# Taking days (or more) to sync on android

**URL:** <https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [3 May 2023 04:35 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662 "2023-05-03T04:35:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pieterv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58f4c7/32.png) [@Pieterv](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Pieterv)\
**Post date:** [24 May 2023 11:27 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/21 "2023-05-24T11:27:48Z")

</div>

Hi kenden  
Yes, it's in either one of those folders .lock or locks. I think locks. But I checked the other one & there were no files in the other one. So I'm thinking you can delete files that are in both.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@kenden](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/kenden)\
**Post date:** [25 May 2023 14:32 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/22 "2023-05-25T14:32:24Z")

</div>

Hi Pieterv,

Thanks!  
I am using 3 machines (Windows, Linux and an Android phone). I logged on Linux, did a sync, then did a sync on the Android app.  
During the sync of the Android app, I saw that a .json file disappeared in Dropbox, from  
Apps \> Joplin \> locks.  
At the end of said sync, I received the message saying more or less "you cannot synchronize because another device has a lock". But having seen that a lock file was just removed, I did a sync again on android, and it worked.

It looks like there is an issue identifying when a lock is on.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![joeschmoe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/joeschmoe/32/9127_2.png) [@joeschmoe](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/joeschmoe)\
**Post date:** [25 May 2023 14:48 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/23 "2023-05-25T14:48:36Z")

</div>

there's a difference here between the sync being stuck and it not synching at all. Mine was syncing. it was just extremely slow

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Herve5](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/herve5/32/15038_2.png) [@Herve5](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Herve5)\
**Post date:** [18 June 2023 13:03 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/24 "2023-06-18T13:03:13Z")

</div>

> [@Pieterv](#):
>
> Okay, I sorted my issue by logging into Dropbox and finding there was a lock file - which I later discovered was the issue - stopping my Android app from syncing.  
> So I deleted this lock file, then activated the Android app and it once again successfully synced my changes. I then did a sync with the Linux desktop client and all the Android changes came through successfully.

I definitely can confirm that. I too had one of my machines falling into 'eternal sync' (and doing nothing) while all others did sync : I found the faulty lock file, deleted it (taking care that all Joplin instance be switched off) and all is perfect now.  
It's to the extend that I created a new help note straight into Joplin showing where, inside Dropbox, are located the lock files 😉  
(Also I could check, with my browser being logged onto Dropbox, that whenever one Joplin instance syncs there is a transient lock file appearing there, then disappearing once sync is over.)  
Thank you indeed @Pieterv !

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Orochi](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Orochi)\
**Post date:** [7 July 2023 15:55 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/25 "2023-07-07T15:55:24Z")

</div>

Same here.  
I have Joplin on Linux and Windows - sync is fast as always.  
I also have Joplin on Android - sync takes a long time and cancelling does not work, until I terminate the app.

I have 2461 notes and am using Dropbox.  
The same problem occurs with Onedrive.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Orochi](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Orochi)\
**Post date:** [7 July 2023 19:15 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/26 "2023-07-07T19:15:38Z")

</div>

Here's what I did to solve this:

1. made sure Joplin was running only on Android
2. deleted the lock files on Dropbox/Apps/Joplin/locks
3. ran a full sync on Android, it took around 1 hour to sync and decrypt

Now sync works fast on all Joplin instances: Windows, Linux and Android.

One issue still: decrypt keeps running, even with all my notes decrypted.  
Don't know why.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Orochi](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Orochi)\
**Post date:** [9 July 2023 06:47 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/27 "2023-07-09T06:47:07Z")

</div>

Sync is fast across all devices.

Decryption is always running and is very slow on Android.

Items get decrypted, but takes time to. Example: 1 note can take up to 5 minutes to decrypt.  
This used to be fast.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Herve5](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/discourse.joplinapp.org/herve5/32/15038_2.png) [@Herve5](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Herve5)\
**Post date:** [10 July 2023 17:35 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/28 "2023-07-10T17:35:48Z")

</div>

> [@Orochi](#):
>
> One issue still: decrypt keeps running, even with all my notes decrypted.  
> Don't know why.

Are you sure you have the latest version on all your machines? There has been significant upgrades on encryption recently, and I for one got in trouble decrypting recently-created notes when syncing them into an old, not-up-to-date Joplin instance...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orochi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Orochi](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/Orochi)\
**Post date:** [11 July 2023 05:42 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/29 "2023-07-11T05:42:05Z")

</div>

Noted @Herve5. All platforms on the latest version.

Good news. Left the decryption going for a couple of days and done ... no more decrypt and all good now. Patience is key,

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/uploads/cozic/original/3X/1/c/1c948e33314e232a0927789508474d8624f4270b.png) [@system](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [10 August 2023 05:42 UTC](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662/30 "2023-08-10T05:42:36Z")

</div>

Closed on 10 August 2023 05:42 UTC

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.

[Previous page](https://discourse.joplinapp.org/t/taking-days-or-more-to-sync-on-android/30662.md?page=1)