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Forum Discussion
I can't rename a file I duplicated on Mac OS
i have seen this come up before, but haven't seen a fix.
when i duplicate a file, on mac (sonoma 14.6.1) i am unable to rename the file. this is a standard part of my work flow and highly frustrati...
Glad to hear the behavior doesn’t persist, at least for now. If this resurfaces though in the future, feel free to let us know here and we can continue looking into this.
.ai, .indd, .png....etc are affected. folders are not.
update: after restarting dropbox twice, this error went away. but it does tend to resurface on occasion.
Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffGlad to hear the behavior doesn’t persist, at least for now. If this resurfaces though in the future, feel free to let us know here and we can continue looking into this.
I have the same issue A LOT and it seems to be getting more frequent. You can not only not rename the file but you can't move it (you get the circle with slash through it) - even if you're trying to move it into another folder within the same folder. If you open the file and save as there is no problem (but what a hassle and slow if it's a photoshop file and the app is not open). The problem persists for days so it's not a "waiting for sync to finish" issue. Quitting dropbox doesn't help. Rebooting the Mac seems to fix it. Never used to have this in the old Dropbox setting... Can you please tell me how I can fix this really annoying issue. Mac 14.6.1 - Dropbox 209.4.3661
Hannah wrote:Sorry to hear about this, karenap.
If you simply quit the Dropbox app (without relaunching it), does the issue persist?
Also, what's the sync status when hovering over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar?
I had to reboot my Mac as it was driving me crazy – so I will be able to answer when it happens – thanks. In the meantime – where do I find the sync status?
ok will do - thanks for your help.
I have the same problem; 100% reproducible. Happened to the same file last week. I duplicate it, but then can't rename it or drag it to a different folder. It's like it's locked, but it's not locked. I can rename it using the Dropbox webpage, but not in macOS. Dropbox is synced.
Dropbox 209.4.3661 Sonoma 14.7 (considering upgrading to Sequoia)
- Nancy
Thanks for all the details, Douglas F.5! If you reproduce this now with a different type of file, do you get the same result?
Do you get any errors when trying to rename/move it on the desktop app or nothing happens at all when taking those actions?
Welp. Yes, I was able to reproduce it on a .pdf file, as well as the original .txt file. This is a Mac so no "desktop app" just the Finder. (I already mentioned it could be renamed on the web page.) THEN I selected "make available offline", and the problem went away, and then "make on-line only" and the problem stayed away. So now it isn't reproducible any more.
But then I went to another folder, duplicated a file, and the same problem occurred. So maybe it's solvable by giving Dropbox a swift kick, but it is still occurring for existing files.
- Nancy
The files you see in your Finder > Dropbox folder should be connected to the Dropbox desktop app, which syncs them to your Dropbox account online.
Can you look at your menu bar and let me know if you can see a small Dropbox icon there? If you can, I’d like to know the syncing status and app version it reports.
Other than that, please try quitting - relaunching the Dropbox app (from your Finder > Applications folder) and let me know if the issue persists after that.
I already posted that Dropbox was synced, and the Dropbox version.
I had also quit and restarted the Dropbox app several times. The problem persists.
