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Claire W.3's avatar
Claire W.3
Helpful | Level 6
10 months ago

Cannot move shared folder if I am not the owner

I am trying to reorganize my dropbox because I literally have thousands of folders, and I need them to be more logically nested.  This is no problem with shared folders that I own, but I can't move any shared folders where I am not the owner.  This is a nightmare, because it means that every folder anyone has ever shared with me remains in my top level dropbox folder and cannot be filed into the relevant subfolder within dropbox.  Because I can't find any information about this issue online, I am assuming that my dropbox is not functioning correctly.  Hoping someone can help me to fix this issue?

 

Here is the error message I get when I try to move a shared folder where I am not the owner from my top level dropbox folder to a different subfolder within dropbox (that is not shared with anyone else, in case that is relevant):

 

Couldn't move folder

To move this folder, try contacting the owner of FOLDER_NAME

 

If I click on the "more information" link, it just takes me to a generic message about team folders.  (Note: These are not dropbox business team folders--they are simply shared folders.  I have a regular Dropbox pro account, on Windows 11, desktop version.)

Desktop
Organize
Shared Folders
  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    10 months ago

    Hey Claire W.3, thanks for reaching out to us.

     

    If I understand correctly, you're getting this error when trying to move the folders using your local Dropbox folder; have you tried this from dropbox.com?

     

    If you have, can you try from a different browser as well and let us know what you see?

     

    Thanks.

    • Claire W.3's avatar
      Claire W.3
      Helpful | Level 6
      10 months ago

      Thanks, Hannah, for the reply.  I get the same error both online and on my desktop, for all folders owned by someone else.  

      • Hannah's avatar
        Hannah
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        10 months ago

        Thanks, Claire.

         

        I was able to investigate a bit, and it seems that this behavior is expected for shared folders that are not owned by the person trying to move them.

         

        However, I have passed your comments along to our team and if you need anything else, please let us know.

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