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Hildegard B.'s avatar
Hildegard B.
New member | Level 1
10 years ago

Excel files - Dropbox cannot find file - "It may have been moved, renamed or deleted..." HELP me!

Hi i am having major issues with especially excel files. Whether 'drag and drop' them into my dropbox file - or 'save as' them, and later want to access them - it says: "Cannot find file / File may ...
Setting up the apps
  • Erin J.1's avatar
    Erin J.1
    9 years ago

    I have been experiencing the same issue.  I think it has something to do with re-arranging folder through your Desktop and not letting enough time for DropBox to sync.  The only way I have been able to retrieve my files is to no open and email to myself from my desktop file folders, it is a pain.  I am planning to call DropBox if there is no quick response here.

  • Aleksis K.'s avatar
    Aleksis K.
    9 years ago

    So I think I figured out the issue. It seems to be that Excel will only open files with file names under 216 characters, so if a file is embedded in many sub-folders with long names, the file name will easily exceed that limit.  Obviously, this largely Excel's fault especially since the error says the file has been deleted or moved instead of simply notifying the name is too long.  But Dropbox is also to blame. Since Dropbox won't share sub folders separately from the parent, we end up using very long parent and sub folder names.  

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    Actually, the Excel limit is separate to the Windows character limit. 
     
    Windows has a maximum of 256 characters in the filepath. Excel however has 216, which is not device specific, so this should also apply to Mac versions of Excel.
     
    Usually though, using the bad files check is the best way to see all the files that could have some issues similar to this matter.
     
     
    [This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]
elocuent's avatar
elocuent
New member | Level 2
Yep, thats exactly the problem. Thank you for pointing it out... talking from 2018 and this still an issue.... (in Mac)
Mark's avatar
Mark
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
7 years ago
The issue shouldnt happen on a Mac as the character limit only applies to Windows
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Actually, the Excel limit is separate to the Windows character limit. 
     
    Windows has a maximum of 256 characters in the filepath. Excel however has 216, which is not device specific, so this should also apply to Mac versions of Excel.
     
    Usually though, using the bad files check is the best way to see all the files that could have some issues similar to this matter.
     
     
    [This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]

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