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Forum Discussion
Why does Dropbox insist on renaming my files?
2020: "Stop renaming my files! (on auto phone upload)" by BoxyBeat https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-installs-integrations/Stop-renaming-my-files-on-auto-phone-upload/td-p/391599 Dropbox r...
So why does Dropbox insist on renaming my files?... because they/it can. It is that simple I'm afraid.
Jay
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi usrx, we appreciate the feedback on this matter. The camera upload feature currently doesn't allow any customization when it comes to renaming the files during the upload process.
If you wish, you can suggest this change as a new idea for other users to vote on, in order to pass it onto the dev team for their consideration.
I know that. In fact, I am not even asking for a way to customize the way that Dropbox renames files. It should not be renaming them in the first place. At all! I simply ask that it leaves be my file names. This should be the default: not touching people's file names.
What do you achieve by renaming the files anyway? You're not filing them in different folders automatically for organizational purposes, not by default anyway. They are all just dumped in the same camera upload folder anyhow, just with different names compared to the original files on the phone.
This is not a new idea and not a new suggestion. Others have asked for this for a long time, long before me, and it was never forwarded to the right team (dev team or whatever the right team is) for consideration. Not that I am aware of or have found evidence of on the forum. For example Pete3000 has made this suggestion, but his suggestion was never forwarded due to premature closure of the topic. The topic was reportedly closed because of lack of support by other users.
How can other users have a chance to support the idea if you keep closing the topic before it gains traction?
This is what Walter from Dropbox had to say on that:
"This idea has been closed due to inactivity and can no longer be voted for. If you have a similar idea please share it with us here."
Pete3000created the topic on 04-03-2021 (April), and it was closed by Walter in November of the same year, 7 months later. Why even close it? Was it somehow problematic to leave it open? I have been online long enough to know that there are forums that don't close old topics until they are at least 5 years old or 60 months, and only then do they force people to start a new discussion on the same topic. Others still never close a topic of discussion, unless they have a very good reason to do so.
In fact, Walter's assertion that it's no longer possible to vote on the suggested idea is false. I was able to vote on it a few days ago. Maybe you don't have your forum settings configured right? It should not be possible to vote if what you say is true.
Anyway... I give up! I have made it more than clear what's going on here and how I feel about it. If you don't want to listen to what users are saying, that's OK. You don't need to do a thing anymore. I have found my solution: OneDrive. I have already had a subscription plan with OneDrive for a few years now, but I was stuck on using Dropbox for camera uploads, and I used OneDrive in conjunction with Dropbox for certain things, since the year when Dropbox decided to lower the number of synced devices from 5 to 3. Today I disabled the camera upload in Dropbox on my phone and enabled it in OneDrive, and guess what?... it does not rename my files! Good news for me, bad news for you. Good bye!
Hello Dropbox,
I just switched from iCloud Photos to Dropbox Camera Uploads, and after moving some 2.7k+ files I realized they were all renamed. The original filenames were IMG_####.JPG for example. Now they are all a date and time. The old filenames are not even stored in metadata. This makes it impossible for me to check this batch for duplicates against a 15-year collection of some 42,000 other files. I definitely need the default device-given filenames, not forced renames.
You half-way integrated a potentially good idea, why would do you do that? It was absolutely important from the beginning to either provide users full control over the naming convention, or simply turn yours off and keep the original filenames.
Yet, how many years has it been like this? I just found this out after it happened. You guys still don't want to do such a simple thing properly? I can't imagine the flow of files within your userbase, all of them subject to this. If I just ran 42k files through your naming convention by accident I'd be sick! Bewildering to think of users who probably have.
My direct next step is a dive into the iCloud trashcan. I will not use Dropbox Camera Uploads until this renaming idea is either done right or made possible to disable completely.
The simplest lack of thoughtfulness can really put a bullet in a good idea. That's a shame for what is otherwise a very impressive and helpful tool. I do love Dropbox. I don't love half-baked implementations that are ignored for years.
Danny
Thanks for sharing dwcapture ! I know how you feel about this.
There is only one sensible way to do this. You either keep device-given filenames, or you let users do this properly and willingly, where you allow them to specify if and how they want the renaming to be done, for all the same reasons both you and I, and others, have already mentioned previously. We keep repeating ourselves but Dropbox is not hearing our plea.
This doesn't have to be complicated, and it should not be all that complicated to allow users to control this part of Dropbox.
There are two odd things about this I want to point out.
1. It's already possible to create your own naming rules for Dropbox on the web. The desktop version of it relies on the web version, so they are one and the same in that sense. But it's not possible on the mobile app. I'm using Android but I see it's the same with the iOS app.
2. This careless/forced renaming only applies to the Camera Upload feature of Dropbox for mobile devices. Mind-bending! So if you just select a bunch of photo files and save them manually to Dropbox, they are not renamed! Works even if you save them to the special "Camera Upload" folder. It's only when the app does it automatically as you take photos that it renames them! Weird, huh? I mean what were they thinking?... you're either all-in, or all-out. You don't leave one foot in, half-baked implementation, and then let it hang like that for years.
I am also a photo enthusiast and I have some 57000 photos from the past 10 years on my computer. If I had some dumb app rename all my files without asking me for permission – because some tech giant knows best what I need – I think it's only fair to compare that to a virus attack! But when it's sneaked in as a "smart feature" and you yourself have installed it, or if it's part of your new operating system, then you can't really hold anyone accountable.
I don't want to imagine what I would do if something like this happened to my photo collection. For me, it's not a matter of taste or preference, and this is what Dropbox doesn't seem to understand. It's a matter of function. For example, my Adobe Lightroom database depends on these file names. In the past, I have had to locate and reconnect old files to the database, and it was no fun. Weeding out duplicate files is another solid reason why you might want to stick to one naming convention, preferably the one that came long before Dropbox was around.
In my opinion, no app should ever rename or otherwise alter user files and user data without prompting the user to do so. But we're living in a time where data processing and user interactions are increasingly more and more automated. Users serve merely to pay the bills for various subscription plans, everything else is taken care of by the brains behind the various companies. (Unless those brains are replaced by artificial intelligence, then it's an automated company.) Other times still, their subscriptions or "free" services are paid for by their data.
