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Forum Discussion

djjones's avatar
djjones
New member | Level 2
4 years ago

"Couldn't extract files. Can only handle files up to 512 MB."

I have 2TB of available storage on my Dropbox account, but am unable to open a ZIP file (approx. 3.2GB) -- instead, I'm getting an error message that says "Couldn't extract files. Can only handle files up to 512 MB." Any thoughts on how best to resolve this? Thanks.

  • Hello, 

     

    As mentioned in the thread, zip files that are larger than 512 MB cannot be extracted. To avoid confusion, the "Extract all" button is now disabled for any zip files that pass this threshold. Therefore, to extract the zip file, you would need to first download it and then extract it locally on your computer.

     

    Thanks,

  • kingcharles's avatar
    kingcharles
    New member | Level 2

    This limit is so utterly pathetic in 2021. I had ZIP files bigger than that in the mid-90s. Now I'm dealing with ZIPs of hundreds of gigabytes.

     

    My old 386 PC could unzip a 600MB Zip.

     

    Dropbox needs to fix this. Is this a code change or simply a configuration change? It is beyond frustrating.

     

    I actually CAN'T download a file onto my local computer because there is no fixed Internet where I live (center of Chicago) and I am forced to use cell data for everything. So that solution doesn't work for me. Especially as I would have to download and then upload the uncompressed data afterwards. Just one file would kill off my entire quota of transfer for the month.

     

    What is the policy of other storage providers? I can't imagine any of Dropbox's competitors have such a lame limit?

    • etaygudai's avatar
      etaygudai
      Helpful | Level 5

      Hi,
      It would be appreciated if this limitation of 5xx MB cab be increased.

      It is indeed something Dropbox MUST consider

       

      Regards

      Etay G

      • anonymous's avatar
        anonymous

        I don't get the error abour 512MB - when I just tried to unzip a 1.3GB file in the web view, I get message "1 file couldn’t be automatically unzipped." No further info, no mention of a max file size, nothing.

         

        I was about to come back to Dropbox from pCloud but won't if I can't unzip files directly in Dropbox. 

  • dipoarowona's avatar
    dipoarowona
    Icon for Dropbox Engineer rankDropbox Engineer

    Hello, 

     

    As mentioned in the thread, zip files that are larger than 512 MB cannot be extracted. To avoid confusion, the "Extract all" button is now disabled for any zip files that pass this threshold. Therefore, to extract the zip file, you would need to first download it and then extract it locally on your computer.

     

    Thanks,

    • nswetland's avatar
      nswetland
      New member | Level 2

      This is a very very low and crippling policy that makes the tool essentially useless.  We don't use dropbox to store tiny zip files, we have USB drives and hard drives for that.  We use DropBox and it's expensive and shrinking storage to store our large files, so we should be able to use your tools on any files we pay for you to store.
      Having to download GB worth of files just to unzip them and then re-upload them is a waste of countless resources (data storage, traversal, energy, human capital, and more)

      Please consider updating this insulting 512MB limit.

      • kingcharles's avatar
        kingcharles
        New member | Level 2

        The limit is ridiculous. I don't even know why they bothered having the feature at all. They've not improved it in several years, so don't hold your breath.

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    You will need to download it an extract it on a computer.

     

    As the error says (and this help doc) you can only preview ZIP files online below 512mb.

    • Melindab's avatar
      Melindab
      New member | Level 2

      When I downloaded my Zip file it wasn't then in a format to unzip.

      I am trying to fight a rental bond refund and my photos of entry are locked up in dropbox and I cannot access them.  This is beyond frustrating and really should allow for a larger limit.  When I click Extract All on the toolbar it doesn't do anything either, just keeps loading for hours and hours and still nothing.

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