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Buyoung's avatar
Buyoung
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

Photos failing to upload. Error:Dropbox doesn't have the permission to read the files

I am trying to clear some space on my phone so I have been uploading photos onto dropbox. I had no problems at first, but all of a sudden I can only upload 1 photo successfully, if I try to upload more than one it'll upload one and all the other photos will fail to upload. It says upload failed and dropbox doesn't have the permission to read the other files, but it will work if I upload one at a time. I've attempted both manually moving the photos and using the + button on dropbox, but neither work. Is there any way to fix this? 

  • Hey there Buyoung  - sorry to hear about this.

    Could you please try to clear the cache on your app and then sign out and back into your Dropbox account? 

    On iOS:
    - Navigate to the “Personal” tab
    - Tap the gear icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
    - Select “Clear Cache”

    Please note: If you do not see the gear icon on this main page, first click on the icon on the bottom right of the app that says “Account”, “Personal” or your Dropbox Business name. You should see the gear icon on this account page.

    On Android:
    - Tap the menu icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
    - Select "Settings"
    - Select “Clear Cache” 

    Once this is done then please ensure you log out of the Dropbox application, then restart your device and log back in again.

    If you still get the same error, please send me a screenshot so I can investigate further.

    Thanks in advance and happy Monday!

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

    Hey there Buyoung  - sorry to hear about this.

    Could you please try to clear the cache on your app and then sign out and back into your Dropbox account? 

    On iOS:
    - Navigate to the “Personal” tab
    - Tap the gear icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
    - Select “Clear Cache”

    Please note: If you do not see the gear icon on this main page, first click on the icon on the bottom right of the app that says “Account”, “Personal” or your Dropbox Business name. You should see the gear icon on this account page.

    On Android:
    - Tap the menu icon in the upper-left corner of the screen
    - Select "Settings"
    - Select “Clear Cache” 

    Once this is done then please ensure you log out of the Dropbox application, then restart your device and log back in again.

    If you still get the same error, please send me a screenshot so I can investigate further.

    Thanks in advance and happy Monday!

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

        Sorry to hear this Ryydy. Can you reboot the affected device and let me know if you're still getting the same error when uploading your file(s) via our mobile app?

        If you do, please forward me a screenshot of the last screen or the error message you get so I can have a further look into this.

        Thanks in advance and welcome to our Community!

  • TalSeg7's avatar
    TalSeg7
    Helpful | Level 5

    This happens to me also, many times, Very annoying. Tried clearing the cache and rebooting, did not help.

    These are the screenshots.


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

      Hi TalSeg7 - happy 2020!

      I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with uploading your photos on our mobile app; let's find the culprit now!

      To cover all bases at this point, I'll need you to try doing this over cellular data with your wifi closed and vice versa. Do you get the same results? 

      On a side note, can you find the photos that were not uploaded and try to manually upload them via the (+) button within our mobile app? What happens then?

      Keep me posted on your findings please!

      • TalSeg7's avatar
        TalSeg7
        Helpful | Level 5

        Hi Walter

        Thank you for your prompt reply.

        I think that I found the cause of the problem. 
        I tried to open the photo with the + button in the App and did not find the actual photo. I think that this may be a specific android/google/phone problem. I think that the file the dropbox tried to upload was some temporary file which the google Photos app created when I edited the photo in it. The problem does not happen all the time when editing photos in the Photos App, only sometimes.
        My phone is Xiaomi A2 which runs Android1. 
        I can not be sure that this is the actual problem, so I would be happy if you could find a way to fix this issue. 
        Thank you

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