Renaming files: windows re-selects entire filename when other files resync

So glad I discovered this thread, been having this issue as well ( Windows 10, Dropbox v106.4.368 ). For what it's worth, it seems to only happen when the file is newly placed or renamed in dropbox - just within the last few seconds. At least now I know what's happening and have a simple enough work-around to help ease the frustration. Hope this helps other folks out.

This thread was opened over four years ago, and the problem persists with Dropbox personnel improperly pointing fingers towards Microsoft as indicated elsewhere in this thread.

I threw in the towel, and migrated my cloud storage over to OneDrive, completely removing the Dropbox desktop app from my Windows 10 PC.  Others have noted that OneDrive experiences similar problems, but does it still happen when Dropbox is not installed?  Not for me!

With the Dropbox desktop app completely removed from Windows 10 PC, the problem complained of at length in this thread as well as other significant sync/performance/CPU usage issues I was experiencing with both Dropbox and OneDrive are now COMPLETELY GONE.  It is now quite clear to me that the Dropbox desktop app causes significant performance problems that affect not only Dropbox, but OneDrive as well.  These problems are particularly apparent on lower performance CPUs, and Dropbox personnel are apparently not capable of resolving these issues.

Good luck to the rest of you who keep the Dropbox desktop app installed on a Windows PC.  I'm done.

Yup, this is still happening. It seems to be the exact same issue as described here:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/renaming-files-annoying-automatic-re-selection-of/3e451ce8-282a-4638-88ee-fd9f7cca2536

https://superuser.com/questions/237389/windows-filename-suddenly-gets-selected-again-while-renaming-it

https://onedrive.uservoice.com/forums/913522-onedrive-on-windows/suggestions/35362708-bug-explorer-reselects-entire-filename-when-edit

Basically, Windows File Explorer redraws the window every time Dropbox (or any other cloud storage service, really) syncs. If that happens while renaming a file, boom, you get this obnoxious problem. Drives me nuts. I've lost count of the number of times that I've accidentally overwritten the name of an entire file or folder and had to frantically change it back. Dropbox staff, I would be forever grateful to you if you solved this issue.

To sort of work around this problem, I've created the following AutoHotkey script which is triggered by Ctrl + R and, every time, moves the text cursor to just before the file extension:

GroupAdd, FileExplorer, ahk_class CabinetWClass ; Normal window
GroupAdd, FileExplorer, ahk_class #32770, ShellView ; Save as / open window
GroupAdd, FileExplorer, ahk_class WorkerW ; Desktop view

; FileExplorer_GetSelection() is from a third party
FileExplorer_GetSelection(){
	WinGetClass, winClass, % "ahk_id" . hWnd := WinExist("A")
	if !(winClass ~="Progman|WorkerW|(Cabinet|Explore)WClass")
		Return
	
	shellWindows := ComObjCreate("Shell.Application").Windows
	if (winClass ~= "Progman|WorkerW")
		shellFolderView := shellWindows.FindWindowSW(0, 0, SWC_DESKTOP := 8, 0, SWFO_NEEDDISPATCH := 1).Document
	else {
		for window in shellWindows
			if (hWnd = window.HWND) && (shellFolderView := window.Document)
				break
	}
	for item in shellFolderView.SelectedItems
		result .= (result = "" ? "" : "`n") . item.Path
	if !result
		result := shellFolderView.Folder.Self.Path
	Return result
}

Move_TextCursorToEndOfFileOrFolderName(Name){
	SendInput, {End}
	
	DotPosition := InStr(Name, ".", False, 0) ; 0 makes it search from the right-hand side
	
	If ((Name != "") And (DotPosition)){
		Length := StrLen(Name)
		MoveAmount := Length - DotPosition + 1 ; + 1 ensures that the text cursor is moved to the left-hand side of the file extension
		SendInput, {Left %MoveAmount%}
	}
}

#If WinActive("ahk_group FileExplorer")
	; Ctrl and R → Invoke file rename, deselect whole file name, and move text cursor to (1) the end of the name if a folder or extensionless file or (2) the end of the file name but before the file extension.
	^r::
		Path := FileExplorer_GetSelection()
		SendInput, {F2}
		SplitPath, Path, Name
		Move_TextCursorToEndOfFileOrFolderName(Name)
	Return
#If

I hope it helps others while this problem remains.

Hey there samuelguerin!

As mentioned here, our team are indeed aware of the issue and would like to investigate further into this via our Support channel.

If you'd like to do so, please let me know and I'd be happy to reach out and create a ticket for you. Thanks!