I have used the free version of Dropbox for about a year, but starting around November 2024 I began having trouble syncing my Scrivener files with Dropbox.
Everything seemed fine when I worked with the same computer, but when I opened my project on my laptop (Windows 11 Pro), I would not see the most recent version of the project.
I tried everything, including:
Restarting Dropbox on the computer before opening my Scrivener project
Setting an exception for Dropbox on my Internet security (Eset Security Ultimate)
Going to the Dropbox website to log into my account and view the folders and files.
I found the Dropbox website cumbersome.
I normally opened my Scrivener project by navigating to my Dropbox folder on the computer I was working on, rather than opening Scrivener from the taskbar or start menu. That way I would know I was opening the correct files.
I was consistently seeing an older copy of my project in the Dropbox folder on the laptop, and at one point when the date/time did match, the binder would show the text pages, but most were empty.
Luckily, when I started to have the problem with Dropbox, I inserted a USB drive and saved my current project there. The USB drive always works - of course.
I tried Windows Networking but could not get it to work reliably even though the desktop and laptop computers are on the same network.
So to simplify my life and eliminate one more frustration with tech, I have reverted to the āsneaker netā using the USB stick.
Since I donāt have a lot of files to save, the USB stick works very well.
Also, if you right-click on the your Dropbox folder, it should read āMake online-onlyā, like this:
(Iām not saying to make it online-only; Iām saying that if it says something other than āMake online-onlyā, then it may already be set to online-only, which would be bad.)
To answer your question: No issues with Dropbox syncing for me. (I sync regularly between PC & iOS devices.)
I donāt know the mix of devices you have, but all I will say is I have lost count of the number of people who have said they have OneDrive (and/or Google Drive) working fine, only to have it screw up their project eventually.
Almost as if they lull one into believing all is sweet, then smack you across the digital face when you least expect it.
I have Dropbox working now.
First, I heeded JimRacās instructions to make sure I have āMake Available Offlineā ticked.
Next, I need to wait for Dropbox to index files on the laptop. Because the laptop is connected via WiFi, and the desktop is connected via 1G Ethernet, it takes much longer on the laptop to index.
I will of course make sure I keep regular backups of my projects - on a separate drive.
They are NOT all the same. Dropbox is the only one that correctly handles the Scrivener project format. That is an essential if iOS Scrivener is involved.
Arenāt you just lucky. Iāve used OneDrive for years and have had several instances of it not playing nice - but not with Scrivener, Iād never trust it for anything Scrivener other than .zip Scrivener backups.
āWhy on earth should I have it to screw up my project? Why?ā - Only you can answer that.
The chances are significantly less if iOS is not in the mix, butā¦ Google especially, I guess you havenāt read any of the posts from the Scrivener team (the people who actually know what they are talking about) re Google Drive helpfully changing file extensions to screw things up.
First, I donāt talk about Apple, this is a thread for Windows.
Second, You guys saying that OneDrive will eventually, at some point in time, screw up everything, itās like saying that an OS will screw up your files.
It may, or it may not. If you use it in the wrong way, yes, as everything on this planet.
They are the same, yes. They use the same technology behind the scene.
What does Dropbox, so does the others. Itās like saying that Windows constantly BSOD. It did quite often in a distant past. Now, itās not. People, move on. The same goes for OneDrive. It may had a bad āversionā in the past, but that was ofc the past.
You keep spitting out a personal bias as a fact, but you are just wrong.
You prefer Dropbox? Thatās fine, thanks for sharing.
You tell us what you like of Dropbox that OneDrive doesnāt have it? Cool, thatās informative.
OneDrive mess up Scrivener files? Deadly wrong.
One last argument thatās not coming from my personal knowledge of how software works:
Thousands of companies around the globe use OneDrive to secure and backup mission critical files. Do you really think they are all idiots?
Well, that was a bit long-winded. This may be equally so.
The fact this is a Windows thread is immaterial. I mention Apple (iOS) because a very large number of Windows Scrivener users also use iPads/iPhones and therefore the connection is very relevant. For that scenario Dropbox is the only recommended syncing option. Without iOS is the mix, it is still a reliable option.
