If you are on linux it is quite easy. During the sync process you can do: `find $HOME/dropbox_sync_dir -type f -exec dropbox.py file status -a '{}' \; | grep 'syncing'` **Explaining details:** - `find <path> -type f -exec dropbox.py ... '{}' \;` Runs `dropbox.py` on every file or below the current directory. > Notice that the braces are enclosed in single quote marks to protect > them from interpretation as shell script punctuation. The semicolon is > similarly protected by the use of a backslash, though single quotes > could have been used in that case also. More on [man find][1] pages - `dropbox.py file status -a` from the [dropbox linux client manual][2]: dropbox file status [-l] [-a] [FILE]… Prints the current status of each FILE. Options: -l or --list prints out information in a format similar to the native Linux command ls. -a or --all do not ignore entries starting with "." Aliases include stat. - `| grep 'syncing'` Searches for the 'syncing' string. Note: that the .py end should not be mandatory there should be an alias so writing just `dropbox` should be enough. **First Edit** - re-edit due to Paul's comment about dropboxd (daemon) vs. dropbox.py. The `dropbox.py` should be debugged via `pdb` (the python debugger) for more at [python debugger][3]. Finally after the Paul's comments I understood where is the core of the issue. He wants to see the *currently accessed file* or even better *the one being transferred* by the dropbox sync client. - You could find all files used by the dropbox client currently used: ls -thal /proc/`pgrep dropbox`/fd | egrep -v 'socket:|pipe:|anon_inode|/dev/' - If you can not see anything that means that something is probably wrong with the client. I would recommend performing [strace][4]. To monitor your dropboxd script with output save into output.txt file: `strace -o output.txt dropboxd` To monitor only system calls you could enter: `strace -e open dropboxd` - If you want to go even deeper you could attach an *debugger* e.g. `gdb` to your `strace` session. If you are unfamiliar with this process you can check,for example, this nice [post][5] about unix `strace` and `gdb`. **Just a quick help:** When you start your trace with: `strace dropboxd` (running pid would be 501) Then you attach to it the following way: $ gdb --quiet (gdb) attach 501 - If everything else fails you can use other ways to sync your dropbox: For example, use a different cli client like [dbxcli][6]. **Second Edit** It occurred to me that it should be possible to check what is transferred even via network monitoring tool like `wireshark`. Since the dropbox client is using SSL/TSL (or AES) [The dropbox security architecture][7] and you should have the key to check. For details how to use `wireshare` you could check `https://wiki.wireshark.org/SSL` or adjust this example to your case [Analyze SSL/TLS Client Hello Traffic][8]. In you have dropbox certificate you could import it into wireshark to see what is happening. (For dropbox security details you can check [Dropbox security whitepaper][9]. [1]: http://%20https://linux.die.net/man/1/find [2]: https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/linux-commands [3]: https://docs.python.org/2/library/pdb.html [4]: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/11/strace-examples [5]: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/aix/library/au-unix-strace.html [6]: https://github.com/dropbox/dbxcli [7]: https://www.dropbox.com/business/trust/security/architecture [8]: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wireshark/HTTPS#Activity_4_-_Analyze_SSL.2FTLS_Client_Hello_Traffic [9]: https://cfl.dropboxstatic.com/static/business/resources/dfb_security_whitepaper-vfllunodj.pdf