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Forum Discussion
Dimples
4 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Couln't download. Remove incompatible characters from the filename
Recently all of my computer with Dropbox have started showing a sync error "Couln't download. Remove incompatible characters from the filename. e.g. emojis, /\"<>:|?*"
The problem filename isn't shown, the "Go to File" link just takes me to the root directory of my drive, and I obviously can't search for those bad characters. How do I find this file to solve the sync issue?
Hey Roy2010, no worries let me share Sam's response here as well.
Hi everyone,
Sharing an update on the topic: our team is working on adjusting this, and it's expected to roll out in our next Stable Build (V190).
You can check our releases here, and we'll keep you informed on the progress.
Thanks,
Sam
I appreciate your patience on this, thank you!
164 Replies
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- Walter3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey AlexSzatmary, sorry to hear about this.
I just wanted to mention that periods should not be used in file names as they could result in errors or they won't be synced at all. For more information, you can have a look here.
I hope this helps a tad.
- AlexSzatmary3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Hi Walter, I mean that those are ordinarily legal filenames. I recognize that Dropbox does not currently handle them but I think it should. I routinely use filenames like confection2-decay_F-vary_gamma_E-r_L0.1phi_E1.00gamma_E1.00e-01.pdf and that particular file even does sync properly on Dropbox.
- Walter3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Thanks for your feedback on this AlexSzatmary - let me know if you have anything else to add.
- Arkadiy K.3 years agoHelpful | Level 7
I am a developer, and one of the programs that I use requires me to have filenames like ".pve-ignore.ifcfg-eth0" (the program required me to add a ".pve-ignore." prefix to the files that should be ignored by the program).
Dropbox normally uploads and downloads these files from my computer, however, they are still showing up in "Sync issues".
What is the problem here?
- Walter3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey Arkadiy K., thanks for joining the discussion here.
Those dots in the filenames must be the culprit here. You can have a look at this Help Center article for more information about naming your files in Dropbox.
Hope this helps!
- nomadism3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
I've basically given up on this issue as if feels like dropbox support doesn't seem to really understand the issue here. I - among others who have raised this issue - are fully aware of what dropbox recommends to put and not put in file names. I really wish dropbox could stop leading us to that same help article.
What I want to know why dropbox says there are "sync errors" when there are not. Maybe initially there is an issue - hence the sync error message - but in the end, dropbox DOES upload those **bleep** files. So why is dropbox sending "false" sync errors messages, when eventually there isn't such an issue?
- Mark3 years ago
Super User II
because there is a sync issue - it may not sync to other devices and/or stop syncing on those devices. There is a reason they are detected and its to stop data loss and corruption not just on your machine but any others connected to it including shares.
- Arkadiy K.3 years agoHelpful | Level 7Hi !
I believe that the error message should be adjusted. Instead of “could not download” (which is incorrect, as the file did download to my computer), there should be a warning instead - “this file might not correctly sync to other devices, but is still stored in your Dropbox account” - nomadism3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Um, no. Your comment, Mark, indicates that this issue is not fully understood by many people here.
The screen shot that we - people who are raising these issues - are very specific "sync errors" even though they are simply labelled as a broad "sync error." The error message says that dropbox could not download (or in my case, upload) the file(s), but in the end the files are uploaded / downloaded without errors.
So the sync error isn't simply saying that there might be a problem, as your comments suggests. The error message specifies what the problem is, but in the end the stated "problem" doesn't occur and actually self-corrects.
That's why I had given up even raising - Dropbox repeats the same answer without addressing what the real issue is.
- hzee2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
I'm getting sync errors, but not sure why.
Presumably it's because of the ~ character at the end. (This character is fairly common in the Unix world as they are created by apps like emacs as backup copies of the previous version of a file that's been changed.)
It's not 100% clear since ~ isn't listed in the character examples.
More importantly, how do I fix this? How can I exclude these files, e.g. with wildcard rules, from having Dropbox try to sync them?
I don't want to keep getting sync errors every day.
Dropbox v189.3.8308 (beta)
macOS 13.6.2 (Ventura, ARM)
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