Troubleshoot synchronization problems in Dreamweaver (Mac OS and Windows)

Find solutions for issues with synchronization or uploading files to a server.

Issues occur when you synchronize files or upload files to a server

When you use Dreamweaver's synchronize feature or upload files to a server, the following problems may occur:

  • You are putting files and Dreamweaver is warning you that the remote file has changed on the server: "my_file.htm has changed on the remote server since your last get or put operation. Putting it may overwrite changes to the file. Do you wish to put the file anyway?" However, you are sure that the remote files haven't changed.
  • The Synchronize preview dialog box is not correctly listing the files that should be synchronized.
  • The Synchronize preview dialog box says that no synchronization is necessary, but you know that some files have changed.

Note: These issues apply only to Dreamweaver 8 and later. The synchronize feature was redesigned in Dreamweaver 8, so the troubleshooting steps mentioned here do not apply to Dreamweaver MX 2004 and earlier.

What causes the issues

In Dreamweaver 8 and later, whenever a user puts or gets a file, Dreamweaver locally stores the remote and local date/time stamps in files called dwsync.xml, which are located in hidden _notes folders in the same folder as the files being transferred. Occasionally, the dwsync.xml files can get corrupted.

Note:

If only a few files have synchronization problems, try Solution 1. If several or all files have synchronization problems, try Solution 2.

Solution 1: Delete the specific dwsync.xml file

If you are having synchronization problems with just a few of your files, try deleting the specific dwsync.xml files (instead of re-creating all the synchronization information for your site):

  1. Close Dreamweaver.

  2. In Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, browse to your site's local root folder and locate the folder containing the files that are having synchronization problems. For each folder(s) having synchronization problems, locate the _notes folder and delete the dwsync.xml file inside it.

    The dwsync.xml files reside only locally. Dreamweaver will never upload the dwsync.xml files to the server, and there is no reason to upload them to the server.

  3. Reopen Dreamweaver and see if the problem is resolved.

Solution 2: Temporarily turn off the "Maintain synchronization information" setting

If you are experiencing widespread synchronization problems, you can temporarily turn off the "Maintain synchronization information" setting so that Dreamweaver re-creates all the synchronization information for your site:

  1. In the Site Definition dialog box, click the Advanced tab, and then select Remote Info from the Category list. Deselect the "Maintain synchronization information" option, and click OK.

    This action deletes all the existing dwsync.xml files.

  2. Close Dreamweaver.

  3. Verify that all the dwsync.xml files have been deleted from your local root folder and its subfolders.

    The dwsync.xml files are located in the _notes folders, which are hidden by default in Dreamweaver. The dwsync.xml files reside only locally. Dreamweaver will never upload the dwsync.xml files to the server, and there is no reason to upload them to the server.

  4. Reopen Dreamweaver. In the Site Definition dialog box, select the "Maintain synchronization information" option, and then click OK. As you transfer files back and forth from the server, Dreamweaver will now re-create the dwsync.xml files. Check to see if the problem is resolved.

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