Routing Database
What to do when the routing database cannot be updated, and how an administrator can start the download by hand.
This page applies to the Desktop App only. Online Label Print does not keep a local routing database.
The Desktop App holds its own copy of DPD's routing database. It determines which depot and route a parcel takes and which services are available for a recipient address, and the application updates it automatically overnight.
"Routing database download failed"
Instead of opening, the Shipments page shows this message:
Routing database download failed. Please contact support.
It appears whenever the most recent download attempt ended in failure — the overnight one included. Shipment creation stays blocked until a download succeeds, so it is worth clearing straight away rather than waiting for the next night.
The routing database you already had is not deleted: a new one replaces it only once it has downloaded and unpacked successfully. What blocks the page is the failed result of the last attempt, not a missing file.
Before contacting support, an administrator can start a fresh download by hand. That clears most one-off failures — a network interruption during the overnight run, for example.
A closely related message — Routing database is not available. Please contact support. — blocks the same page when there is no usable routing database at all: none has ever been downloaded, or the file is missing or too small. The retry below applies to it as well.
Start the download by hand
- Go to Settings
- Click Version information at the bottom left
- Next to Routing database version, click the refresh icon — its tooltip reads Check for routing database updates
The number shown is the version in use. It has the form YYMMDDXX, so 26080302 was published on 3 August 2026 — the last two digits count the databases published that day.
Nothing confirms the start — the spinner on the refresh icon is the only sign that the download is running. Once it ends, the application reports the outcome:
| Message | What it means |
|---|---|
| Routing database updated to version … | Finished, and the new version is already in use — no restart needed |
| Routing database is ready | Finished, but the application could not read the version number back to display it |
| Routing database download failed | The download failed again — see If the download keeps failing |
| Routing database sync is taking longer than expected | Still running after ten minutes |
| Failed to start routing database sync | The download could not be started at all |
The application checks progress every five seconds for up to ten minutes. Leave the Settings page open while it runs. If a download is already in progress when you click, the application follows that one instead of starting a second.
If the spinner stops and no message appears, it is the progress check that failed rather than the download itself. Close Version information and open it again to see whether the version has changed.
The refresh icon is not there
The icon appears only when both of the following are true:
| Requirement | Reason |
|---|---|
| You are working in the Desktop App | Online Label Print has no local routing database to update |
| You are signed in as an administrator | Other users can read the version but cannot start a download |
The version numbers themselves are visible to everyone.
If the download keeps failing
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Free disk space | The routing database needs roughly 100 MB free where the application keeps its data |
| Internet access | The computer must be able to reach the DPD services. A proxy or firewall that blocks the download will fail every attempt, by hand or overnight |
| Process logs | Messages → Process logs records a Routing DB update entry each time the update runs, so you can see when it last ran and whether it ended with an error |
If all three are in order, contact support and include the routing database version and the application version from the popover, plus roughly when the failed attempt was made.