer to my question then no? Can you open a file in the
> Dropbox client on Android if you put your phone into Airplane mode? If
> not, Dropbox on Android doesn't sync.

In Airplane Mode, no, I cannot open the file. So the sync is on-demand,
not background unattended.

https://help.dropbox.com/sync/access-files-offline

This is similar to OneDrive works, too, even on a PC when using Files
On-Demand. Instead of wasting bandwidth for files that may not be
accessed, hotlinks are provided. When you want the file is when the
bandwidth gets used.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/save-disk-space-with-onedrive-files-on-demand-for-windows-0e6860d3-d9f3-4971-b321-7092438fb38e?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

Very similar for the two: select to make a file to make offline if you
need a local copy rather than download on-demand. Not everyone gets
unlimited cellular data service, so control is still left with you.