What Causes Dropbox to Generate Duplicate Files

With countless digital files on everyone’s laptop, you are always short of the storage space of the hard disk. You have only two options for your extra files – External Drives or Cloud Storage. With the increasing bandwidth and availability of the Internet, cloud storage becomes the ideal option as you can access your files from any PC around the globe without having to carry any physical disks with you. One such popular cloud storage service is Dropbox, but it has a small problem. Many users have recently complained about Dropbox creating duplicate files and occupying unnecessary space.

What Causes Dropbox to Generate Duplicate Files?

By establishing a conflicting file, Dropbox, according to its website, “ensures that all modifications are maintained, and nobody will overwrite another person’s hard work.” Therefore, Dropbox uploads whatever files you add to your Dropbox folder, regardless of where else in your Dropbox account those files previously exist.

In other words, even if a photo or movie is visually similar and has the same file size and format, you might have many copies of the same file. Additionally, Dropbox won’t combine modifications made by two users simultaneously to the same file. Instead, it produces a second file with the same name as the original but the addition “conflicted copy.”

How To Stop Dropbox From Creating Duplicate Files?

Method 1: Delete Uploaded Items From The Source Folder

You can remove already uploaded items from backup source directories if Dropbox is uploading certain objects that are already uploaded to Dropbox. Additionally, you should be careful to prevent uploading double files or folders using various devices like laptops or phones.

Method 2: Reinstall The Dropbox Application

Your Dropbox synchronization feature may occasionally malfunction and keep producing duplicate files. By uninstalling and reinstalling the Dropbox application on your computer, you can attempt to fix this issue.

Method 3: Disable The Automatic Sync Function

Unfortunately, you will have to give up on the automatic file sync option and manually upload files or folders if you are using the Dropbox desktop app to sync data from your computer to the cloud and discover that Dropbox contains duplicates of the original files.

How To Remove Dropbox Duplicate Files?

To remove the existing duplicate files on your Dropbox cloud service, you can either go through them manually or use third-party software to remove them. An effective utility called Duplicate Files Fixer can scan and remove duplicate files from any hard disk, even the local Dropbox folder. Let’s get into specifics for the best level of precision and certainty as it searches for duplicate files in all file types.

Step 1: Install Duplicate Files Fixer on your Windows computer.

Step 2: Click Add Folder on the right-hand side.

Step 3: Choose the local Dropbox folder. Typically, it is kept in the C: Users\admin folder.

Step 4: Select Scan For Duplicates, then wait for the process to be completed.

Step 5: After you’re done, you’ll see the search result window with the duplicates that were found.

Step 6: One copy in each group can be left unmarked using the Automark option or manually selecting the files. Additionally, if you want to see the files before deleting them, you can unhide them and choose the ones you want to see.

Step 7: Click Delete Marked after making your choice.

Duplicate files, images, movies, and other material are no longer clogging up your local Dropbox folder. Additionally, since the Dropbox folder on your computer is organized, spotless, and tidy, the same will be true of your online Dropbox account.

The Final Word: What Causes Dropbox to Generate Duplicate Files

To remove duplicate files from Dropbox, you need a suitable application and a reliable methodology, and Duplicate Files Fixer is just that. Please give it a try and let us know if you were able to increase productivity and eliminate duplicates.

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