Updating a file changes the link...

[Jason D.8]

I noticed today that editing a file and resaving it without changing the name now changes the Dropbox link, and it definitely didn't used to do that before. That was one of the great things with Dropbox, you could update a document without having to worry about whoever had the shared link needing to get a new one.

[Rich]

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@Jason D.8 wrote:

I noticed today that editing a file and resaving it without changing the name now changes the Dropbox link ...

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It depends on how the file is saved.

In order for a file to retain its link, the file cannot be deleted. When a file is deleted and replaced, a new link is generated. Some applications, when saving a file, will first delete the original before saving a new copy with the same name. If Dropbox sees the initial deletion and syncs it quick enough, then the link for that file would change when the file is recreated.

If a file is directly overwritten without being deleted first, the link will remain unchanged.

[Jason D.8]

I used to export PDF documents, and share the links to these on Dropbox. It was great because if I needed to edit anything, all I had to do was go to the original Word document, change it, then export it and overwrite the old PDF in the process. The links didn't used to change, which saved me a lot of time. However, now the links are regenerated, so something has changed somewhere.

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@Jason D.8 wrote:

... all I had to do was go to the original Word document, change it, then export it and overwrite the old PDF in the process.

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As a test, go through the same process but export the file to a different location and then manually move it into the Dropbox folder, overwriting the original. Check your link after the move is complete.

[Jason D.8]

Yes, that fixed it. Thanks.

[Rich]

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@Jason D.8 wrote:

Yes, that fixed it. Thanks.

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Then whatever software you're using is likely deleting the original file before saving the new version.

[Jason D.8]

It's Adobe InDesign. They must have changed how it exports PDFs in a recent update.