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I need help restoring a missing document.
Subject: Assistance Required to Locate Missing File in Dropbox
Hello all.
I need assistance in locating a file that appears to be missing or inaccessible within my Dropbox account. The file is titled “Draft IMC Comm Outcomes 20 Sept 2025”, and it appears in searches as C:\Users\mills\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk\Attachments\ooa-f5679e8e-2605-4843-a974-c8f2a6c76905\45802325e4bf4cc32dc8a8ca7103df79fcbca40f34eef574abc423d0cdf9bc15\Draft IMC Comm Outcomes 20 Sept 2025.docx"
yet when I seek to open it under the Home section, I receive the error message: “The directory name isn’t valid.
This suggests the file may have been moved, renamed, deleted, or disconnected from its original path—possibly due to a sync issue or external drive disconnection.
Other strange things happening are that I can't access the Recycling folder even though its Icon appears to have the right 'Settings'. Also, in Dropbox I have no deleted files at all. I can't recall tidying up my Deleted items in Dropbox this year. There should be some.
So, how can I find this document. It has about 20 hours of adjustments and new stuff for an upcoming journal article. I thought some of it was good.
Millsy.
it appears in searches as C:\Users\mills\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk\Attachments\ ... \Draft IMC Comm Outcomes 20 Sept 2025.docx"
That location is not related to Dropbox. It's a folder used by Outlook to temporarily store files when you open attachments from your email. So that file would have been an attachment you opened from your email, not Dropbox, and that's not a location that Dropbox syncs, so it can't restore files that were located there.
After you opened the file from email, did you save it to your local Dropbox folder?
4 Replies
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- Rich
Super User II
it appears in searches as C:\Users\mills\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Olk\Attachments\ ... \Draft IMC Comm Outcomes 20 Sept 2025.docx"
That location is not related to Dropbox. It's a folder used by Outlook to temporarily store files when you open attachments from your email. So that file would have been an attachment you opened from your email, not Dropbox, and that's not a location that Dropbox syncs, so it can't restore files that were located there.
After you opened the file from email, did you save it to your local Dropbox folder?
Rich, thank you for going to this trouble. You were right. It appears that my original saving on the doc that I received by email was flawed. I didn't pay enough attention and saved it to that folder you mentioned that is purely for the attachments to emails.
I called upon Geeks2U who came out and did all manner of searches but could not find, and confirmed your diagnosis of the folder being a transitory place for attachments to emails.
Big lesson learned. Will have to reconstruct.
Thank you for your help.
Millsy
Megan,
yes,🤥 matter over. Now rewriting the editing I had done.
