You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

__ExampleTest__'s avatar
__ExampleTest__
Explorer | Level 3
7 months ago

Search for specific character

I am currently in the process of renaming all files in a large dropbox with multiple subfolders.

I need to remove all of the following characters:
\ / : * ? " < > |

Can anyone suggest a way to replace all of these on mass with a space or a way for me to be able to search and find file names / folder names that contain these characters?

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 months ago

    Hi __ExampleTest__, certain characters might not work in the search bar on the Dropbox site. 

     

    Currently, there isn't a method to bulk replace any kind of character via the Dropbox site, so I'd recommend using a desktop app or service to search your files in Explorer/Finder to be able to replace them from there.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey __ExampleTest__ - thanks for dropping by our Community and happy Friday.

     

    Have you tried searching for those characters on the website and you were not successful?  If the files are locally available on any computer you use the Dropbox desktop app on, have you tried doing it from there?

     

    I'm not sure if this could help, but have you checked our automations and/or the naming conventions

     

    Let us know more and we'll take it from there. 

    • Здравко's avatar
      Здравко
      Legendary | Level 20

      Walter wrote:

      ...

      Have you tried searching for those characters on the website and you were not successful? ...


      Hi Walter,

      Did you try the same search? 🧐 Hmm... as seems not. I tried:

      See the example. 😉

    • __ExampleTest__'s avatar
      __ExampleTest__
      Explorer | Level 3

      Hi Walter.

      Please see the reply from Здравко on this post. When searching specific characters it shows 0 results.

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hi __ExampleTest__, certain characters might not work in the search bar on the Dropbox site. 

         

        Currently, there isn't a method to bulk replace any kind of character via the Dropbox site, so I'd recommend using a desktop app or service to search your files in Explorer/Finder to be able to replace them from there.

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!