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Forum Discussion
Folder commands missing from "background" right click when I click on empty space next to folder
Hi there, previously, one was able to right click in empty space on a folder and have the same commands show up that show when right clicking on a folder:
These are the options that...
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
lukevan wrote:
previously, one was able to right click in empty space on a folder and have the same commands show up that show when right clicking on a folder
Dropbox doesn't control this; your operating system does.
Dropbox has no control over how your clicks are interpreted. All Dropbox can do is register its options in the system registry so that Windows knows what to display in the context menu for various actions. The issue here is that a right-click in the white space doesn't first select the folder before Windows shows the available options on the context menu, so Windows presents the options for the parent folder, since that is what's selected when the context menu appears. Dropbox can't change that.
The following shows Windows 10 so it's not the same as your operating system, but it also shows that this likely hasn't changed. (Sorry for the speed. I had to keep it short to fit under the max size for the attachment.)
I'm in a folder called Test. Within it, I first right-click on the white space next to a folder called PowerPoint. You can see that the folder doesn't get selected in the process, so Windows treats this as though I'm right-clicking on the background of the Test folder; not the PowerPoint folder.
I then right-click on the name of the PowerPoint folder itself. You can see that the folder is selected and Windows gives me the appropriate Dropbox options for that folder.
And finally I first left-click the white space next to the Capture folder which selects the folder, and then I right-click the white space and get the expected Dropbox options.
All of this is controlled by the operating system.
Rich wrote:
lukevan wrote:previously, one was able to right click in empty space on a folder and have the same commands show up that show when right clicking on a folder
Dropbox doesn't control this; your operating system does.
Dropbox has no control over how your clicks are interpreted. All Dropbox can do is register its options in the system registry so that Windows knows what to display in the context menu for various actions. The issue here is that a right-click in the white space doesn't first select the folder before Windows shows the available options on the context menu, so Windows presents the options for the parent folder, since that is what's selected when the context menu appears. Dropbox can't change that.
The following shows Windows 10 so it's not the same as your operating system, but it also shows that this likely hasn't changed. (Sorry for the speed. I had to keep it short to fit under the max size for the attachment.)
I'm in a folder called Test. Within it, I first right-click on the white space next to a folder called PowerPoint. You can see that the folder doesn't get selected in the process, so Windows treats this as though I'm right-clicking on the background of the Test folder; not the PowerPoint folder.
I then right-click on the name of the PowerPoint folder itself. You can see that the folder is selected and Windows gives me the appropriate Dropbox options for that folder.
And finally I first left-click the white space next to the Capture folder which selects the folder, and then I right-click the white space and get the expected Dropbox options.
All of this is controlled by the operating system.
But how about if you want to Copy the dropbox link of the TEST folder? In Windows 10 you can just right click on an empty space and get the option "Copy Dropbox link" which on your example video is the dropbox link of the TEST folder. But in Windows 11, that is no longer possible. Any workaround for this? Thank you.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey Paltik - sorry to jump in here, but it's not quite clear why you're unable to right click on the test folder's name on your Windows 11 device to get the shared link to it. Could you elaborate a tad so that we can assist further?
Hi Walter , thanks for responding. SOrry for the confusion. I'll try to explain as much as possible. Screenshots attached as an example.
Let's say for example I have this folder called Test Folder. I upload a lot of files and sub folders in there to share to my teammates. In Windows 10, after putting files in that folder, out of habit, I just RIGHT CLICK on an empty space inside that folder and the option to "Copy Dropbox link" (folder link) would appear from the menu that I could then copy and paste to an email. Which is for me is fast and efficient.
But as soon as I switched to Windows 11, I'm starting to get frustrated with this right click options of this OS. I can no longer just right click on an empty space of a folder to copy its Dropbox link. I have to now go back one level higher so I could right click on the folder itself to get the option "Copy Dropbox link" (screenshot 2).
- Jay
Hi Paltik, we appreciate the feedback on this matter. As this is related to how the OS itself processes right clicks, there isn't much we can suggest to resolve or workaround this behavior.
Lukevan is trying to click in the empty space BELOW the file items and implies that dropbox broke it, not that updating to windows 11 broke it.
Hannah then immediately asks what happens when you click the "blank space next to it". Next to what? Hannah thinks we're trying to interact with a folder as an item in the directory and missing by clicking too far to the right. Lukevan then sends a video proving he's clicking in the empty space below the items (there are no items, so he is clicking below zero items).
Rich then talks a lot and shows a video of clicking to the right of items, not below, showing he missed the point entirely. He explains that because the item has been missed, it shows the options that appears when right-clicking in the directory itself. It's not clear how Rich got those options to show up. Old dropbox I guess. I daresay today Rich wouldn't get them. These options not existing on Lukevan's system is what Lukevan is complaining about.
Paltik then mentions he understands the problem but misattributes it to a change in Windows 11.
Walter then misses the point completely and asks why Paltik can't click on "test folder's name". Paltik said "EMPTY SPACE", not "ON NAME".
Paltik then repeats EMPTY SPACE and draws an arrow pointing at EMPTY SPACE (and misattributes the problem to Windows 11 again)
Jay then mumbles something about "this is not our problem".
OK, let me straighten all this out. Windows 10, Windows 11, doesn't matter. Right click in an empty folder controlled by dropbox. Dropbox options should appear. They don't. A dropbox update broke this at some point (so says Lukevan, but I don't know if it ever worked on Win10). It's possible (likely, I'd guess) that Microsoft changed something which you need to accommodate with Win10 or at some point in an update thereafter.
Windows 7 - works. Dropbox 194.4.6267.
Windows 10 - doesn't work. Dropbox 194.4.6267.
Windows 11 - doesn't work. Dropbox 194.4.6267.
Dropbox is correctly registering itself in HCKR\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\DropboxExt like it's supposed to, but the extension must be internally declining it for some reason.
Note, by contrast, TortoiseGit works like I expect. The relevant code is starting here, to save you time, but dropbox could surely be fouling up at a number of other points:Is dropbox staff ever going to reply or do I need to make a new bug for this?
