"Photos couldn't be accessed" error on iPhone

I uploaded a few photos from my iPhone to Dropbox. But now, it says photos couldn't be accessed. Why can't these photos be accessed? How to fix the "Dropbox photos couldn't be accessed" issue? Thank you for your time.

-- Question from dropboxforum.com

Why can't Dropbox access my photos?

Many reasons would lead to unable access to all the photos you have uploaded to Dropbox. The most common reasons are your storage space is not enough, the internet connection is not stable, your program or device's OS is not up-to-date, etc.

If you are troubled that photos couldn't be accessed on Dropbox, you can try the following solutions one by one until your problem is solved.

How to fix Dropbox photos couldn’t be accessed

We list 8 methods to solve Dropbox not finding new photos on iPhone and Android devices. Before you try these methods, please make sure your phone is fully charged or connected to a power source.

• Method 1. Clear Dropbox cache

• Method 2. Restart Dropbox or your device

• Method 3. Make sure a stable network connection

• Method 4. Check remaining Dropbox storage

• Method 5. Check the size of your photos

• Method 6. Check your Missing dates section

• Method 7. Update Dropbox to the latest version

• Method 8. Keep your device's OS up to date

• Workaround to solve Dropbox storage insufficient for free

Method 1. Clear Dropbox cache

Too much cached data can affect access to updated data, i.e., newly uploaded photos are not accessible timely. Thus, you can clear up cached data on your mobile phone to access all your photos again.

1. Navigate to Settings on your phone. In the Apps section, locate Dropbox.

2. Tap on Dropbox, hit Storage, and choose Clear cache.

3. Click OK to confirm deleting app data.

Method 2. Restart Dropbox or your device

There is a possibility that Dropbox is stuck when updating new-uploaded photos. You can reboot the mobile phone or restart Dropbox to have a try.

Reboot Dropbox

Go to find Dropbox in your phone’s Settings likewise, click on it, and hit the Force Stop position. Then, run Dropbox again to check if the problem persists.

Restart your phone

Press and hold the Power On button of your mobile phone for seconds and select Restart.

Method 3. Make sure a stable network connection

If the network connection is unstable, the speed of uploading photos to Dropbox will be impacted. You can turn off the data and connect to Wi-Fi instead.

 Method 4. Check remaining Dropbox storage

Check if the remaining space in your Dropbox is sufficient. If your left quota is not enough to store all the photos you upload, some photos cannot be uploaded to Dropbox successfully.

1. On the Dropbox main page on your phone, click on the three-line button in the top left corner.

2. Your storage usage will be displayed on the left-hand side of the screen. If you are running low in storage space, you can click UPGRADE and purchase more storage space. You can also scroll down to the Workaround chapter, and learn a way to get more Dropbox storage space for free.

Method 5. Check the size of your photos

For Android users, it is noteworthy that when uploading photos, Dropbox will filter out image files that are less than 15 KB or that are in png format automatically. If your photos are smaller than 15KB in size or are in png format, you can manually upload these photos to Dropbox by clicking the + (plus) icon on your Dropbox main page.

Method 6. Check your Missing dates section

Generally, Dropbox relies on pictures' information, such as the date and time it was taken to classify them. When your photos are missing the information, Dropbox will put them into the Missing dates section. Thus, if you can’t find some pictures in the Photos tab, you can scroll down to the Missing dates section and check them out.

Method 7. Update Dropbox to the latest version

If none of the above methods work, it is possible that the version of your Dropbox is too old and might have some bugs. You can try to update the Dropbox app to fix “Dropbox not backing all photos” or “Dropbox only backing up videos”.

Just head to the Play Store, and search for Dropbox, press Update to update it to the latest version.

Method 8. Keep your device's OS up to date

Upgrading your phone's operating system is also an effective solution to fix the "Dropbox photos couldn't be accessed" problem.

1. Go to Settings on the mobile phone, and click General > Software Update.

2. If an update is available, hit Download and Install.

✎Note: When you upgrade your device's operating system, it is better to be on a Wi-Fi connection. On the one hand, upgrading the system will cost a lot of data traffic. On the other hand, an unstable data connection will cause the upgrade to fail.

Workaround to solve Dropbox storage insufficient for free

As everybody knows, Dropbox provides each account with 2GB of free space. This free 2GB space, according to the statistics, can only accommodate around 700 pictures, with one picture 1-2MB in size. When storing files exceeding this quota, Dropbox stops syncing. Users either choose to upgrade their storage plan or switch to another cloud storage service.

Another choice is that you can use CBackup to combine Dropbox accounts to get more storage space without any payment. CBackup is an all-in-one cloud backup service. It specializes in backing up PC data to its CBackup Cloud which offers free 5GB backup space, and public cloud storage, such as Google Drive. It also enables you to combine cloud storage of multiple cloud drives to increase storage space for free.

Download CBackup on your computer, and follow the step-by-step guides below to learn to merge Dropbox accounts:

1. Set up an account for CBackup online, and log in to the CBackup desktop app with the account.

2. Choose Storage on the left panel, hit Dropbox, and click on Authorize Now. Then, you can follow the onscreen prompts to complete the authorization of allowing CBackup to access Dropbox storage.

3. Add as many Dropbox accounts to CBackup as you have by repeating the adding-cloud step. After finishing adding clouds, hit the + Add Combined Cloud option.

✎Note: You add and merge Google Drive accounts and OneDrive accounts to form a bigger space with CBackup as well.

4. Tick the checkboxes of Dropbox accounts you are supposed to integrate, and tap Next. And you can modify the order of them, then choose Combine.

5. Then, you can find the combined cloud on the storage list. And you go to the Backup tab and choose Backup PC to Combined Cloud.

Other features of CBackup:

☛Huge backup space: Its CBackup Cloud offers 1024GB and even bigger cloud backup space at affordable prices.

☛Cloud to cloud backup: It allows you to transfer files between different clouds with a single interface.

☛Automatic backup PC to cloud: You can set up to perform PC auto backup to clouds on a schedule according to your needs.

☛Filter unnecessary files: You can exclude useless documents when you backup files to cloud drives to save storage space.

The bottom line

"Dropbox photos couldn't be accessed" is no longer a worry with the foregoing workable solutions. When you run out of Dropbox storage space, you can have a go at combining Dropbox accounts using CBackup to get more free Dropbox storage with ease.