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Forum Discussion
Why do I get a "Sorry, we could not find your file. Is it possible it was moved, renamed...?' error?
Error message states "Sorry, we could not find <filename>. Is it possible it was moved, renamed or deleted?"
It has not been moved, renamed or deleted. Not all Excel files are affected but this i...
I just had the same issue and found that the file name (read: path) was too long. I went back and shortened the folder names and the file name - and presto! it worked!
I'm certainly aware Dropbox does not support 3rd party software but I thought this forum was for assistance to my issues!!! I have responded via email.
But, do you have any idea why the file I cannot open on Dropbox is perfectly fine when copied and pasted to a file on my local drive? That DOES sound like a Dropbox issue to me. And it's not all Excel files, it is just a few.
I just had the same issue and found that the file name (read: path) was too long. I went back and shortened the folder names and the file name - and presto! it worked!
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey there STEVEDEL248 - thanks for sharing what worked for you!
As you successfully pointed out, the issue you've been experiencing is probably due to a limitation of the applications that you're using to open the files in question. In short, there are files that your applications can't process correctly because they have file paths that are too long.
In addition, this behavior is present if there are more than 255 characters in the entire file path. This means from the C:\ all the way to the extension of a file. Files will sync to and from those locations, however the applications used to open said files (e.g. Word, Notepad, Excel, etc.) might not support reading from these locations with long file paths and may show error messages when trying to open, save or edit these file (such as the one described in this thread). This is out of our control since the application developers would have to add support for long paths to resolve the issue.
You should be able to resolve the issues with your applications processing these files by simply renaming the file to a shorter name, renaming a folder to a shorter name, or reducing the number of sub-folders as you also outlined in your response.
I hope this information helps all of the affected users getting this error message.
Once again, thanks for using Dropbox and posting in our Forum.
Cheers!
Thanks, this was a big help! The file was fine, but the only problem was its path name was too long.
Same issue, but the path length is shorter than 255 characters.
Please help !I had this exact issue. It was not the 3rd party software or the path name. This was what finally resolved it:
"If you’re in a Dropbox Business team, you most likely have Smart Sync enabled. If this is true, the files you're trying to open could be marked as online-only, and there isn’t enough time for the file to download from the site to open it, which could result in this error.
Mark the files as local.
Thanks!!!! It worked. I did "save as" with a short file name and it opened right up!! Saved me about 3 hours of redo work! Thank you again! Much appreciation.
Stevedel248 -- Thank you very much. You'd think the solution to this issue would be more widely known!!
Regards,
Phil
Thanks, it is due to naming.
It works now.Thanks so much. It was weird. I could see the file and I could download it and open the downloaded file but I could open the original file even though it synced.
Has anyone else found a solution other than file name length for this? My file no longer exists and is not in the folder. I also have file names longer than the one listed in that folder. While I have tried adding a file back into that folder with the same name, eliminating folders within the path, nothing has worked and I continue to receive the same path even though that path no longer exists at all.
- Walter
Based on your description, I'd search for deleted files if I were in your shoes, since this file no longer exists in the folder alyssa2!
Another place you could look for more information is your events page where all adds, edits and deletes are logged normally.
Let me know what you find please!
Just did the same and it worked..Thank you!
Thankyou, this solved my problem!
