Dropbox Synced all my files, and getting an error when trying to move them out

[StJEmery]

Dropbox has synched all of my files onto my hard drive and now my available disk space is critically low.  I've tried moving the files to an external drive but the files all have a grey X on them and when I try to move them I get an error message:

"An unexpected error is keeping you from moving the file.  If you continue to receive this error, you can use the error code to search for help with problem"

Error 0x80070780: The file cannot be accessed by the system.

Help!

[Hannah]

Hey @StJEmery, thanks for letting us know about this.

If you're getting gray X icons on your files, I assume you're on a Windows computer, right?

This is a Microsoft icon, indicating that your files are not syncing.

Can you try the steps here, to make sure that your files are synced, before trying to move them out of the Dropbox folder?

Let me know how it goes.

[StJEmery]

Hannah - Yes this is a Window laptop.  I reviewed all of the suggestions in the help url you provided and it all looked OK.  I did uninstall/reinstall the dropbox app on my laptop.  

Here was the sequence of events that led to the current situation:

• I initiated a camera upload last week that included over 3,000 photos/videos (this is still in progress but moving very slowly)
• I noticed my hard drive was getting critically low, so...
• I attempted to move the dropbox files on my laptop (+500GB) to a flash drive; some moved over (<100 images) but others did not and had a grey X superimposed over the file name.
• I paused the synch indefinitely in order to stop the camera uploads from synching to my hard drive.  I have since un-paused the synch.
• I uninstalled and reinstalled the Dropbox app on my laptop, and created a new Dropbox folder.  There are now 2 Dropbox folders on my hard drive: Dropbox and Dropbox (old); the old one has all of the files with the X.
• I can see and access all of my files on my iPhone app, I can see all of the files on my laptop but can not open these files; I only see 27 images in dropbox.com.

[Megan]

Hi @StJEmery, sorry to jump in here! 

When you say that you attempted to move your files from your laptop to your flash drive, do you mean copy/paste or cut/paste? 

Do you remember the icons that these files had next to them? Did they have a green check, or a cloud-like icon? 

You mentioned you can't open these files: do you get any specific errors when trying to preview them? If you have any screenshots feel free to send them over to me, so that I can have a visual. 

[StJEmery]

Hi Megan  - 

I attempted to move the files using Windows File Explorer from my hard drive to a flash drive.  I also tried to copy using File Exporer.

I didn't notice at the time of move/copy if there were any icons next to the files.

The error that I receive when I attempt to copy/move a file is:

"An unexpected error is keeping you from copying the file.  If you continue to receive this error, you can use the error coded to search for help with this problem.

Error 0x80070780: The file cannot be accessed by the system.

[Megan]

Hi @StJEmery, can you send me a screenshot of the grey Xs you see next to your files, along with the error? 

Although, I have to let you know that this sounds like a Microsoft specific error, which would be outside the scope of the Dropbox support.