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Dave_Rado's avatar
Dave_Rado
Collaborator | Level 9
2 years ago

I can see some folders on website and phone app but not in File Explorer on laptop

Two of my shared folders are visible in Dropbox in my browser on my laptop, and in the Dropbox app on my phone, but not in File Explorer on my laptop. All of my other folders, shared or otherwise, are visible in File Explorer. 

 

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Dropbox desktop app.

 

I've also tried going to "preferences", Sync tab, and clicking"selective sync" - and the missing folders are already ticked there, but even if I click update they are still not visible in File Explorer.

 

If I click the dropbox icon in the Windows status bar it says "Your files are up to date."

 

If I click View Sync Issues it says: "Personal/No issues". 

 

Any idea what could be going on?

 

Dave

Desktop
desktop app
Sync and upload
Syncing
Windows OS
  • Dave_Rado's avatar
    Dave_Rado
    2 years ago

    I've just realised that the person I was sharing with had renamed the folders to include a colon in the name and for some reason that worked fine on their Mac and on my Android phone but not in Windows File Explorer.

     

    So I renamed the folders in my browser and changed the colons to hyphens, and now the folders are syncing fine.   

  • Dave_Rado's avatar
    Dave_Rado
    Collaborator | Level 9
    2 years ago

    I've just realised that the person I was sharing with had renamed the folders to include a colon in the name and for some reason that worked fine on their Mac and on my Android phone but not in Windows File Explorer.

     

    So I renamed the folders in my browser and changed the colons to hyphens, and now the folders are syncing fine.   

    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
      2 years ago
      Dave_Rado wrote:

      ... renamed the folders to include a colon in the name and for some reason that worked fine on their Mac and on my Android phone but not in Windows File Explorer.

      The colon is a reserved system character on Windows systems and can't be used in a file or folder name. This is why Dropbox was unable to sync it. If you're sharing between Mac and PC you may run into this often as there are several characters that can be used on a Mac that are reserved on Windows.

       

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      2 years ago

      Hey Dave_Rado, thanks for reaching out and thanks for updating us on the issue.

       

      I'm glad to see you were able to resolve this, but if you need anything else, please let us know.

       

      Have a great day!

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