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Forum Discussion
I can create aliases for my Dropbox subfolders, but not the parent folder.
I work on a mac and I love the way I can access my files through aliases in a convenient location. The issue I'm having is some DropBox folders allow me to create an alias on a Mac and some do not. I am not clear why. For example, I have a master folder for a project that contains 5 sub folders. I cannot create an alias in the master folder, but I am able to on any of the 5 sub folders. the problem is that I want to be able to access different sub folders quiclly and I do not want to create an alias for each one. Attaching images of what I see when I right click in each scenario. Also strangely, I have been able to some make an alias in the past on some older projects in the master folder, but I don't remember what trick I used or how I did it. So I know it's possinle. Please show me how to do this.
- Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Thanks for your post, Brian Lamoreaux! Hope you’re doing great today.
You can attach your screenshots here by clicking on the following button:
If you work with folders outside of Dropbox, are you experiencing similar issues?
Let me know.
No, not having this issue outside of DropBox.
also when I click on the camera icon you pointed out it does not allow me to attach a screen shot, it asks me for location, description, dimensions of my image, etc. not a spot to drag and drop or even a finder path to link to. maybe it's asking me for code or something? I don't do code. and I'm using Chrome for my browser. Does DB not like Chrome?
- Megan
Hey Brian Lamoreaux, keep in mind that Dropbox doesn't support aliases, I'm afraid.
So, even though you could use them if you wish, I couldn't precisely tell you why this is happening, or troubleshoot this more; but I could suggest a work around for this.
Since you can create a shortcut to a web link with these steps, perhaps you could use this feature to add a shared link to the file you want to access from another folder.
In any case, our Community is open so if anyone else has a workaround, they're more than welcome to also share it.
First, I'm not sure what "a shortcut to a web link" is actually. I am familiar with creating links that I can copy and paste into emails which bring others to documents or folders that I want to share. Is this the same thing?
Second, I have a question about step 5 under creating a shortcut to a web link. It asks me to "enter the URL" and Name of my shortcut. What URL should I use? How do I know if it's correct, etc? Please advise. I would attach a screenshot here but I still don't know how to do this in the chat here... as I mentioned above the camera icon does not allow me to simply select and image to place here or drag and drop, it asks for "source" and dimensions etc. and I also don't know what that is. Seems like this should be easier.
Lastly, I must say that I once was able to create aliases or shortcuts on by desktop to DB folders and now not being able to, greatly decreases the value of the Drop Box app in my opinion. So I do strongly recommend working with Apple or others to figure out how to get this feature back and integrated.
- Jay
Hi Brian Lamoreaux, the web link is basically a shortcut to a webpage you would like to access on the internet, like a bookmark in your browser, so that is the URL you would enter.
However, it might not work as expected if you're trying to access your own folders on the Dropbox site.
