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I'm unable to rename a file after copying it from another sub-folder on my Mac.
Having this issue over the past several months. Saw another thread where others were having the same issue, but that thread was locked. I copy a file from one subfolder in Dropbox to another subfolder on my Sonoma 14.5 Mac, (Dropbox v199.4.6287) and then I can't rename the file. This doesn't happen every time, but has happened a couple of times in the last 4 months since Jan 2024, and may have started happening before that.
Other files in the same folder have the Dropbox Quick Actions context menu items when I right click on them. This file does not. I can open the file, change contents, and save, and that works. I can copy the file with a ctrl-c / cntrl-v in the same folder, and then the copy of the file appears to inherit the same problem, I can't rename it either. I can delete the file. A menu item "Do not sync" is not available in the right click menu for this specific file, although not in the Dropbox Quick Actions section of the right click menu.
If I quit the Dropbox app, still can't rename the file, start Dropbox back up, still can't rename the file. Force quitting the Finder, which then automatically restarts, all the finder windows ... does work! So letting others know this is a workaround for this problem rather than rebooting the whole computer, which also works. But this does appear to be a bug around something with file copying in Dropbox folders, unless it's a Mac OS level bug. I noticed after restarting the Finder that the little green circle with the check-box next to the filename is back, which wasn't showing before, so there was something going on with Dropbox integration with the finder perhaps.
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- Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi Nathan S.16, and thanks for posting about this on our forum!
If the issue persists even after quitting the Dropbox app, then this may have to do with your Mac device indeed, rather than the Dropbox app. Let’s check a few things first, though.
First off, what happens exactly when trying to rename the file? Is the option missing from the context menu, or nothing happens/you receive an error?
Is this happening for specific types of files or files copied from a specific subfolder?
Have you tried renaming them via the Dropbox website? Does this work then?
Let me know what you find.
When this particular event happens, the file doesn't show up in the web version of Dropbox, since it is a new file and for some reason also won't sync to the cloud. The rename option is missing in the Finder context menu for this file.
- Megan
Hey Nathan S.16, you mentioned this isn't consistent and it happens with some files, while others aren't affected, right?
Do you think it'd be possible to trigger it, and send us a couple of screenshots, in order for us to have a visual too?
I also tend to believe this is linked to the OS, and not Dropbox directly, especially if the issue remains once the app is closed.
I think it has to do with some state Dropbox gets into where the little green circles with the check in them stop showing up in the Finder for Dropbox synced files, but the Dropbox app is still running up in the menu bar. I just did some tests right now, can't reproduce it at will. I will take screenshots if I can reproduce it. Right now when copying a file into this particular folder, I see a brief cloud icon show up, then the green check shows up as it is synced, and I can rename it just fine. When this happened the other day, there were no icons to be seen.
- Hannah
Thanks for the additional info, Nathan S.16.
Does the same thing happen with files outside the Dropbox folder?
If you create a copy in the Dropbox folder that has this issue, then move it out of the Dropbox folder, what do you see then?
No, the issue does not happen in other folders. It is isolated to Dropbox. When the file is in this unusual state, where there is no "rename" in the right click menu, it also cannot be moved using the finder.
- Hannah
Thanks, Nathan.
One more question for you, are you using the Dropbox app for macOS on File Provider?
Since there is no reference to "get started" or File Provider in my sync tab, nor any mention of why I'm not eligible for file provider, I'm guessing I'm already on it? I'm using Dropbox v199.4.6287 as of 5/27/24
- Hannah
Thanks for that, Nathan.
It does seem like this could be happening, because Finder isn't refreshing correctly, for some reason, but could there be some kind of third party app that's accessing the files, while you try to rename/move them?
I don't have too many third party things installed that would impact the Finder, just OneDrive (which has it's own set of folders) and Dropbox. There is at least one other thread in this forum opened by another user seeing these same symptoms, and others chiming in saying they see the same thing. Still can't reproduce the issue at this point, but it is very sporadic, based on the rate I see it, it will come up again in about a month or month and a half.
