I can’t create new folders or move existing ones from my root Dropbox

[daveyp]

This new file system for teams is absolutely awful and workflow-destroying. We can no longer create new folders or move folders on the root of the dropbox. That such a basic feature. Whenever I want to to move folders from the root I have to copy them and then delete the old one, all via the web interface, this is far slower, with more chance of error and (I may be mistaken here) as the files are a copy rather than a move you have to download them again. 

Would be fascinated to here rationale behind this. I'll be looking in to alternative services when I get some downtime because this isn't workable.

[Viveca]

One more note: this problem is only happening in my company Dropbox Standard account. My personal free account is fine. It feels like we're paying to have a version that works less well.

[Viveca]

And a tech-savvy friend just tried to add the folder from the terminal and got this:

 

[Wayne Peterson]

Apparently the latest update to Dropbox eliminated two essential functions in the Dropbox App for Mac which syncs and interacts with Finder:

1.  Users can no longer create top-level folders in Finder.  You now require that we log-in to Dropbox.com and do so there.  What an idiotic, user-unfriendly, pain-in-the-ass of a process.

2.  Users can no longer drag and drop a top-level folder directly into another folder in Finder.  And we may not be able to do so even on Dropbox.com.  We were just told that we need to copy the folder, past the copy into another folder, and then delete the original folder, and only on the Dropbox.com site.  That's equally idiotic, user-unfriendly, and a pain-in-the-ass process.

Whoever (risk management attorney?) decided this was a useful and appropriate reduction in the usefulness of Dropbox as a service was asleep at the switch at minimum.

Fix this. Restore the functionality.  Do it quickly -- or you'll start losing users quickly, beginning with my company.

[AnastasiaDBX]

Hi Wayne! Thank you so much for sharing this feedback with us. We're actively working on improvements to both of these experiences, based on your feedback. In the meantime, if you right click at the top-level, you should have a "Create folder and share" option. It will redirect you to web to complete the folder creation, but you should be automatically signed in, which hopefully makes it a little less onerous. I will share an update here as we make improvements. Thank you again for your feedback, we really appreciate it!

 

[Hannah]

Hey @daveyp and @Viveca, thanks for the screenshots and the additional info.

I just wanted to confirm that this is expected behavior.

Top-level folders can now only be created from our website, however, we've passed your feedback along to our team, so we appreciate you taking the time to reach out.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Viveca]

Thank you for replying. That's a horrible decision. Please fix it.

Also, it doesn't completely address the question. I had tried creating top level folders from the website, and it didn't work there either. I tried on Firefox and Chrome from two different members' accounts. I could not create top level folders or move existing files or folders to the top level. I actually can now, but this function did seem to be broken for quite a while.

In any case, please restore the ability to do this from Finder. The OP was correct that this is absolutely awful and workflow-destroying. Thank you.

[Viveca]

This is not expected behavior. Our business has been using Dropbox for years. What we expect is for it to work at least as well as it has always had, not to become unusable after upgrades.

We keep trying to find workaround for this horrible loss of function, and Dropbox is thwarting us at every turn. I made top-level folders online so we would have them to rename. But when one member of the team renames them, they don't re-name for the other members. And when we rename a folder in the finder, it allows us to type the new name but then changes it back to the previous name. It's unusable.

PLEASE FIX DROPBOX SO IT'S COMPATIBLE WITH THE FINDER AS IT ALWAYS WAS!

Thank you.

[daveyp]

Thank you for passing on the feedback.

To add another example of the problems it causes. Within our folder structure we have an archive folder in which put old projects, to keep the root uncluttered.

Previously I could simply drag projects in to that archive folder to move them when they were finished. Now I have to go on to the admin console, copy them (duplicating the storage usage) then in order to delete the original copy I have to use Dropbox archive function, wait for that to complete and then delete it from the archives section of the website. I also have to verify that the copy worked too. This is so very long winded and also creates risk of data loss.

[PapaNinjago]

This is not possible in Windows. The options are extremely limited. What a really bad decision to do this. Our business OneDrive account is not this overly restricted.

Here's a snapshot of what I have available when right clicking inside our root folder. This is with the Show more options selected in Windows 11.

[swigyfood]

The new file system is terrible for workflow, limiting basic actions like creating and moving folders on Dropbox's root. This process is now slower, error-prone, and may require downloading files again.