The fact that OneDrive reliably handles simple files for thousands of companies has nothing to do with how it may or may not work with the Scrivener project format. Google Drive for example handles simple files regularly for thousands (Millions?) of companies, yet regularly renames file extensions within a Scrivener project, totally screwing the project. They may all store sh.t on massive servers, but how they go about handling files differs significantly, so no, they donāt all use the same ātechnologyā unless you consider a hard drive or SSD the sum total of their ātechnologyā. Yes, many very large companies have proven themselves to be idiots, and still do. Iāve pulled a couple of multinationals out of technology holes theyāve merrily dug for themselves.
I donāt keep spitting any personal bias, I am stating facts resulting from assisting Scrivener users recover from issues with Google Drive, Dropbox, and yes iCloud. (Before you go off about iCloud being irrelevant, Windows users, especially those with iPhone and iPads regularly use iCloud.)
I donāt āpreferā Dropbox. I use it, just as I use iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, box and Sync. I use the different services for differing technical and security requirements.
I recognize the fact that with iOS Scrivener in my mix of Windows, Mac, Linux and iOS devices, the only safe cloud syncing option is Dropbox the last I heard from L&L.
Nothing to do with āpreferā just a desire to not see my projects screwed based on the advice from L&L. If that advice changes, I may choose to change who I use, but with years of faultless syncing with Dropbox, maybe not.
The fact this is a Windows Thread IS material for the OP.
However, as my last response on the matter, you keep saying that it messes up stuff on more complex file formats, but you clearly do not have an understanding how these softwares works and I donāt blame you for that.
Pretty much EVERY file of a scrivener project is a text file, which is pretty basic and simple for any sinchronization engine. Plus, there is no difference from a binary file or a text file, they are all binary at the end of the day and treated as such by these services.
So, the renaming happens when two files differs in such a way that itās not safe to just ignore one or the other. This is not disruptive in any way. It does not mess anything.
L&L suggests Dropbox because they use that everyday and they know how it works and they want to play safe, thatās reasonable from their side. They are not big enough to test everything, nor they have to.
However, this is NOT an indicator that anything other than Dropbox disrupt files.
Last, I cannot change your biased and made up mind, but maybe someone else reading this thread will get a bigger and larger picture of the matter and make his own.
I think some points have been lost in the mix here. The issue with OneDrive is not its reliabilty as a general storage medium, but in the protocols it uses to handle file stuctures within folders. This makes it less stable a platform for storing program āfilesā for apps like Scrivener whose āfilesā are actually packages of several files. The issue is a thing OneDrive introduced in Windows 8 called āSmart Filesā which basically means that OneDrive decides for reasons of efficiency to store some of your files as online-only, and deletes the local copy. This means āpackageā files like those used by Scrivener can seem to not work.
Itās by no means guaranteed to fail and in theory this issue shouldnāt cause data loss ā just that the OneDrive hidden behind the scenes āhousekeepingā can cause access issues that look like data corruption. Note, that data loss could occur through user action if you try to āfixā the issue without knowing what the issue is, though!
LLās official advice as I understand it (I donāt work here) is: If you continue to have trouble opening the projects on Windows 8 (e.g. getting a message that the project is āincompatible with this version of Scrivenerā) or are not seeing your changes in the project, we advise switching to a different service.
source: OneDrive Advisory (Windows 8 Only) / Cloud Syncing / Knowledge Base - Literature and Latte Support
(noting that it is not clear in this knowledge base article if LL believes this issue is fixed in Windows 10/11 or if the article should be updated to say āWindows 8 and newerā. Based on my wider understanding ā although Iām by no means an expert ā this is a potentially persisting issue. )
Yes, it may or may notā¦ but the key point here is that sometimes the way OneDrive operates means that itās got nothing to do with User error per se. Hence LLās advice not being to not use OneDrive, but to warn that you might have issues ā and if you do, consider switching.
Itās not a personal bias of the commentators. No-one here has any skin in the game. LL in particular would, Iām sure, want their customers to be able to use their software with the largest possible range of storage and sync options.
Contrast their advice on OneDrive (above) with, for example, their advice on using Google Drive, which is: At this time we strongly discourage the use of Google Drive for synchronising live Scrivener projects. Note that this does not apply to Scapple documents, which use a traditional file format.
