An upload failed or stopped part way
Why uploads stall, what each error means, and how to get a large file up on an unreliable connection.
"File type not allowed"
Executable and script types are refused. Put the file in a zip archive and upload that; archives are accepted and the contents arrive intact. The full list is in file types, sizes and limits.
"Not enough space"
The file does not fit in your remaining allowance. Note that the figure counts uploads already in progress as well as stored files, so several large uploads at once can exhaust it between them. Delete something, finish the others first, or move up a plan.
It stops part way and never finishes
Almost always the tab. The upload runs in the page, so it stops if the tab is closed, the phone locks, the laptop sleeps or the browser decides a background tab is not doing anything important. Keep the tab visible and the device awake.
A stalled upload leaves a partial session that is cleaned up automatically after two hours. It costs you nothing, but the file has to be started again.
"Too many uploads in progress"
Ten can be open at once. Finish or abandon some and try again. On a home connection, one at a time genuinely finishes sooner than ten at a time.
It fails repeatedly on a big file
- Use a wired connection or sit closer to the router. Upload speed is usually a fraction of download speed, and a 2GB file on a typical home connection takes hours.
- Do it on a desktop rather than a phone, where the operating system is less inclined to suspend the page.
- Split the file into parts with an archive tool and upload the parts separately.
- Try a different network. Some corporate and public networks interfere with sustained uploads.
The progress bar jumps rather than flows
That is normal. Files move in 5MB pieces and the bar advances as each piece completes, so a 50MB file moves in ten visible steps.
The file uploaded but looks wrong
Download it and check. Every block carries its own authentication tag and the complete set is fingerprinted, so a corrupted or truncated file is refused with an error rather than handed to you quietly. If that happens, delete it and upload again.
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