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Forum Discussion
Dropbox using (2) different Naming Conventions and Date Formats
Hello,
Recently Dropbox has been uploading photos with different file names and date formats. Example: some files will be named "2022-04-07 17.07.01" and others will be named "Photo Apr 07 4 2...
Hi delraybeachplasticsurgery, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
If you're using the camera upload feature, all images will have the '2022-04-07 17.07.01' format, whereas images uploaded via the manual upload feature, or by dragging and dropping, will have the original filename on them, which could be similar to the 'Photo Apr 07 4 29 40' you saw.
If you need any further assistance, please let me know!
Jay
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffEach device has their own method of saving images, even different iOS or Android devices have different naming formats for images.
When uploading manually, the original filename from the device is kept. If you're using the camera upload feature, regardless of your device, then Dropbox would rename the file to YYYY-MM-DD HH.MM.SS (and the extension would be different based on the original file).
“When uploading manually, the original filename from the device is kept”- This is not true, when I upload manually the file name is changed to “Photo August 17 2023” Manually is my preferred method of uploading pictures. (iphone and ipad)
“Each device has their own method of saving images, even different iOS or Android devices have different naming formats for images.” This defeats the idea that Dropbox is a seamless solution across devices. The photos will be all messed up. You can argue that different devices have different formats, but we are uploading using the same dropbox app, wich should be able to handle all formats and “remember” the file name format my account wants.
“If you're using the camera upload feature, regardless of your device, then Dropbox would rename the file to YYYY-MM-DD HH.MM.SS.” This is the format that I and many others want for every photo uploaded. Why should this be so difficult to implement. I already tried the “Naming convention” thing. Firts of all, it didn’t work, the convention is there, but still when uploading, the naming format remained the same as before. Second, we need to set up this formulas for each individual folder! Such a waste of time, assuming it would work, so far it hasn’t.
The simple question is, Why can’t Dropbox, who is already renaming all my files in any folder to “August 17 2023”, rename them to “2023-08-17” instead. Why is this so difficult to set up??
Please a litle help.
I can’t find the setting to change the file name formatting. Currently my dropbox app uses something like “Photo August 17 2023 3 45 PM” but this format causes a sorting issue, as August will be listed before January.I would like the automatic format for all devices to be 2023 08 17. as it is for dropbox.com
Is there a way to set this??Can you share how you sort your files?
- Walter
Hey oceanside22, sorry to jump in here.
I just wanted to mention that we checked back with the team and here's what we found:
When you manually upload files, you know exactly what/where you are uploading. With automatic uploads, photos/videos across all your devices are being uploaded to that single Camera Uploads folder.
It would be hard to figure out which file is which, different manufactures may follow a different naming convention for the files (like IMG_001.png, CAPTURE_*, etc), so that's why Dropbox normalizes this by renaming all the files from all the different devices using one convention. That should make it easier to locate the photos/videos you are looking for by checking the timestamp in the name.
I hope this information helps!
I'm only here in June 2024 because my automatic camera uploads stopped working a few days ago. Force-feeding them (manually) appends the "Photo" file naming prefix, which I don't prefer.
With that I'd like to find the root cause of why my auto stopped working. No, I have enough storage space, which is usually the culprit. I reset my phone, restarted the ios app, etc. etc. and even updated my password. Still sleuthing. 2024-06-28.
- Walter
Hey petemvoss - sorry to hear about this.
Can you please clarify your device's OS version, and the version of the Dropbox mobile app installed there?Have you tried clearing the app's cache and signing out and back into your account?
Also, what happens when you navigate your Photos tab in the app on your iOS device?
Thanks Walter. Turns out my ios Dropbox app had limited permissions to photos. For some reason something limited this setting on June 25th. I'm back in business with full permissions and using the native file names without the "Photo" prefix, and cleared the app's cache per your suggestion.
Regards,
Pete
- Walter
I'm glad to hear it's sorted now and thanks for keeping me in the loop too, Pete.
Have a lovely week ahead and see you around!