It depends on what they are using it for and how. Iād be amazed if even Microsoft was using OneDrive as its sole secure backup for mission critical files.
For smaller companies, and for certain types of data, OneDrive is great. If itās working for you, great. If you end up having issues ā and some have been reported ā you might consider switching.
Itās also worth noting that even Dropbox sync is not without issues (syncing, it turns out, is hard!). The good news is that those issues look to be mitigable through use of appropriate settings (e.g., ensuring files you want to access are stored locally offline) and sensible user practices / sync āhygieneā.
Windows 8 āsmart filesā feature is gone. They are now called online files and work differently and better. It cannot fail as the previous mode did. Hence, argumentations based on that are wrong on Windows 10 and newer.
I honestly donāt know if it got fixed on Win 8 also.
Furthermore, there is no such thing as a package of files. Not in Windows. I donāt know how it works on Apple, but I really doubt itās different. I suspect Apple treats some folders as a whole unit, unaccessible to the end user, but at the end of the day is just a folder like others.
Based on this, Scrivener files arenāt any different from anything else you might put on OneDrive.
And last, OneDrive is used by big companies too. Why are you assuming the opposite? Based on which facts?
Thatās good news! I couldnāt see any reference to whether that had been rectified or not (plenty of continuing complaints, but thatās just the internet for you), and would explain why LLās official advice is listed as for Windows 8.
Exactly. Itās just a folder containing files on Windows.
Again, exactly right.
The key thing is that Scrivener cares how that folder is organised ā some sync services can cause issues with that. Those issues tend to get conflated in peopleās minds and the āflawsā (from a Scrivener use perspective) assumed to apply more broadly than they do. If youāre right on the SmartFiles fix, thatās one more myth busted!!!
OneDrive is of course used by big companies, but Iād be amazed if large, sophisticated IT depts are using it as the āsole secure back up for mission critical filesā. This is of course also true of other consumer sync / cloud storage options such as Dropbox and Google Drive.
I want to clarify that Smart Files were removed and added back later with a different behaviour and name.
Weather a file is āonlineā or not, is now transparent to the app.
Scrivener, for example, just asks the OS for a file and if a file is online and not available at the moment, the OS hangs the request until the file its available.
In a nutshell, itās the same as if the file was on a network share.
About big companies you are right, they wont rely on a single backup service in any case, ever.
As I understand it, that is the crux of the problem for Scrivenerā¦ a single edit may involve a number of different files within Scrivener. I have known occasions when Iād made a change like adding a footnote in a project and shortly after I received a notification from Sync (though it could equally have been Dropbox) that 11 files had been modified on the server. Scrivener requires all linked files to be available at any moment whether they are actually in memory or not, not to have to wait while the OS makes the file available.
That wait may seem minimal in human terms but I presume it can throw internal timing out in the app. And that is nothing to do with Dropbox, One Drive, iCloudā¦ itās any of them that āoptimises your lifeā by storing stuff in the cloud rather than on the physical drive in the computer.
From Scrivenerās point of view, there are a number of issues with this behavior.
The first and most important is that not all Scrivener users are connected to the internet via doubly redundant optical fiber. āHanging the request until the file is availableā is a major problem if the internet connection is unreliable or nonexistent. Many writers prefer to disconnect from the internet to reduce distractions, and become very unhappy if large parts of their project are missing, or if their computer hangs while it tries to download them. IMO, a service that assumes permanent internet access is inherently untrustworthy for that reason alone.
Second, as @pigfender explains, the files within a Scrivener project are connected to each other in a variety of ways. And, for performance reasons, Scrivener only loads the files that are actively being edited. Which, in a world with inconsistent internet access, could mean that everything appears to be fine, but suddenly this file isnāt available and so Scrivener canāt assemble a Scrivenings session, or canāt display a footnote, or whatever.
Our universal recommendation for all cloud services (including Dropbox) is that they should be configured so that the entire contents of the Scrivener project folder is āavailable offline.ā If you choose to ignore that recommendation, well, itās your data, but please make sure you have reliable backups.
